In our fast-paced, fast-changing age, where yesterday’s staples are quickly replaced by the “latest and greatest” varieties, it’s nice to know some things stand the test of time. Today, the candle continues to burn as an enduring, time-honored essential for the modern home—although it hasn’t always existed in the fragrant, attractive form in which we know it. Indeed, candles have come a long way over the centuries.
The First Primitive Candles
Candles have been around for thousands of years, since the ancient Egyptian and Roman times. Before the convenience of the light bulb, they served in a purely functional capacity, their flame providing the sole source of light after sunset. In their earliest forms, candles were often used as staples of religious ceremonies for various denominations. (This tradition continues today for events both ritualistic and festive in nature, with candlelight illuminating many weddings, baptisms, church services, and birthday parties.)
The ancient Romans were the first to produce their own candles using tallow, animal fat derived from livestock. To ready it for the candle-making process, tallow was melted, cooked, and strained. After cooling, it was then re-melted and poured over prepared wicks made from cotton, hemp, or flax. Not surprisingly, these primitive tallow candles didn’t offer the enjoyable candle fragrances and clean-burning properties of today’s aromatherapy candles. To the contrary, they burned inefficiently and messily, and often emanated unpleasant-smelling smoke and fumes.
The Middle Ages: Beeswax for the Elite
Later, during the Middle Ages, tallow candles were replaced by candles made from beeswax. The candle-making process for beeswax was similar to that used with tallow, but the advantages were numerous. Beeswax provided a cleaner-burning candle without the unpleasant odor of tallow, but it wasn’t nearly as abundant. The high demand and low supply caused the price of beeswax candles to skyrocket, making it nearly impossible for lower- or middle-class citizens to acquire them.
Colonial America: The First Scented Candles
Colonial American settlers were the first to use bayberry wax, which was derived from boiling the berries found on the bayberry shrub. Perhaps the earliest scented candles, bayberry emanated a sweet, pleasing candle fragrance and burned efficiently. The drawback? The process of creating the bayberry wax was highly laborious and time-consuming.
18th Century: The Advent of Whale Oil
With the booming of the whaling industry in the 18th century, residual whale oil was available in an abundant supply. It contained spermaceti wax, which was eventually used in candle-making. Its rigid composition made it a preferred wax type for hot summers, although spermaceti candles lacked the fragrant properties of bayberry wax.
19th Century: A Revolution in Candle-making
With the 19th century came many sweeping changes in the candle-making process, the most notable being the introduction of the first candle-making machine. Finally, candles were abundant and available for all classes of citizens, not just the elite. Around the same time, the discovery of stearic acid in tallow further revolutionized the process, providing a way for candles to be created directly from stearic. Traditional cotton wicks were replaced with longer-lasting braided wicks, which burned more efficiently with less need of monitoring. The 19th century also saw the advent of paraffin wax, first burned in the United Kingdom. Blended with stearic acid, paraffin candles offered many advantages over their wax predecessors, including a clean, odor-free flame and cost-effective production.
Modern-day Candles
Today, candles are used for much more than just a source of light. Not only do they provide a soothing ambiance, they often infuse the home with rich aromas and décor-enhancing colors and styles. Candle enthusiasts can find a wide assortment of styles blended from a variety of wax types, including paraffin, soy, gel, beeswax, and palm oil, among others. Candle stores offer dozens of aromatherapy candles and candle scents, dyed in a vivid rainbow of colors. And with the rising popularity of the Internet, it’s easier than ever to find your favorite scented candles online.
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May 29th, 2008 at 1:58 am
Cool (or hot) and complete information regarding candles. Whether we like it or not, candles have been so much a part of our human lives already. Before there was electricity, candles are there to light our way. When we were given our name, candles were there as witnesses during baptism. We light candles to pay our respects and we light up candles to give hope to anyone who don’t have hope, we encourage anyone with candles, we show our love through candles, too. In the business side, we also used candles for a lot of things. As a home stager, sometimes, there is a need to put up candles to decorate a house to make it look good to buyers. Thanks for the wonderful article. It brings out the best in candles and to our human life!