People have been making candles for a very, very long time and so you can imagine that there have been a lot of changes in the making of candles too. Perhaps the biggest change over all that time is the use to which candles are put. In the beginning, candles were used first and foremost for lighting and in the second place for heat, but nowadays they are used more for decoration as in religious ceremonies and romantic dinners.
It is not completely clear when the first candles were manufactured or used, but fragments of clay candle holders were found in Egypt dating back to 4 BC. It is also known that candles were in use in ancient China and Japan. These candles were made from oil extracted from insects and seeds. Meanwhile, taper candles were being used in India made from the oil drawn by boiling cinnamon.
Candles were in use in America during the early years of the first century AD. Before that native Americans probably used oily fish and the bark of the Cerio tree. In fact, when the first European settlers arrived, they used a similar method to manufacture candles from wax extracted from bayberries. Some manufacturers still use bayberry wax in candles, but they are apt to be quite expensive.
Much later, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, tallow was used to make candles, however tallow is produced from animal fat and it smelled very bad, particularly when it was burning. Bees wax and paraffin wax were introduced as substitutes for tallow in the early nineteenth century and tallow candles went out of fashion immediately.
People started manufacturing candles by dipping in about 13 AD. Candle merchants travelled from town to town and house to house making candles to order. In Paris in about 15 AD, candle moulds were invented and that greatly enhanced the candle making process. They were still having problems though with the wick – they just did not seem to burn evenly. The solution was begun in 1825 when someone braided the wick in a moulded candle.
This procedure was perfected in 1830 when a braided wick was placed in a moulded candle made from paraffin wax. This produced excellent candles that burned evenly without a bad smell. Not much has changed in the cheap, plain, white candles we use today. The biggest change came with the proliferation of gas and electricity, because it made the melting of the paraffin wax simpler.
The evolution of candles slowed in the twentieth century as candles went out of style in favour of gas and electric lighting. The use of candles got a new lease of life in the 1970’s when the hippy culture took to using them again. They are still popular now with the sons and daughters of the 70’s hippies, although these days there is a lot more variety. One of the most popular kinds of candles now are the scented or aromatic candles, some of which are used in aromatherapy.
Candle making is once again a cottage or home business with many people making their own label of scented candles in their kitchen and selling them to friends or online. It can be rather a profitable hobby-cum-business.
Of course, candles are now more of a luxury, tasteful decoration than they ever were before. You can easily improve atmosphere and ambiance to any room in your house by the use of candles. In fact, with appropriate candle holders you can even use candles outside to brighten up your patio or deck in a modern garden.
Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on a number of subjects, but is at present concerned with researching decorative candle holders. If you would like to know more or check out great offers, please go to our website at Wrought Iron Light.