There are several Block Island businesses celebrating their 50th year in 2020. This is the third article in the series.
The Glass Onion, named after the Beatles’ song, carries eclectic home goods, clothing and jewelry. Bought by Ned Phillips in 1979, Phillips and his partner Mary Anderson continue to manage the small shop on Water Street. The shop has been through many changes and stages in its life to reach where it stands today.
“Our family bought the Glass Onion building at 241 Water Street in 1970 from Andy Anderson, who also owned and operated the High View Hotel and Bar with his wife, Kitty. The building was built in 1924 from two fishing shacks that had been dragged up from the beach at Old Harbor. It was originally operated as ‘Milliken’s Barbershop,’” said Phillips.
Phillips noted when the building was bought by his family, “it was still set up as a barber shop and beauty parlor that had been in operation for several years by Neil Rose. The barber shop hadn’t been in operation for several years, and when we opened the door everything was there – barber chairs, hair curling machines, sinks, mirrors, barber pole. It
