Hello there
The history of candles is almost as old as the history of civilization
itself. The mention of lighting candles dates back to ancient times
as early as 3000 BCE in Crete and Egypt and a candle dating from the
1st century CE has been found in Avignon, France.
Candles were considered such expensive items in Europe that during the
reign of Louis XIV, one of the perks to the nobility for spending
their required time at the royal court at Versailles was permission to
take unburned remnants of candle stubs home with them.
In early China and Japan, candles were made with wax derived from
insects and various seeds then molded in paper tubes. Wax skimmed from
boiling cinnamon in water was the basis of candles for temple use in
India. The oldest known candle in North America dates to the first
century A.D. Native Americans burned oily fish (candlefish) wedged
into a forked stick. When early missionaries entered the southwestern
United States, they boiled the bark of the cerio tree and skimmed the
wax. Early settlers in New England used the same technique to obtain
wax from Bayberries. To this day Bayberry candles are made the same
way, although cost is prohibitive since it takes one and a half quarts
of Bayberries to make an 8 inch taper candle. No wonder one of the
most delightful aromas of Christmas is so expensive.
Tallow, made by rendering animal fat was another common candle making
material. However, because of its odor (it really does smell bad),
beeswax was preferred although a lot more expensive. When paraffin was
discovered in the 19th century, it thankfully made tallow obsolete.
From about the sixteenth century onwards, living standards improved
greatly as evidenced by the increasing availability of candlesticks
and candleholders and their appearance in middle class households. At
that time, candles were usually sold by the pound in bundles of eight,
ten, or twelve.
The ninetenth century saw the development of patented candlemaking
machines, which made candles available for the poorest homes. In an
attempt to protect the industry, England passed a law forbidding the
making of candles at home without buying a special licence.
As for when American homes stopped using candles and started using
electricity, we have sort of a stumbling block there. While many
rural homes used candles and other forms of lighting using a flame,
such as oil lamps, the cities were switching to natural gas and there
was an interlude between candle use and electrical use known as the
gaslight era. Many homes went from candles to gaslamps and only later
switched to electricity. So there is no clearcut demarkation between
candles and the use of electricity to light American homes.
Search - Google
Terms - candles, history of candles, history of american indoor
lighting
Websites used for the above:
History of Candlemaking
http://www.cierracandles.com/history.htm - A commercial website of
Cierra Candles
Candles and their history as well as common uses in rituals
http://www.wizardswindow.com/candles.cfm - a New Age rather wizardly
website
History of Candles Candle Holders
http://quicksitemaker.com/members/candlelight/historyofcandles.html -
A commercial website from Light of the Ages
If you would like more detailed information, you might want to
contact:
National Candle Association
1030 15th Street, Suite 870
Washington, DC 20005
202-393-2210
If I may clarify anything before you rate the answer, please ask.
Your question has brightened my evening
digsalot |
