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History
Mager
and Gougelman, Inc., today’s premier
Ocularists, devoted to the practice of
custom fitting and quality manufacturing
of ocular prostheses, was founded in the
United States in 1851 by Peter Gougelmann,
under the original name Gougelmann &
Company. Following years of training and
practice in Europe, Peter introduced the
custom fabrication of glass ocular prostheses
to New York City, which continues as the
hub of current operations. The introduction
of custom fabrication was a major advancement
in ocular care in the U.S. since prior
to this time only imported stock glass
eyes were “fitted” in eye
sockets. The company’s founding
father, Peter, was born in Meisterschwanden,
Canton of Aargau, Switzerland, on the
5th of May 1821, the same day Napoleon
died. He received his education as a youth
in Switzerland under Niederer, a student
of the famous professor Pertalozzi and
then spent several years at a University
in Germany.
After his schooling, Peter immigrated
to France and apprenticed under Professor
Boissonneau of Paris who was the recognized
meister in the field of Ocularistry. Since
both Peter and the Professor were in a
unique profession, artificial eye making,
and both were fluent in several languages,
it afforded the pair the opportunity to
travel to many European countries making
custom glass eyes for the needy. The association
of Peter and the Professor continued over
a number of years until Peter decided
to introduce his skill to the Americas.
Peter and his young wife, Marie, a native
of Yvardon, Switzerland, sailed for New
York City in 1848.
For the first several years Peter was
in New York City, he devoted his time
and efforts to the research and development
of the basic materials found in the United
States that were needed for his profession.
From these materials solid glass colored
rods and hollow white tubes were formed
for use in the craft of artificial eye
making. To assist him, Peter located a
German chemist in New York City by the
name of F. Bauch who had a vast knowledge
of glass and the necessary ingredients
used to produce the special type of glass
for hand blowing glass eyes to which Peter
was accustomed to working with in Europe.
Besides the basic white shades of the
sclera, a glass eye needed a variety of
colors to be infused to reproduce the
veins, iris color, and pupil. Finally,
a clear crystal layer is melded over the
entire pupil and iris area in order to
acquire the three-dimensional appearance.
This procedure of melding, known as corneal
fusing, was derived and held as one of
the many family trade secrets of the time.
After accomplishing the production of
the glass ingredients for an artificial
eye, Peter opened a small office at 561
Broadway in New York City with Mr. Bauch.
Peter and his wife, Marie, raised six
children, three girls and three boys.
The oldest son, Walter, apprenticed under
Peter and, after years of training, became
a qualified Ocularist. Peter suddenly
died in 1894. At the time of his father’s
death, Pierre was attending New York City
University. He abruptly left his studies
and apprenticed under Walter’s tutelage.
The two brothers continued the family
craft and partnership under the name Gougelmann
& Company, at their office on Van
Dam Street, and later at 117 East 12th
Street. As word spread of the two brothers’
reputation for custom artificial eye fitting
and fabrication, the company moved to
a larger office at 108 East 12th Street,
to accommodate the growing patronage.
The office remained at this location for
the next fifty years.
By this time Walter and Pierre had acquired
a very large clientele. After Walter’s
death, at an early age from a heart attack,
Pierre decided to hire several experienced
glass eye artisans from Germany. As business
continued to prosper Pierre also took
in two partners, Henry and George Mager.
Gougelmann & Company became Mager
and Gougelmann, Inc. The Magers were excellent
Ocularists and businessmen and since there
was a great demand for custom eye replacements
due to accidents and disease, Pierre and
his new partners saw the need to expand
their business and started a regular monthly
trip schedule. They traveled to: Boston,
Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Baltimore,
Albany, Buffalo, Chicago, and Detroit.
As the business of custom eye making continued
to grow, Paul, the third and youngest
of Peter Gougelmann’s sons, was
introduced into the company. Paul rapidly
demonstrated his expertise for management.
Pierre sent him to the Chicago office
together with several trained glass eye
technicians. Although Paul did not fabricate
glass eyes for patients, he promoted the
advantages of custom fabricating glass
eyes over stock eyes. As word spread in
the Midwest of the advantages of having
a glass eye custom fabricated and custom
fitted the demand grew, Paul felt the
need to expand. He opened a number of
permanent branch offices in Detroit, Minneapolis,
Cleveland, Kansas City, St. Louis, and
New Orleans. In the meantime, Pierre opened
up permanent branches in Boston, Buffalo,
Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and
Washington, D.C.
In 1929, the last of the Mager brothers
died. Mager and Gougelmann, Inc., moved
to 510 Madison Avenue with new apprentices
and technicians. Pierre Gougelmann’s
nephew, Fred Michel, apprenticed and became
one of the glass eye-makers. Pierre’s
brother-in-law, John Spahr, joined the
firm as manager of the Washington, D.C.
branch office. Even though John could
not make a glass eye, he became an expert
fitter. Paul’s wife in a previous
marriage bore a son, Hampton MacLaughlin.
