stand like a Stoughton bottle: stand around silently and apathetically

This phrase comes from pre-Revolutionary days. You can also sit around like a Stoughton bottle. Dr. Stoughton, purveyor of a patent stomach remedy, "Stoughton's Great Cordial Elixir," shipped his wares from England to the American colonies in heavy, reusable bottles. They were not only convenient for storing liquids, but were often filled with sand and used as a doorstop or heated and used as foot warmers. When the Revolutionary War halted British imports, Americans started producing their own Stoughton bottles. Charles Funk, author of Heavens to Betsy, notes that what were called Stoughton bottles in the late nineteenth century were made of heavy glass. However, the original bottles from Dr. Stoughton were almost certainly stoneware, as glass bottles would have been too fragile to ship from England.