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A Brief History of Candles

Accounts of candle use date back to ancient times, with Biblical references as early as the tenth century BC. The earliest known example of a candle—just a fragment— from the first century AD was found in Avignon, France.

Candles were widely used in medieval times and they could be found in great halls, monasteries, churches, cottages, and shops. The simplest (and smelliest) candles— known as rush light— were made by dipping rushes in leftover kitchen fat.

For many centuries, candles were considered expensive items in Europe. Beginning with the sixteenth century, however, living standards improved and candles could be found in ordinary households. Candles were usually sold by the pound and in bundles of eight, ten, or twelve candles. Everyday candles were made of animal fat (tallow), usually from sheep or cows. Typically, these candles were a dark yellowish color and it is presumed that they gave off an unpleasant smell.

The quality of candle light depended upon the type of material used. Beeswax, for example, gave off a much brighter light than tallow. In addition to tallow and beeswax, another material known as spermaceti became popular for candlemaking. Spermaceti was derived from the oil present in the head cavities of sperm whales. These candles burned with a very bright light—so bright that a spermaceti candle flame was used as a standard light measure for photometry (the science of light measurement). Spermaceti candles were slightly cheaper than beeswax candles.

The ninetenth century brought the development of patented candlemaking machines, making mass-produced candles widely available at much lower cost. At the same time, a chemist named Michel Eugene Chevreul made an important discovery. He realized that tallow was not one substance but a composition of two fatty acids, stearic acid and oleic acid, combined with glycerine to form a neutral, non-flammable material. By removing the glycerine from the tallow mixture, Chevreul invented a new substance called "stearine." Stearine (also called "stearin") was harder than tallow and burned brighter and longer. This led to the development of better candles.

Stearin also made it possible to produce better wicks that didn't have to be snuffed and trimmed. Wicks—which had been made by simply twisting strands of cotton—were now plaited tightly; as a consquence, the burned portion curled over and was completely consumed, rather than falling messily into the melting wax. This kind of wick was known as a "self-trimming" wick.

More improvements—such as the addition of lime, palmatine, and paraffin—developed in commercial candle manufacture. It was discovered that paraffin wax, which was extracted from crude oil, equalled beeswax and spermaceti candles for brightness and hardness, and were cheaper. Today, paraffin wax is widely used in commercial candlemaking.

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