INVENTION OF CANDLE

Candles were the main form of lighting for millennia, and were also used as clocks and for religious ceremonies. Candles probably originated when people noticed that when they cooked meat, fat dripped onto the fire and caused it to burn brighter. By soaking reeds in liquid fat, people could burn them for light. The Egyptians and Cretans made candles from beeswax as early as 3000 BCE, and also from rush tapers. Clay candlesticks dating from c.400 BCE have been found in Egypt. The candles they held were made by dipping thin cord into molten wax. Early Chinese and Japanese candles were made with wax derived from insects and seeds, moulded in paper tubes.

Wax skimmed from boiling cinnamon was the basis of tapers for temple use in India. The earliest known candles that we would recognize today originated in China about 200 BCE, and were made from whale fat. However, candles did not appear in Europe until sometime after 400 BCE, because of the availability of olive oil for burning in oil lamps. The Romans improved the process by inventing the fibre wick. After the fall of the Roman empire, early European candles were made from various forms of natural fats, tallow (fat from cows or sheep) and wax. Tallow was put into the melting pot, and then poured into moulds made of bronze. A trough underneath would catch the excess wax and return it to the melting pot. For the wick, a cord was usually made from the pith of rushes, and suspended from a horizontal rod over the mould when the tallow was poured in. Beeswax and wax candles made from various plant extracts such as bayberry gradually replaced unpleasant-smelling and smoky tallow candles in churches and in wealthier homes.

In Europe, candles became important parts of religious ceremony, their lighting used to mark holy days and accompany prayer. Since a candle’s burn rate is fairly consistent, they were often used to tell time, and some candles (candle clocks) had hour measurements marked into the wax. These were used in England from 870 CE, and it is said that King Alfred the Great invented them. Some of these candles could act as timers, as a nail was placed at a certain point on the candle and fell off when the appropriate time was reached. By the 18th century, spermaceti (fine wax from the head of the sperm whale) was used to produce a superior candle. Later in the 18th century, colza oil (from a variety of turnip) and rapeseed oil became cheap substitutes.

When paraffin was first distilled in 1830, it became the first choice for candle-making. It was cheap, and produced a reasonably high quality, odourless candle that burned fairly cleanly. Soon after, the discovery of the distillation of kerosene decimated the paraffin candle industry, with cheap oil leading to far more efficient and bright oil lamps. Confusingly, kerosene was also called paraffin, or sometimes paraffin oil in the UK and many other countries. With the advent of cheap whale oil for oil lamps, then kerosene (paraffin) oil lamps, and then gas and electric lighting, candles became less popular. More recently resinbased candles are being used because they burn longer. The wick of modern candles is constructed so that it curves over as it burns, so that the end of the wick protrudes into the hot zone of the flame and is then consumed by fire. Effectively, this is a self-trimming wick.

CANDLES AND SHIPS 

A chandlery was originally the place in a medieval noble’s household or monastery where precious wax and candles were stored. It was looked after by a chandler. Candles were usually made here using beef fat (tallow) and other substances, and in time the term chandler was applied to a seller of candles. Soap was a natural by-product of candle-making, and during the 18th century commercial chandlers sold both soap and candles. As many chandlers became general dealers, in ports they came to supply ships with nautical items, and were for some time called ship-chandleries. Now most ports and busy harbours have a chandler’s business nearby.

FISH CANDLE

The Eulachon is a type of smelt (a small fish) found from Alaska to Oregon. From the first century inidigenous peoples used its oil for lighting. A very simple candle could be made by putting the dried fish on a forked stick and then lighting it.

By Terry Breverton in "Breverton's Encyclopedia of Inventions", Quercus Publishing, UK, 2012. Adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.

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