Imagine, you are living in the late 1700s and it is dark. Even though you are a lady of the upper classes, you still often go to bed with the sun. After all, there is little to do when the sun goes down, and little light to do it by. Sometimes you do a little sewing, or read a little, but candle light makes your eyes ache, and it's bad enough during the day when the sun shines through the windows.
When I took this enamel candle holder and china candle snuffer to school the childrens reactions were quite sweet. They were only shown the snuffer at first and tried to guess what it was. I was surprised when, at length, they were able to correctly guess that the item was a candle snuffer. They had heard about candle snuffers and old fashioned candle holders, but had never seen one and were quite excited. After all, most of the children only see candles on birthday cakes, not even using them in black outs any longer, choosing torches and battery operated lights instead. They particularly loved the candle holder which they thought looked like the one in 'Jack Be Nimble', the nursury rhyme.
Surprisingly for something so often used throughout human history, we don't actually know a lot for sure about where and when candles were 'invented'. We know that the earliest humans probably used torches made of wood, but when people first started using candles as such is a mystery. The Egyptians soaked reeds in tallow and used these as a source of light, but they had no wick so were not really candles. The first real candles with wicks that we know of originated in the Roman Empire, and were used to light Temples and homes at night and light paths for people who needed to travel in the dark.
Until the middle ages, all of the candles made relied on tallow, made from sheep or cattle fat. Although this tallow burned effectively, it also produced lots of smoke and smelt unpleasant. In the Medieval period though, a good alternative was discovered. Beeswax, which bees produce to make their honeycomb was found to be suitable for making candles and it was a great improvement. Not only did it smell less unpleasant, it burned relatively cleanly, without all the smoke. However, beeswax candles were also expensive, so most people still needed to rely on the cheaper tallow. In the late 1800s people discovered that spermaceti, which was created by crystalising sperm whale oil, also made for clean, odourless candles. These candles were also much harder than tallow or beeswax and became popular because they didn't melt in the sun and lasted longer. Until the 1800s though, all of the candles were hand made. Only in 1834 was a manufacturing process created for making candles, and a machine invented to make continuous production possible. After this time many more improvements in candle making were found, and other industries sprang up, particularly in the 20th century, which produced byproducts which were used in candle making. Yet as gas light, oil lamps and later electricity were introduced the need for candles diminished until today, they have been almost relegated to (according to the children) romantic dinners, scenting rooms and birthday parties. If you would like to learn more about the history of candles and candle making, click here.
