Glass onions were large hand blown glass bottles used aboard sailing ships to hold wine or brandy. For increased stability on rough seas, the bottles were fashioned with a wide-bottom shape to prevent toppling, thus making the bottles look somewhat onion-shaped.
Famous quotes containing the words glass and/or onion:
“We are little airy creatures,
All of different voice and features:
One of us in glass is set,
One of us youll find in jet,
Tother you may see in tin,
And the fourth a box within;
If the fifth you should pursue,
It can never fly from you.”
—Jonathan Swift (16671745)
“Three meals of thin gruel a day, with an onion twice a week, and half a roll on Saturdays.”
—Charles Dickens (18121870)
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