History of the Candle

Today candles are considered a pleasant luxury. Can you imagine that a little more than 100 years ago candles were an absolute necessity? After sunset, every activity has to done by candle light alone: reading, writing, knitting etc.

A candle is in essence a portable fire, and the candle history goes back to prehistoric times.  Archeological findings date the candle as far back as 3,000 BC. Candle holders made of clay date back to the fourth century BC.

The theory goes that the ancient Egyptians may have been the first civilization to develop candles.

These first simple forms of wick-less candles were no more than a rock of stone shaped as a cup and containing animal fat. Straw-like plant material was used as sort of wick.

The simple form of these fat or oil lamps evolved into more sophistication. Up to the 19th century, 3 types of animal fat were used for candle: lamb fat (best quality, for rich people only), beef fat and pork fat (bad smell, thick smoke, for the poorest people). This fat was known as tallow.

Candle making as we know it, dates from about the 13th century. Professional candle makers provided their services and evolved into guilds with regulated trades and qualities.

Beeswax was then also know as raw material for candle. It was more difficult to work with than tallow and all beeswax candles had to be produced by hand. They were expensive and found chiefly in churches and monasteries.

In the 15th century, candle lanterns lit the street during the night. And a new invention advanced the craft of candle making: the mold.

The industrial revolution of the 18th and certainly the 19th century accelerated the development of candle making as any other area of life.
We’ll mention just a few: invention of the wick, invention of the molding machine to mass produce candles, and last but not least the discovery of paraffin and stearin in the 1850’s.

This made candles affordable for the masses, abundant and with good quality: even and longer burning, virtually smokeless and odorless: candle making as we know it today.