Candles are one those overlooked essentials that helped man descend down through the ages.
Seldom do they receive the recognition they deserve for their tremendous contribution to mankind.
They provided a practical, dependable and efficient source of light that otherwise would have not been available and they made life much more bearable during the ages before the advent of electricity.
The history of candles began with the Egyptians who discovered that a reeds soaked in animal fat would burn for extended periods and provide light.
It was a primitive beginning for an invention that is still with us today.
The Egyptians are credited with getting candles started and the Romans improved on the invention.
The early versions of candles used by the Egyptians and Romans weren't the sweet smelling, attractive room additions that we are familiar with today.
Early candles were made with tallow which is a polite term for suet or animal fat.
The tallow of choice was generally acquired from cattle and sheep.
The use of tallow in the manufacture of candles was widespread because there was lots of tallow available and it worked well as the main component of candles.
Unfortunately tallow did come with a few disadvantages.
When tallow is ignited it's flames give off unpleasant odors and a sticky smoke.
These byproducts were and are evident in many ceilings of middle age European Cathedrals and was considered a necessary evil by early candle users.
The first big improvement in the making of candles came in the middle ages with the discovery that beeswax could be used to make candles.
Beeswax burns cleanly with a pleasant aroma.
The biggest drawback to the use of beeswax was that it was scarcer than suet and it was more difficult to produce.
Therefore it never gain wide usage because it was too expensive for general use.
Better candles were always a primary concern due to their importance to society.
In Colonial America berries of the bayberry bush were found to be a source of a very sweet-smelling wax that produced wonderfully aromatic candles that were clean burning.
Unfortunately bayberry wax was expensive and arduous to produce so it never became widely used by the general public.
Fortunately another wax source was waiting in the wings and that was spermaceti or wax derived from whale oil.
It was made from the oil that was present in the head cavities of whales.
This wax proved to be extremely effective in making candles.
It was very hard and burned cleanly with no smoke or odor.
These characteristics made it very useful in the mass production of candles because they could be standard sized and made in large numbers.
This made available to all good clean burning candles at affordable prices.
This was a very good situation as long as there were lots of whales available for the taking but nothing that good lasts forever.
In a classic case of good timing as the availability of whales began to diminish due to over harvesting Col.
Edwin Drake found oil in Titusville, PA in 1859 and soon thereafter petroleum based wax or paraffin was developed which became a very good candle wax that is still used today.
After the invention of electric lights candles moved from being an essential item of civilized life to a pleasant addition to life and it's celebrations.
Down through the years improvements continued to be made in the candle making craft with new and improved waxes and creative methods of making candles only limited by the imagination of the maker.
Candles have enjoyed a long and illustrious history and from all indications appear to be no where near going away.