Search Challenge (8/12/15): Finding things from other cultures

Often the most difficult ... 

... Challenges come from friends who are Googlers (so they've already done their own searching on the topic), and who are still stumped by what they seek. 

Difficult Challenges are also characterized by not knowing where to start.  That was the case a couple of weeks ago with the oddly-shaped industrial roof-line, and it's definitely the case when you're searching for something that's NOT in your own culture.  In Search Challenges like this, you literally don't know where to start, and that makes the searching harder than usual.  

Two we have two Challenges, one that's difficult (from a Danish Googler friend) and one that's pretty straightforward, but also comes from another culture.  

Challenge #1 comes from my friend Elin. She's a Google Researcher from Denmark who wrote to me with the following question:  

I am looking for the name (and detailed function) of an instrument I remember from my childhood, in  early 60s.

Back then, it was common that opticians had this mounted on their storefront window, for the education and amusement of bypassers on the sidewalk, and most likely also to bring people into buy new frames and lenses.

When you looked, with one eye at a time, into a scope, you would see colored circles, I think it was a blue circle with a larger red one behind. Deformity in the circle was an indicator of astigmatism (as far as I remember), but perhaps there were other aspects as well.

As kids, we loved to "test" ourselves when we walked by the store.  Maybe we were early quantified self'ers...  

I have asked around among people aged 50-60, but no Americans seem to have experienced this. Some Danes and Germans remember this, growing up in urban cities with lots of store fronts.  But nobody seem to remember the name and exact functionality.

1.  WHAT is the name of this device that Elin describes?  Can you figure out who made (or still makes) them? 



This week's second Challenge comes from my travels in northern California.  While on a trail walk, I came across the following fascinating place.  Here are my pictures from that remarkable field of beautifully carved wooden sculptures with images of horses.  I somehow doubt they were put here by the Dothraki.... 

Click on each of these images to see the photo in full resolution.  

You can see why I was so astonished at running across these posts, kind of in the middle of an open field.  What?  How?  And furthermore, Why?  

2.  What are these posts for?  Who built them, and why?  

Remember to let us know HOW you found the answer, what you did to make your research path work out!  

(Caution:  Neither Elin nor I have the answer to Challenge #1, so we'll be searching as well this week.  But I do know that Challenge #2 is fairly straightforward. But if the SRS Regulars aren't making any headway by Friday, I'll post a hint in an update.)  

Search on!