| Flip a switch and turn on a light! If there is one thing | | | | candles don't bend in hot weather, a common |
| about modern life we really take for granted, it is | | | | problem for tallow and beeswax candles. By the |
| indoor electric lighting. Imagine, if you will, a home in | | | | 1700's the whaling industry was supplying this highly |
| the Middle Ages. It is night, and the day's hard work | | | | valued substance for use. Candle making has always |
| is done. A single candle lights the interior of the room. | | | | been a labor intensive business. Wax has to be |
| This candle provides light for the family's night time | | | | melted and hand poured into molds. Taper candles, |
| activities. It occupies a distinguished position in human | | | | the earliest candles made, must be dipped many |
| history. The candle is one of mankind's earliest | | | | times to make a candle. Molded candle production |
| inventions. The history of candle making is a long and | | | | became a lot easier in 1834 because of a gentleman |
| interesting story. | | | | by the name of Joseph Morgan. Mr. Morgan invented |
| The candle uses wax as fuel to produce light. Once | | | | a candle molding machine. This machine consisted of a |
| the wick of a candle is lighted, heat from the flame | | | | mold which had a moveable cylinder for its bottom. |
| burns the wax, which flows into the wick by capillary | | | | Wax was poured into the mold and allowed to cool. |
| action. It's a simple device, and it ruled the night for | | | | The cylinder bottom was then moved up, forcing the |
| thousands of years. | | | | hardened wax candles out of the top. Continuous |
| Archeological digs have unearthed candlesticks in | | | | production of candles was now possible. |
| Egyptian and Cretan sites dating to about 3000 BC. | | | | The best material for making candles was developed |
| Before this the Egyptians used a device called a rush | | | | near the end of the candles long reign. Automobiles |
| light. A rush light was made from the pithy core of | | | | were becoming popular in the late 1800's, and the |
| the rush plant, which was soaked in tallow and | | | | need for petroleum to fuel the new internal |
| burned for light. | | | | combustion engine became great. The leftover |
| Tallow was the main ingredient of candles for | | | | residues of petroleum production produced a |
| thousands of years. Tallow is processed from the fat | | | | substance called paraffin. It was ideal for the |
| of cattle and sheep. These candles emit a very | | | | production of candles, as it was economical, clean |
| disagreeable odor and a lot of smoke when burned. | | | | burning, and odorless. It's chief drawback was its low |
| They were used to light homes, temples, and | | | | melting point, which would have caused problems in |
| meeting places. Travelers used them to light their | | | | warm weather. The independent discovery of stearic |
| way. | | | | acid solved this problem. Added to paraffin, it |
| It is the Romans who probably learned how to make | | | | hardened the candle, and slowed its burn rate. |
| candles from beeswax. Beeswax is superior to tallow | | | | Paraffin/stearine candles soon became standard, |
| because it burns much cleaner, and is odorless. But it | | | | totally replacing the tallow candle. |
| was also very expensive, so its use was limited to | | | | Thomas Edison's creation of the light bulb in 1879 |
| the nobility and the Church. | | | | ended our dependency on the candle as a light |
| American Colonial women discovered that a superior | | | | source. The candle soon passed from necessity to |
| wax could be extracted from the bayberry. This wax | | | | ornamental. Candles are still used as ceremonial and |
| was very clean burning and produced a sweet aroma. | | | | decorative lights. Skilled crafts people still make |
| The difficulty in extracting the wax from the berry | | | | candles to light and perfume our homes. |
| prevented it from replacing the more readily available | | | | Candle making has been an essential craft in our |
| tallow. | | | | history. Candles lit our ancestors homes and provided |
| Whales have the bad fortune to have a substance | | | | light for sacred ceremonies. Their manufacture |
| called spermaceti in their enormous bodies. | | | | contributed to the economy of the civilizations they |
| Spermaceti produces a very high quality wax which | | | | illuminated. Today, candle making is a craft practiced |
| makes candles superior to both tallow and beeswax. | | | | by many artisans providing a link to our distant past. |
| Since it is harder than these other waxes, the | | | | |