The Nod and Shake goggles
Nod and Shake Goggles: Industrial Safety to Aquatic Training
Introduction and Origin
The Nod and Shake goggles were an innovative form of protective eyewear invented by Harvey S. Cover in the early 1920s. Cover patented the design on October 31, 1922 (U.S. Patent No. 1,433,676). These goggles were made of rubber with glass lenses, designed to be “gas-tight” – providing a sealed barrier around the eyes. Originally developed for industrial and hazardous environments, they quickly gained attention for their fog-proofing mechanism and potential in other fields. The name “Nod and Shake” comes from their unique method of clearing vision: by nodding or shaking one’s head, the wearer could instantly defog the lenses without removing the goggles. This clever feature made them valuable not only in mines and laboratories but eventually in early swimming and military training contexts as well.
Design and Anti-Fog Mechanism
At first glance, the Nod and Shake goggles resemble other early 20th-century safety goggles – a pair of oval glass lenses set in a one-piece molded rubber frame with an elastic headstrap. However, their standout innovation was an internal water-clearing system that prevented lens fogging. Each eyepiece contained a small capillary water chamber along the interior. Before use, the wearer would pour a little water into these chambers, then tip the goggles to pour out any excess. The remaining thin film of water would be “just right” for the anti-fog action. If the lenses steamed up from heat or sweat, the wearer could simply “nod and shake the head” to slosh a bit of water over the inner surface of the glass, washing away condensation. Even normal active movement could be enough to keep the lenses clear while working. In essence, the goggles carried their own lens-cleaning system – a built-in rinse that could be activated hands-free. An original box from the 1920s proudly promises that Cover’s invention “gets rid of fog without removing the goggles from the face. This was a major advantage at a time when conventional goggles would easily fog in humid or strenuous conditions, forcing workers or swimmers to stop and wipe the lenses. The rubber frame also formed a snug seal around the eyes, keeping out dust, gas, or water as needed. Cover’s patent described this “fog-proof” concept in detail, and it was decades ahead of its time – so much so that later patents for underwater eyewear cited Cover’s 1922 design as prior art.
Industrial Use and Safety Applications
Harvey Cover originally marketed the Nod and Shake goggles as safety equipment for harsh industrial and environmental conditions. The outer label on a 1920s box lists their uses: “For the use of Firemen, Chemical workers, Lime Handlers, and those working in very bad dust, fumes and gases that injuriously affect the eyes.” In coal mining, for example, miners often faced clouds of coal dust that could blind and irritate the eyes; in chemical plants or laboratories, workers risked splashes and toxic fumes. Cover’s gas-tight rubber goggles gave a full seal protection in these scenarios. They kept harmful particles and vapors out, and equally importantly, their fog-resistant water rinse meant a miner deep underground or a firefighter in a smoky building did not need to remove his eyewear to clear the lenses. Removing goggles in a hazardous environment could be dangerous (exposing the eyes to smoke or debris), so this innovation was very practical. Period advertisements and packaging bragged that the goggles “protect against anything” – a bold claim, but one that speaks to the wide range of hazards they were meant to mitigate.
In practice, these goggles saw extensive industrial use through the 1920s and 1930s. Coal miners in the U.S. and Canada adopted them as part of their standard kit (hence their presence in mining museum collections today), and fire brigades kept them on hand for smoke-filled emergencies. The rubber seal also made them suitable for laboratory and medical settings where sterility or chemical splash protection was needed. Harvey Cover’s company continued to refine and sell safety goggles for many years – in fact, the basic “nod-and-shake” concept proved so robust that such goggles (and their later variants) remained on the market for much of the 20th century. Remarkably, one historian notes that Nod and Shake goggles, first introduced in 1921–22, were sold as late as the 1990s, attesting to their durable design and lasting reputation.
Crossover into Swimming and Aquatic Training
Although developed for industry, the Nod and Shake goggles found a dual life in the world of aquatic sports and training. In the early 20th century, swimmers were only just beginning to experiment with goggles to improve underwater vision. Competitive and recreational swimming had no specialized goggles available – pioneers like Thomas “Bill” Burgess (1911) and Gertrude Ederle (1926) resorted to using automobile or motorcycle goggles sealed with wax for their English Channel swims. Recognizing this unmet need, Cover’s company leveraged its fog-proof technology in a new market. By the 1930s, Cover’s Fog-Proof Nod and Shake goggles were being used informally by swimmers. One surviving pair from that era was “apparently last used as a child’s swim goggles,” according to a collector’s note – evidence that families repurposed the sturdy rubber safety goggles for swimming lessons at the local pool or lake. The waterproof seal and anti-fog rinse, after all, were just as useful keeping splashes and mist at bay in water as they were against dust in a mine.
Cover’s capitalized on this trend. In the 1940s the company actually produced a dedicated “Swim Goggle” variant of the Nod and Shake design. An artifact in the Australian Sports Museum (Melbourne) is a cardboard box from the 1940s labeled “Cover’s Fog-Proof Swim Goggles”, featuring an illustration of a female swimmer wearing the goggles. The directions for use were likely similar – instructing swimmers to add a bit of water to the chambers and nod to clear fog. This product shows that the dual-use was quite intentional: Cover saw a market for swimmers (including possibly military or lifesaving training programs) who needed reliable eye protection and clarity underwater. These goggles would have been among the earliest commercially marketed swim goggles in the West. They pre-date the widespread adoption of swim goggles by decades, as true swimming goggles didn’t become common until the 1960s-70s. In the interim, aquatic enthusiasts made do with adapted safety goggles like Cover’s. Even renowned open-water swimmers of the 1940s and 1950s, such as Florence Chadwick, used rubber industrial-style goggles with glass lenses for their marathon swims – very much in the spirit of the Nod and Shake design, which by then had proven its worth in water.
