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The First Candles
As early as 3,000 B.C. the Egyptians made torches by soaking
the pithy core of reeds in molten tallow derived from animal fat. The Romans,
who also used tallow, developed the first candles with wicks, which were used
to guide travelers and light buildings.
The early Chinese molded candles in paper tubes and used
rolled rice paper for the wick; they made the wax from a concoction of an
indigenous insect and seeds. The Japanese made candles with wax extracted from
tree nuts. In India
early candle-makers boiled the fruit of the cinnamon tree for wax.
Candles in the Middle
Ages
In the Middle Ages candle-makers began using beeswax, which
honey bees secreted to build their honeycombs. The advantage of beeswax was
that unlike tallow it burned cleanly—no smoky flame or acrid odor.
Unfortunately, it was so expensive that only the wealthy could afford it.
By the 13th century, candlemakers (or chandlers) in England
and France sold
tallow candles from their shops and traveled to homes, making candles from the
fat the residents had saved.
Candles in the 18th
Century In Colonial America, women discovered that boiling bayberry
leaves also produced a fragrant, clean-burning wax. But because the
wax-producing process was so tedious, bayberry candles quickly lost popularity.
In the late 18th century, the booming whaling industry
initiated the first revolution in candlemaking since the Middle Ages; Spermaceti—a
wax produced by crystallizing sperm whale oil—also burned clean and smelled
pleasant. Because it was harder than beeswax or tallow, it withstood the summer
heat better.
Candles in the 18th
Century
In the 1820s French chemist Michel Eugene Chevreul discovered
how to extract stearic acid from animal fatty acids, leading to the development
of stearin wax, which was hard, durable, and burned cleanly.
In 1834, Joseph Morgan invented a machine that allowed for
the continuous production of molded candles, using a cylinder with a movable
piston that ejected candles as they solidified. With the advent of mass
production, most people could easily afford candles.
By 1850, paraffin wax—made from oil and coal shales—was in
production. It burned cleanly, didn’t produce a repugnant odor, and was less
expensive to produce than any preceding wax. Because it had a low melting
point, stearic acid was used to make the candles more durable. By the end of
the 19th century, most candles were being made from a paraffin wax-stearic acid
combination.
Candles After the
Light Bulb
After the light bulb was invented in 1879, people began to
lose interest in candles, but the growth of the U.S.
oil and meatpacking industries, which resulted in an increase of the byproducts
used to create paraffin and stearic acid—the basic ingredients in
candles—caused a revival of the candle’s popularity.
In the mid-1980s, the popularity of candles as decorative
items and for mood setting began to rise. Manufacturers began producing candles
in a wide variety of sizes and shapes and a multitude of scents.
Today candles are used in 7 out of 10 U.S.
households, and U.S.
annual sales, excluding candle accessories, are estimated at $2 billion. David Kubicek is a freelance
writer and with his wife, Cheryl, runs two Websites. http://www.candlelightway.com
is devoted to candles and incense, and http://www.holidaystocelebrate.com
is devoted to holidays.
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