Aiyaz Crystal Wine Glasses

Arc Holder Rack

History of Candle Making in the United States

"A candle, you know, is not now a greasy thing like an ordinary tallow candle, but a clean thing, and you may almost scrape off and pulverise the drops which fall from it without soiling anything." – Michael Faraday, The Chemical History of a Candle, London 1908.

Today, when we think about candles, we think about ambience or ceremony, pleasing fragrances and soft flickering lights.  Candles are part of life's little pleasures, and candle making is an enjoyable craft.  Historically, however, the candle played a much different role, and candle making was a basic necessity.

In the colonial days of the United States, after the sun went down, the options for light were limited: bonfires, tallow candles, grease lamps, or rushlights.  Grease lamps were shallow iron bowls that held grease, oil, or tallow. There was a wick holder, and different apparatus to facilitate attaching the foul smelling lamp onto the wall, the back of a chair or a table. Rushlights were made by stripping away the outerlayer of common rushes, soaking them in grease, and the allowing them to harden.  (According the University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture (arhomeandgarden.org), "Common rush is a clump-forming evergreen perennial, growing up to 3 feet tall with hollow, round, un-branched, leaf-like stems (a culm) that taper from the size of a soda straw at the base to a blunt, bristle-tipped point at the top. This species lacks true leaves.")

Making tallow candles was a labor intensive, autumn activity, usually carried out by the women of the house.  Every scrap of fat from butchered meat – including deer and bear – was used.  The fat was melted in large kettles. Poles were laid across chairs so that they could be used as a drying rack above the ground. Wicks were draped over candle rods, then dipped in the tallow, and hung on the drying rack to harden. It took skill to dip at the right speed; if the wax dried too quickly, the candle would crack.

"Well," you might think," the colonial days were an awfully long time ago."  That's true, so let's think about life in the 25 short years preceding the 20th century.

Imagine living in 1875.  Your grandparents were probably not alive, but your great-grandparents might have been; or your great-great grandparents – people about which you have heard stories.  In 1875, once the sun went down, if you wanted light, you still had just a few choices:  an oil lamp, a bonfire, or a candle.    You no longer had to make candles yourself; you could purchase them from a "chandler," a professional tradesman whose trade was making candles.

The function of candles didn't begin to change until the late nineteenth century.  In the Paris Exhibition of 1878, the streets and theatres were, for the first time, lit up with electricity – specifically, a type of electric carbon arc lamp, called an Yablochov candle.  By 1881, multiple US cities were using a refined version of the arc lamp – created by Clevelander Charles Brush.  These "electric candles," as they were called, were not practical for individual homes, however.

Throughout the 1880's inventors, such as Thomas Edison (Contrary to popular belief, Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb, but rather invented ways to make it commercially available), continued to improve upon the incandescent light bulb.    In Menlo Park, NJ, on Dec 31, 1879, Edison declared "We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles."

Consider yourself rich!

About the Author

Mary Martha Deane is the Queen of Candle Making.  She knows more about making candles than most people can imagine.   She thinks that Candle Making is a fantastic hobby, both for those who consider themselves creative, as well as for those folks who don't yet know how creative they are.  Mary Martha Dean finds great joy in teaching others about this delightful hobby.  In her latest book, "Candle Making Secrets Revealed," she shares her secrets for how to enhance the joy and satisfaction you get from this rewarding hobby.   Visit Candle Wax-Making Beautiful Candles to get her latest book  Candle Making Secrets Revealed

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