When man first ever learnt how to make fire and cook animal fat, he noticed that when animal fat dripped on to the fire it caused the fire to burn much brighter. With some reasoning man soon reasoned that he could use animal fat to light his own dwelling. The first ever ‘candles’ were simply just lumps of animal fat that then evolved to wood, rushes, or cords that were dipped in this fat. This article will be looking at the history of the candle and how they have changed in use throughout time.

It would be near enough impossible to be able to date the first type of candles or the origin of them, the evidence of which time candles emerged are in is inconclusive. Ancient words for ‘candle’ translate as many other words such as ‘torch’ or ‘lamp’. The word candlestick actually meant a rack to hold one of these different lights. At first candles were made from tallow, tallow is a sold fat made from animal fat, especially sheep and cows. Remains of these candles have been found from archaeologist finds in both Greece and Egypt; these remains were dated around 3000 BC.

It was not until the Roman Empire that scientists began to find evidence of candles as we known them today, the Roman method of candle making was to heat the tallow until it was liquefied. Then the tallow was poured over a wick, made out of the pith of rushes. As the tallow was poured the candle maker would use his hands to smooth the tallow. A trough was placed underneath this process to collect all the excess tallow and then placed back into the melting pot. Candles were used not only for lighting but in religious ceremonies.

The practice of making moulds to create candles appeared in France within the 15th century, the wax was poured into open ended and hollow cylinders. These cylinders had a cap with a small hole in the centre for the wick; the wick was then placed in the mould and held together by small wires. Once the mould was filled the wicks were pulled tightly and the wax left to cool with the wire removed. A proper candle maker would then bleach his candles by leaving them hanging outside for up to 10 days, although they would have to be protected by the sun. Today candles are made by machine with a moulding process, but they still represent religion, joy, sadness and sacrifice, much like they did in the past.

Dominic Donaldson is an expert in the candle industry. Find out more about Candles and how the services available can help with purchasing quality made candles.

Article Source: The Creative History Of Candles

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The Creative History Of Candles