Molasses was cheap because it was the packing material for plate glass - which was only made in England. Place your plate glass in a barrel, fill it with molasses and you can ship it to North America. Just wash off the glass and you're good to go.
Jumping Jehoshaphat! The stained glass window up front is a memorial to George Jehosephat Mountain, a British-Canadian Anglican bishop. It was installed in 1864 and was the first monument of its kind in Québec. “The window was made in England and shipped to Québec City in barrels of molasses to protect it from damage.” A sticky situation, indeed.
The earliest ecclesiastical windows in Ontario are clear – likely English crown glass, such as is found at the Sharon Temple (1825-31) and the Old Stone Church (1840-53) in Thorah, near Beaverton. This glass was safely shipped from England in barrels of molasses, already cut to size. Coloured glass began arriving shortly thereafter. Using materials at hand, early windows were assembled within wood muntins (strips). Examples include the glorious windows in the chapel of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Convent, Ottawa (1887), designed by Georges Bouillon and re-erected in the National Gallery of Canada in 1988.
