By 1938, Life magazine wrote of how sunglasses were a "new fad for wear on city streets ... a favorite affectation of thousands of women all over the U.S." It stated that 20 million sunglasses were sold in the United States in 1937 but estimated that only about 25% of American wearers needed them to protect their eyes.[2] At the same time, sunglasses started to be used as aids for pilots and even produced for the gaining aviation sector, eventually adding to sunglasses as cultural icons and to their popularity.