Shatter-Proof: How Glass Took Over the Kitchen—and Ended Child Labor

Cheers! The lively clink of glass on glass is a must for any
festive gathering, whether you’re sipping champagne in a flute or
lemonade in a tumbler. We rely on glass in the kitchen—for baking
perfectly browned pies, preserving jams and pickles, and so much
more. But glass wasn’t always so cheap and ubiquitous: to ancient
Egyptians and Romans, this was precious stuff—it was high fashion
to own a clear wine goblet in ancient Rome. Later, Venetians so
prized their glass know-how that they imprisoned their glassmakers
on an island. So how did glass go from fragile and precious
tabletop ornament to an oven-ready kitchen workhorse? How did the
inventions of a glassmaker in Toledo, Ohio, transform the peanut
butter and ketchup industries, as well as put an end to child
labor? And are we running out of sand to make glass? Learn more
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