Military organizations also explored the use of such goggles in aquatic settings. Before modern dive masks were standard issue, some military swim training exercises and amphibious operations equipped trainees with whatever protective eyewear was available. It is likely that Cover’s fog-proof goggles were among those used for training combat swimmers or frogmen in the 1930s–40s, given their availability and effectiveness. (During World War II, for instance, U.S. naval commando units practiced long underwater swims and would have benefited from goggles to see clearly; in the absence of specialized swim masks, commercial fog-proof goggles were a logical choice.) Even outside of swim training, the military found uses for Cover’s goggles: the U.S. Navy notably adopted them as part of onboard damage control gear. A 1920s photograph from the USS Jupiter (later converted to the carrier USS Langley) shows Navy firefighters wearing Cover’s Automatic Respirators with attached Nod and Shake goggles, drilling to fight shipboard fires. In this context the goggles kept smoke out and stayed clear during the intense action – effectively demonstrating their value in a military safety role. Thus, whether for a Navy diver slipping over the side of a ship in training or a sailor fighting flames below deck, the Nod and Shake goggles served as an early form of military eye protection in and around water.
Museum Collections and Historical Legacy
Today, vintage Nod and Shake goggles are prized by collectors and often displayed in museums, reflecting their diverse history. In industrial heritage museums, they appear as iconic artifacts of early 20th-century worker safety. For example, the Fernie Museum in British Columbia, Canada (a region with a rich coal mining history) holds several pairs of Cover’s Nod and Shake goggles in its collection. They are presented in the context of coal miners’ equipment – a testament to how miners relied on these goggles to see and breathe safely in the coal dust-choked tunnels. Exhibits often highlight the goggles’ rubber construction and built-in water reservoirs, explaining how miners could simply shake their heads to clear the lenses without interrupting work. Such displays help modern visitors appreciate the ingenuity required to work in hazardous early-industrial environments.
In contrast, sports museums and swimming halls of fame display these goggles (or their relatives) to illustrate the evolution of swim gear. The Australian Sports Museum’s aforementioned swim goggle box is exhibited to show one of the first attempts to make swimming-specific goggles – linking industrial safety technology to recreational swimming. Similarly, the International Swimming Hall of Fame and the Smithsonian Institution have artifacts like Gertrude Ederle’s 1926 Channel swim goggles on display. Ederle’s goggles were actually modified motorcycle goggles, but they contextualize the era in which Cover’s swim goggles emerged. Curators often note how pioneers like Ederle had to seal their goggles with paraffin wax to keep water out, whereas a product like Cover’s Fog-Proof Swim Goggles came with a factory-made seal and anti-fog solution – a significant innovation for its time.
Military and science museums have not overlooked Cover’s contribution either. A set of Nod and Shake goggles might be found in exhibits about early chemical warfare protection or firefighting. For instance, a museum display on 1920s– WWII civil defense could include these goggles alongside gas masks and respirators, noting that their fog-proof feature was crucial for soldiers and air raid wardens who needed unimpeded vision in emergencies. Even if not always explicitly labeled “Nod and Shake,” similar goggles are preserved in collections worldwide as examples of early 20th-century protective eyewear technology. Their presence in such a variety of museum settings – from mining to swimming to military – underscores the goggles’ unusual dual legacy.
Influence on Later Designs
The Nod and Shake goggles had a lasting impact on the design of safety and sport eyewear. They demonstrated the viability of built-in anti-fog systems long before chemical anti-fog coatings or modern ventilation became common. The idea of using water to clear a lens is still used by scuba divers today (who often clear a foggy mask by letting in a bit of water and swilling it around). In that sense, Cover’s design anticipated principles of later diving masks. It showed that a tight-fitting eye mask could be kept transparent in harsh conditions – a problem every diver, firefighter, or skier knows well. Post-1920s, many goggles and masks incorporated some form of anti-fog measure, be it a removable absorber, a coating, or dual-pane lenses. Harvey Cover’s solution was elegantly low-tech and robust: simply carry a bit of water with you. While no direct lineage exists between the Nod and Shake goggles and, say, modern swim goggles or SCUBA masks (which evolved through multiple paths), the conceptual influence is evident. Even the U.S. military’s later developments in diver masks and aviation goggles acknowledged early goggles like Cover’s in their patent literature.
Moreover, the success of Cover’s goggles in both industry and sport proved that one piece of equipment could crossover domains. This blurred the line between industrial safety gear and athletic gear. By the mid-20th century, companies began producing specialized swim goggles, ski goggles, and lab goggles, but the pioneering example of the Nod and Shake likely inspired designers to consider how to keep lenses clear during use. It’s fair to say that every time a modern swimmer shakes a few drops of water around inside their goggles to defog them, they are unwittingly echoing Harvey Cover’s 1922 innovation.
Conclusion
From the coal mines and chemical labs of the 1920s to the swimming pools and navy training exercises of the mid-century, Cover’s Nod and Shake goggles left a remarkable imprint on safety and sports history. They were born out of necessity – a clever response to the age-old problem of foggy lenses – and in solving that problem they found utility far beyond their original purpose. Industrial workers gained a safer, more convenient eye protector, and swimmers gained some of the first reliable goggles to aid their underwater vision. Today, these vintage goggles are preserved in museum collections around the world, celebrated for their dual-use design. They stand as artifacts of human ingenuity, illustrating how one invention can bridge seemingly unrelated fields. Whether admired in a mining museum or a sports exhibit, the Nod and Shake goggles continue to tell the story of innovation in the face of adversity – and how a simple “nod and shake” can make all the difference in seeing clearly, no matter the environment.
Follow us