Hampton was introduced into the Chicago
office management and became an expert
artificial eye fitter. Fred Michel’s
son-in-law, Hugh Laubheimer, was trained
to make and fit glass eyes in the New
York office. Pierre’s daughter,
Marie Anita, after graduating from college
spent several years learning to make and
fit artificial eyes but left to follow
her college major in biology.
During WWII, Paul’s son, Paul Jr.,
worked with the army in using a new type
of material “plastic.” To
save money, the Veterans Administration
trained military dentists to fit plastic
eyes. By training the dentists with the
new “plastic” technique the
Veterans Administration would not have
to pay private glass eye makers to fit
Veterans from World War I and World War
II.
In 1950, Henry, the current owner and
president of Mager & Gougelman, Inc.,
Pierre’s younger son, graduated
from college and joined his father. Pierre
first taught Henry to make and fit glass
eyes but, because of the many advantages
of plastic over glass, Henry soon switched
to fitting and fabricating plastic prostheses
which techniques he learned from the plastic
Ocularists in Mager & Gougelman, Inc.
Henry spent several years working under
the guidance and tutelage of Ray Jahrling
in the Boston branch office of Mager &
Gougelman, Inc.
Mager & Gougelman, Inc. and the other
custom artificial eye makers around the
country saw a trend in the fitting of
plastic eyes. Many different professions
began fitting plastic eyes ie: dentists,
opticians, optometrists, etc. With the
plastic eye being made and fitted by non-trained
ocularists, the custom artificial eye
makers found themselves in monetary difficulty.
However, with non-trained eye-makers trying
to come into the artificial eye business,
numerous problems began to arise. The
plastic used in making the eyes was not
being cured properly, the eyes were ill
fitted and the colors of the eyes were
too generic. Hence, the trained eye makers
banned together to form an artificial
eye makers society. The goal of the group
was to continually elevate the standard
of knowledge required in fitting and fabricating
artificial eyes. Pierre, his son Henry,
and the other professional artificial
eye makers, founded the American Society
of Ocularists.
Pierre retired in 1957, at the age of
80, after closely supervising the development
of Henry’s considerable and growing
expertise. Pierre was assured Henry would
continue to serve the firm well with a
full grasp of the company’s family
trade secrets combined with technological
advancements in materials to further benefit
the physical comfort and cosmetic appearance
of his numerous patients, notably at the
time: Joseph Pulitzer, Senator Thomas
Gore, General Archibald Wavell, Alfred
I. Du Pont, Paul Muni, Peter Falk, and
Helen Keller. Pierre died in 1963.
Times were changing and so was the field
of Ocularistry: an increase in business
competition and individual independence.
Henry, Paul Jr., and Hampton made a business
decision and decided to sell most of the
branch offices to their managers and eye
technicians. Paul Jr., left the field
of Ocularistry all together and established
his own company, Paul Gougelman, Inc.
His company manufactured stock plastic
eyes, plastic tile, talking baby dolls,
etc. Hampton continued in the Chicago
office, but finally sold it and retired.
Henry, keeping in the family tradition,
retained the New York City office and
the Boston, MA office, opened a branch
office in Hempstead, NY, and continued
making quarterly trips throughout New
York State, Connecticut, Maine, San Juan,
Puerto Rico, and St. Thomas, V.I. He also
opened a branch office in New Haven, CT,
in 1994 together with his sons David and
Andrew.
In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s,
Henry was one of the early founders of
the American Society of Ocularists. The
society established the ethics and fundamental
methods for ocularistry in the United
States.
The fourth generation of Gougelmann’s,
Henry’s three children, all have
joined him in the business. Laura, the
oldest, entered the business as a secretary
in 1986. She quickly became the office
manager and major medical billing consultant
for all Mager and Gougelman’s offices.
Laura currently is on maternity leave
after giving birth to a beautiful daughter,
Taylor. Andrew, the middle child, joined
the business on a part-time basis in 1981.
He graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh with
a major in anthropology and an art minor.
In 1989, he began working full-time with
the company. Andrew’s college education
has bestowed a talent that benefits the
fortunate patients. David, Henry’s
youngest son, joined the business part-time
in 1982. After attending Champlagne College
in Vermont with an accounting and computer
programming major, David joined Mager
and Gougelman as a full-time employee.
David enjoys working with patients in
the field of Ocularistry and with his
college background, also enjoys working
in the executive capacity. David has a
two-year old daughter, Amanda, and a seven-month-old
daughter, Jennifer, who both frequent
the New Haven, CT office. To keep the
family tradition, the Gougelmann’s
must start training at an early age!
Henry is a Diplomate of the American Society
of Ocularists. David and Andrew both have
obtained their Board certification from
the National Examining Board of Ocularists
and have also reached the status of Board
Approved Diplomate in the American Society
of Ocularists. They continue their education
by taking courses bi-annually from the
American Society of Ocularists and the
American Academy of Ophthalmology.
And today, the family tradition continues…
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