Candles Through The Ages: A Brief History of Candle-Making

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 received a B.A. with distinction in English from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in 1977. He has been a freelance writer ever since, with a brief stint in publishing. He has published several short stories and many articles, including nine years as a writer for the Midlands Business Journal. He has written a Cliffs Notes on Willa Cather's My Antonia. His short story "Ball of Fire" was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. As a publisher, he published five trade paperback books, including two he edited--October Dreams: A Harvest of Horror (with Jeff Mason) and The Pelican In The Desert: and Other Stories of the Family Farm both are out of print, but used copies often can be found on Amazon). In 2006 he took on a new challenge of Web development. Kubicek, his wife, Cheryl, and their son, Sean, live in Lincoln, Nebraska, with a black lab named Kabella, a cross between a lab and a hound dog named Scooter and a cat named Whiskers. Visit him at www.davidkubicek.com.