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History Of Candle Making
For centuries, candles have cast a light on man's progress. However, there is
very little known about the origin of candles. Although it is often written that
the first candles were developed by the Ancient Egyptians who used rushlights,
or torches, made by soaking the pithy core of reeds in molten tallow, the
rushlights had no wick like a candle. It is the Romans who are credited with
developing the wick candle, using it to aid travelers at dark, and lighting
homes and places of worship at night.
Like the early Egyptians, the Romans relied on tallow, gathered from cattle or
sheep suet, as the principal ingredient of candles. It was not until the Middle
Ages when beeswax, a substance secreted by honey bees to make their honeycombs,
was introduced. Beeswax candles were a marked improvement over those made with
tallow, for they did not produce a smoky flame, or emit an acrid odor when
burned. Instead, beeswax candles burned pure and clean. However, they were
expensive, and, therefore, only the wealthy could afford them.
Colonial women offered America's first contribution to
candle making when they discovered that boiling the grayish green berries of
bayberry bushes produced a sweet-smelling wax that burned clean. However,
extracting the wax from the bayberries was extremely tedious. As a result, the
popularity of bayberry candles soon diminished.
The growth of the whaling industry in the late 18th century brought the first
major change in candlemaking since the Middle Ages, when spermaceti, a wax
obtained by crystallizing sperm whale oil, became available in quantity. Like
beeswax, the spermaceti wax did not elicit a repugnant odor when burned.
Furthermore, spermaceti wax was found harder than both tallow and beeswax. It
did not soften or bend in the summer heat. Historians note that the first
"standard candles" were made from spermaceti wax.
It was during the 19th century when most major developments affecting
contemporary candlemaking occurred. In 1834, inventor Joseph Morgan introduced a
machine which allowed continuous production of molded candles by the use of a
cylinder which featured a movable piston that ejected candles as they
solidified.
Further developments in candlemaking occurred in 1850 with the production of
paraffin wax made from oil and coal shales. Processed by distilling the residues
left after crude petroleum was refined, the bluish-white wax was found to burn
cleanly, and with no unpleasant odor. Of greatest significance was its cost —
paraffin wax was more economical to produce than any preceding candle fuel
developed. And while paraffin's low melting point may have posed a threat to its
popularity, the discovery of stearic acid solved this problem. Hard and durable,
stearic acid was being produced in quantity by the end of the 19th century. By
this period, most candles being manufactured consisted of paraffin and stearic
acid.
With the introduction of the light bulb in 1879, candlemaking declined until the
turn of the century when a renewed popularity for candles emerged.
Candle manufacturing was further enhanced during the first half of the 20th
century through the growth of U.S. oil and meatpacking industries. With the
increase of crude oil and meat production, also came an increase in the
by-products that are the basic ingredients of contemporary candles — paraffin
and stearic acid.
No longer man's major source of light, candles continue to grow in popularity
and use. Today, candles symbolize celebration, mark romance, define ceremony,
and accent decor — continuing to cast a warm glow for all to enjoy.