{{Short description|none}}<!-- This short description is INTENTIONALLY "none" - please see WP:SDNONE before you consider changing it! --> [[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Kaarsengietmachine TMnr 10014241.jpg|thumb|250px|Candle moulding machine in [[Indonesia]] circa 1920]]
'''Candle making''' was developed independently in a number of countries around the world.<ref name= Ullmann>{{cite encyclopedia |first1=Franz |last1=Willhöft |first2=Rudolf |last2=Horn |chapter=Candles |encyclopedia=Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry |date=2000 |publisher=Wiley-VCH |location=Weinheim |doi=10.1002/14356007.a05_029|isbn=3527306730 }}</ref>
Candles were primarily made from [[tallow]] and [[beeswax]] in Europe from the Roman period until the modern era, when [[spermaceti]] (from [[sperm whale]]s) was used in the 18th and 19th centuries,<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.eiu.edu/historia/2012Irwin.pdf |title=The Spermaceti Candle and the American Whaling Industry |first=Emily|last= Irwin|journal=EIU Historia |pages=45–53|volume=21 |date=2012}}</ref> and purified animal fats ([[stearin]]) and [[paraffin wax]] since the 19th century.<ref name= Ullmann/> In China, textual evidence suggests that candles may have been made from [[whale fat]] in the [[Qin dynasty]] (221–206 BCE).<ref name=telesco>{{cite book | last = Telesco | first = Patricia | title = Exploring Candle Magick: Candle Spells, Charms, Rituals, and Divinations | publisher = Career Press | year = 2001 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Lx-ODwAAQBAJ&pg=PA10 | isbn = 1-56414-522-0| page = 10}}</ref> Chinese candles may be made from beeswax, or [[stillingia tallow]] from [[Triadica sebifera|Chinese tallow tree]], or [[Chinese wax]] derived from insects. While the Japanese may use [[Japan wax]] from the [[Toxicodendron succedaneum|Japanese wax tree]].{{sfn|Forbes|1966|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-VmmHdm5STIC&pg=PA135 135] }} In [[India]], wax from boiling [[cinnamon]] was used for temple candles.<ref name=telesco/> [[File:Ljusstöpning-dopp_och_vändning.ogv|thumb|right|Video of dipping candles as part of the process of making candles by hand]] In Europe, a number of techniques were used to make candles in the early periods. These may be dipping or drawing a wick in molten wax or tallow, shaping it by hand by rolling soft wax around a wick, or pouring wax or tallow over the wick. Moulds were used later, and in the 19th century, large-scale industrial manufacturing technique was introduced for the mass production of candles. Candle use declined with the arrival of other methods of lighting such as [[electric light]], although candles are still being made.
==Antiquity==
[[File:Tutankhamun tomb photographs 5 452.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|Object in the [[tomb of Tutankhamun]] that could be a candle holder.]] Before candles were invented, ancient people used open fire, torches, splinters of resinous wood, and lamps to provide light at night.{{sfn|Forbes|1966|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=N6Y3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA127 127] }} Primitive [[oil lamp]]s in which a lit wick rested in a pool of oil or fat were used from the [[Paleolithic]] period, and pottery and stone lamps from the [[Neolithic]] period have been found.{{sfn|Forbes|1966|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-VmmHdm5STIC&pg=PA126 126] }} Candles may have been produced after the early [[Bronze Age]],{{sfn|Forbes|1966|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-VmmHdm5STIC&pg=PA134 134] }} but it is unclear when and where candles were first used. Objects that could possibly be candle holders have been found in [[Babylonia]]n and middle [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] cultures, as well as in the [[tomb of Tutankhamun]],{{sfn|Baur|1996|page=7}} and a possible depiction of a lit candle can be seen in the [[TT82|tomb of Amenemhat]].<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.osirisnet.net/tombes/nobles/amenemhat82/e_amenemhat82_03.htm |title=Amenemhat-TT82 < The West Wall, Funeral > In the top register |work=Osiris.net |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240901214606/https://www.osirisnet.net/tombes/nobles/amenemhat82/e_amenemhat82_03.htm |archive-date=1 September 2024 }} Item described as a lamp</ref> However, the candles used in the early periods may not resemble current forms and were likely made from plant materials dipped in animal fat.<ref name=hellenic>{{cite web |url=https://www.hellenic.org.au/post/let-there-be-light |title=Let There be Light: A History of Candles |work=Hellenic Museum |date=3 December 2021 }}</ref> [[Ancient Greek]]s offered to moon goddess [[Artemis]] moon-shaped honey cakes said to be lit by little torches or candles,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wTwQDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT307 |editor=Mark McWilliams |first=Marietta |last=Rusinek |title=Celebration: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium of Food and Cookery 2011|date=2012|isbn=9781903018897|publisher= Prospect Books|pages=38–309}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/image/14460/processional-dancer-bringing-cake-offerings/ |title=Processional Dancer Bringing Cake Offerings Illustration|encyclopedia=World History Encyclopedia|date= 20 August 2021 }}</ref> and this has been proposed as the origin of the tradition of putting candles on birthday cakes.