Candle Making History... Lighting Our World from Ancient Times to Today!

The history of candle making is shrouded in mystery. When and where was the first candle made? Who knows… and frankly I doubt we’ll ever know for sure. But for anyone who’s ever grilled a hunk of meat and seen dripping grease flair up when it hits hot coals, it doesn’t take a huge stretch of the imagination to figure out “HOW” ancient man came up with the idea for the first artificial light.

What we do know is that candles shaped very much like tapers of today were found in Egypt around 3,000 BC. In Japan and China ancient people packed insects and seeds containing a high oil contents into paper tubes and lit these. India got into the act as well, making a taper like candle from the wax that comes from boiling cinnamon.

In the 13 century traveling chandlers would come to your door and dip candles for you from your saved up tallow (Yes you had to provide the material which meant storing the smelly stuff). In fact, tallow candle making was first mentioned as a craft in 1283. By 1390 it was considered one of the standard crafts or “Great Misteries” in the city of London. These candles were made by the dip method with twisted cotton roving for wicks. Sometimes hemp or flax was used as well.

Candle history would not have been the same without King Edward IV. He granted the first Royal Charter for tallow candle making to “The Worshipful Company of Tallow Chandlers” in 1462. This allowed the company to set the price for tallow candles and to regulate the trade of medieval candles both inside and outside of London. King Edward IV even had a servant whose only job was to collect the fat of animals slaughtered in the Royal Household. He was to collect, save and record how much of this fat was on hand at all times. It was to be used only for candle making.

Molds for candle making were first used in 15 century Paris. This method of candle making produced a much more uniform candle which was much easier to fit into the socket of candle sticks. Until this time "picket" type candle sticks were most common.

It was during the middle ages that candles became associated with the Christian religion and we see the first use of sanctuary candles. Priests and monks manufactured candles from Beeswax. In fact, only beeswax candles were allowed in churches and cathedrals. Tallow candles were prohibited because of the large amount of smoke they produced and the foul smell they make.

Also at this time we see the first candle chandeliers. This innovation makes lighting large spaces, like those find in palaces and cathedrals easier.

The discovery of spermaceti and bayberry wax are the highlights of candle making in colonial times.

Spermaceti or the headmatter of the Sperm Whale could be made into a much harder, cleaner burning and better smelling candle than either tallow or beeswax. This was good for colonists and chandlers (housewives couldn’t make this kind of candle) and, as we all know, bad for the whales. The first “standard candles” as we know them were made from Spermaceti.

In fact the term “candlepower” was coined at this time. It is a way to measure the strength of a light source. 10 candle power is equal to 10 spermaceti candles that each weigh one sixth of a pound and burn at a rate of 120 grams per hour.

Bayberry wax was discovered by colonial women looking for an alternative to smelly, sooty tallow candles and expensive beeswax candles. The little grayish green berries of the Bayberry bush produce a lovely clean smelling wax. Unfortunately, because of the large quantity of berries needed for candle making, bayberry candles never replaced tallow.

Most of the advances that bring us the candles that we know and love today were made during the 1800’s.

Until 1820, when Cambacèrés discovered that a braided wick would fold over on itself and be fully consumed by the flame,candles had to be constantly tended or “snuffed”. If they were not they would burn to fast and the taper would drip wasting expensive tallow or wax. At about the same time a new and improved form of tallow called “stearine” was developed by a French chemist Michel Chevreul.

A little later Edward Price & Co. (who would later be known as Price’s Patent Candle Co.) improved the tallow candle still further by adding coconut and/or palm oil. These were known as “composition” candles and were hard, pure white and produced a bright flame without smell or smoke.

And folks weren’t only changing what candles were made of they were changing how there were made too. A water cooled candle mold was invented by Thomas Binns in 1801. Joseph Morgan made a candle mold with movable pistons to push the cooled candles from the molds in 1823. He improved his design in 1834 to allow continuous candle production. By 1855 Humiston and Stainforth created candle making machines that were still in use well into the 20th century.

The last major change to candle making history occurred in 1850 when paraffin wax (a byproduct of the petroleum industry) became available to the candle making community. At first it's melting point was found to be too low but this problem was solved by the addition of stearic acid. By the end of the 1800’s most candles were being made from Paraffin and stearic acid.

However in 1879 the light bulb was introduced and the demand for candles as a source of lighting diminished and slowly died as more and more households adopted electricity and light bulbs for their lighting needs.

Even though we no longer rely on candles to light our homes and workplaces, more candles are made, bought and burned today than ever before! Modern candles are a luxury item. We use them in more ways than ever before… they define ceremonies, add scent our homes, symbolize celebrations and to help us create relaxing and romantic moods!

Be a part of candle making history… Make and a candle today!

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