Candles (Latin, candela, "a light or torch," and from candere, "to shine or be bright") as we know them -- slow-burning wax enclosed around a fibrous wick for the purpose of lighting -- were used by the Romans. And, it is reported that beeswax candles were used even earlier (3,000 years before Christ) in Crete and Egypt, where tombs at Thebes bore carvings of candles on platelike holders. Even now, archaeology shows us evidence of the Jewish temple menorah -- the celebrated seven-branched, golden candelabrum (actually, a lampstand) -- etched in relief on the Arch of Titus outside the Roman Forum, commemorating the spoils taken by Rome in the conquest of Jerusalem (70 AD). Technically, lamps use a wick in a flammable liquid (usually oil), while candles utilize a solid fuel (generally wax). Most likely, animal fat (tallow) poured over a wick was the first candle. The oldest known candle fragment -- dated from the first century AD -- was found at Vaison, near Avignon, France. Early candlemakers repeatedly dipped wicks into melted wax, or they poured the molten wax over the wicks, building up successively thicker coats. Molds were also employed in the 1400s; but, in particular, the beeswax was less suited to the wooden molds than the tallow, since the sticky beeswax would not release from the wood.
Those who could afford to burn animal fat on a wick and not consume it for their hunger were the early benefactors of candles. An additional price paid for the use of tallow candles was a smoky, rancid burn; whereas, candles for the liturgy of the mass of the Roman Catholic Church were ordered to be made from the cleaner burning, more expensive beeswax. It must be remembered that it was generally the academic, the priest, or the king's court that were both literate and possessed the wherewithal of a candle for nighttime reading. By 1292, seventy-one chandlers (or, candlemakers) were listed on the tax rolls of Paris. As late as the eighteenth century, the English naturalist, Gilbert White, described in "The Natural History of Selborne" (1789) how the laboring class made candles from pig fat and reed grasses -- which subjectively, produces a less favorable odor than the more favored mutton or beef tallow. The use of candles by the more affluent may be illustrated by the coronation of George III in 1761, where groups of 3,000 candles were ingenuously linked together with threads of gun cotton and quickly lit in thirty seconds. In conjunction with this grand display of light, however, guests of the English king were showered with hot wax and burning thread.
Charles Dickens wrote, "Darkness is cheap, and Scrooge liked it," in his 1843 classic, "A Christmas Carol." Though gas was already in use by 1814 for London street lighting, a fireplace where available or a candle when afforded provided some of the lighting that we now take for granted. Without the use of flint, steel, tinder, or an already burning fire, lighting a candle would be cumbersome to impossible. It ought to make us appreciate the ease of matches. Invented by an English chemist and apothecary (pharmacist), John Walker, matches were produced by coating a stick with antimony sulfide, potassium chlorate, gum, and starch. He sold the first match on April 7, 1827. Not until the nineteenth century did some clever soul find a way to braid the wick to bend away from the candle's flame, so that the wick would burn to ash and thus take away the constant necessity of snuffing (trimming) the wick to prevent it from smoking. By the way, these snuffers were not used to put out the candle's flame, but they were a cunning pair of scissors with a small box attached to the lower blade to catch the trimmed wick. The 1800s also brought the introduction of stearin candles (1825), Joseph Morgan's invention of the first candle-molding machine (1834), and "Colonel" Edwin Drake's oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania (1859) as a vast source for paraffin wax.
But first, build a better candle and man would have to reach further than ever before. By the middle of the nineteenth century, New England whaling ships from ports such as New Bedford and Nantucket, Massachusetts harvested whales worldwide, giving us tales of the sea, e.g., Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" (1851), and the spermaceti candle. The head cavity of the sperm whale (Physeter catodon) contained spermaceti -- a white, waxy liquid, which many scientists believe is used by the whale to focus it's echolocation signal for communication and hunting -- from which candles could be viably produced, yielding a candle that was valued for its brightness, longer burning time, and slightly sweet odor. The first standard candle was the spermaceti candle, which weighed 1/6 pound and burned at the rate of 120 grains per hour. Researchers had traditionally estimated populations of 20,000 humpback whales and 30,000 to 50,000 fin whales, as calculated from hunting logbooks dating back to the seventeenth century; but, recent research published in "Science Magazine" (July 25, 2003), i.e., "Where Have All the Whales Gone?", has scientists from Harvard University and Stanford University determining from the mitochondria DNA (mtDNA) of a sample of 510 whales that there may have been ten times their earlier estimates of these Cetacean marine mammals.
Michel Eugene Chevreul (1786-1889) was a French scientist who advanced the practical understanding of building a better candle through his chemical research and discoveries concerning the structure and properties of lipids. This led to the publishing of "Recherches chimiques sur les corps gras d'origine animale" (1823) and his patent for the manufacture of stearic acid candles (1825). By refining tallow with sulfuric acid and alkali, the result was stearine (stearic acid or stearin). Stearic acid candles gave a brighter light, released no unpleasant odors, lowered the wax's melting point, and made cooled candles harder so they would not wilt in the summer heat. Then came the introduction of crude oil and the resulting paraffin wax to chandlery. The production of oil from Pennsylvania gave us paraffin wax candles as well as one-half of the world's supply of oil until the Texas oil boom of 1901. Because these petroleum based paraffin candles had a tendency to soften at temperatures well below their melting point, it was a perfect marriage for them to be reinforced with Chevreul's stearic acid. In the twentieth century, the formulation of the standard candle was paraffin wax (60%), stearic acid (35%), and beeswax (5%). Further stiffening of the wax was accomplished through the addition of carnauba or candelilla, or the wax blend was even further softened with amorphous paraffin wax. Wicks would be braided from good quality linen or cotton, and to prevent the extinguished wick from afterglow, the wicks were soaked in solutions of ammonium chloride or borax, phosphate, or sulphate.
Of course, candles are still used for lighting, but now the incandescent and fluorescent bulb have taken away the candle's necessity for everyday lighting -- other than for emergencies. Candles are now even more popular, but now more for mood, aroma, and ambience to contribute to a special occasion -- such as dining. Retail candle sales in the United States are estimated to be about $2 billion [2003]. More than 350 commercial, religious, and institutional manufacturers, as well as innumerable small craft producers, supply the candles used by 70% of all U. S. households. Nearly 96% of all candles are purchased by women, and three-fourths of candle users say that "fragrance" is the most important factor in their purchase. "Coziness" is now the operative word for 90% of candle users. Yes, times have changed. Once candles were appreciated essentially for their light, but now we notice that candles also give the most pleasant sense to our smell. Whether you see their light or sense their fragrance, safely enjoy your candles!
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