[jvm___]

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.

[Barbing]

That’s wonderful so I want it to be true. Your comment is one of the top results on my search for more info!

[ricardobeat]

I was also curious and couldn’t find anything at all backing this claim. Seems like a complete fabrication, as plausible as it sounds.

Moreover, molasses was shipped from America and not the other way around.

[Barbing]

Do you remember where you heard this by chance?

[jvm___]

A kids field trip to a heritage village in Ontario Canada. So, basically some random volunteer.

This page seems to back me up.

https://www.heritage-matters.ca/articles/adventures-in-light...

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.