What was candle making like in the colonial times? I have often wondered how they made candles without all the advancements we have today. Did they have fragrant candles? What did they use?
Here is a fun fact Friday to help answer those questions.
Colonial Chandlers
Colonial women were the first chandlers in America. They contributed to candle making in the America’s with their discover of the bayberry bush berries. These grayish-green berries produced a sweet-smelling wax that burned cleaned. Extracting the wax from bayberry berries proved to be tedious. As a result the popularity of bayberry candles soon diminished.
The growth of the whaling industry boomed during the late 18th century. This boomed brought the first major change in the candle making industry since the colonial times. The whaling industry and candle makers found that spermaceti –which was wax obtained from crystallized sperm whale oil– was lucrative in large quantities. Obtaining this crystallized oil was a very easy task. Spermaceti wax also emitted no odor when burned and the flame from this candle was a lot brighter.
Because spermaceti wax was also a lot harder than tallow or beeswax it wouldn’t soften or bend during the summer heat.
Spermaceti wax produced the first “standard” candles.
Here is a little history to add to your candle making fun. Enjoy your fun fact friday.
Many Blessings,
