A downtown Hartford optician is celebrating the 60th anniversary of its inclusion in an iconic Norman Rockwell painting with an open house today and photos with the original model.
Back in 1956, according to Harvey & Lewis, the optical store chain, Steve Nesko of Newington was getting his glasses repaired when Rockwell approached him and said, “How’d you like to make a couple of bucks?”
The painter came to the store on a Sunday and took several photographs. Those images were then used to created the May 19, 1956 cover of the Saturday Evening Post entitled, “New Glasses.”
To commemorate the event, Harvey & Lewis will be recreating the scene that day from noon to 3:00 p.m. at its Downtown Hartford location at 45 Asylum St. Nesko will be in attendance. Visitors will be able to have their picture taken posing as the optician in the painting. An autographed copy of the magazine cover, will also be on hand.
“It’s a wonderful part of our heritage,” said James Lewis, president of Harvey & Lewis. “Just about every optical shop in the country has a copy of it hanging up.”
