The Curry & Paxton story begins in 1876 when Victoria was Queen of England and Empress of India. Benjamin Disraeli was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Joseph Pickard and William Curry began making ophthalmic instruments and parts, many of which were granted patents under the name Pickard & Curry. The instruments Pickard & Curry excelled in producing were prescribed to the burgeoning eyewear industry in which Britain, and more specifically London, was at the epicenter. Opticians needed accurate machines and tools – from ophthalmoscopes to retinoscopes and everything in between – to check and examine a patient’s eyesight.