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.theuberfacts.com/2021/05/20/interesting-facts-about-candles-you-must-know/|title = Interesting facts about candles you must know about!!|date = 20 May 2021|access-date = 8 July 2021|archive-date = 30 March 2023|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230330225929/https://www.theuberfacts.com/2021/05/20/interesting-facts-about-candles-you-must-know/|url-status = dead}}</ref> However, cakes with any resemblance to modern Western birthday cakes only arose by around 1600 in Europe.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.keapbk.com/blogs/keap/the-cake-filled-history-of-the-birthday-candle-why-cakes-have-candles-blow-out-germs|title = The Cake-Filled History of the Birthday Candle| date=November 2017 }}</ref> and [[ancient Greece]] used torches and oil lamps, and may have adopted candle use only in a later period from Rome.{{sfn|Forbes|1966|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=N6Y3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA140 140] }}
[[File:Bronze candelabrum MET DP250501.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] [[candelabrum]] {{circa}} 550 B.C]] It is often believed that the use of wicked candles developed in Italy in the [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] period;{{sfn|Baur|1996|page=7}}{{sfn|Forbes|1966|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=N6Y3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA140 140] }} a picture of a candlestick exists in an Etruscan tomb at [[Orvieto]],{{sfn|Forbes|1966|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=N6Y3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA140 140] }} and the earliest Etruscan candlestick may date from the 7th century BC.{{sfn|Baur|1996|page=18}} Candles may have evolved from tapers (long thin candles) with wicks of [[oakum]] and other plant fibre soaked in fat, pitch or oil.{{sfn|Forbes|1966|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-VmmHdm5STIC&pg=PA134 134] }} Candles of antiquity were made from various forms of natural fat, tallow, and wax, and [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] made true dipped candles from [[tallow]] and beeswax.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smith.edu/hsc/museum/ancient_inventions/candles2.html |title=Candles, Roman, 500 BCE |website=Smith College Museum}}</ref> Beeswax candles were expensive and their use was limited to the wealthy.{{sfn|Forbes|1966|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=N6Y3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA140 140] }} Oil lamps were the most widely used source of illumination in Roman Italy, but candles were common and regularly given as gifts during [[Saturnalia]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historyextra.com/feature/how-did-romans-celebrate-%E2%80%98christmas%E2%80%99 |title=How did the Romans celebrate 'Christmas'? |website=History Extra |date=2013 |access-date=2015-03-06 |archive-date=2015-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151202045854/http://www.historyextra.com/feature/how-did-romans-celebrate-%E2%80%98christmas%E2%80%99 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
[[File:Феофил III.jpg|thumb|upright|Candles used for blessing in [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]] in [[Jerusalem]]]] In Christian churches, candles gained significance in their decorative, symbolic and [[Ceremonial use of lights#Christianity|ceremonial uses]]. Wax candles, or ''candelae cereae'' recorded at the end of the 3rd century, were documented as [[Easter candle]]s in Spain and Italy in the 4th century,{{sfn|Baur|1996|page=7}} the Christian festival [[Candlemas]] was named after the candle, and [[Pope Sergius I]] instituted the procession of lighted candles. [[Papal bull]]s decreed that tallow be excluded from use in altar candles, and high beeswax content was necessary for the candles of the high altar.{{sfn|Forbes|1966|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=N6Y3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA141 141] }}
Beeswax was a byproduct of honey collection, and it was collected after honey had been extracted, and purified by boiling it in seawater a few times.{{sfn|Forbes|1966|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-VmmHdm5STIC&pg=PA135 135–138] }} The early candles were produced using a number of methods: dipping or drawing the wick in molten fat or wax repeatedly until it reached the desired size, building the candle by hand by rolling soft wax around a wick, or pouring fat or wax onto a wick to build up the candle.{{sfn|Forbes|1966|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-VmmHdm5STIC&pg=PA138 138–139] }}{{sfn|Baur|1996|page=8}} The use of moulds was a 14th-century development.{{sfn|Forbes|1966|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-VmmHdm5STIC&pg=PA138 138–139] }}
In China, the [[Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor|mausoleum]] of [[Qin Shi Huang]] (259–210 BC), first emperor of China, was said by historian [[Sima Qian]] to contain candles made from whale fat.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.candledelirium.com/blog/the-use-of-candles-in-china/ |title = Candles in Chinese History|date = 9 February 2016}}</ref> The word ''zhú'' was used for "candle" during the [[Warring States period]] (403–221 BCE); some excavated bronzewares from that era feature a [[Candlestick#Pricket|pricket]] thought to hold a candle.<ref name="needham volume 4 part 1 79 80">{{cite book |last=Needham |first=Joseph |date=1986 |title=Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 1, Physics |location=Taipei |publisher=Caves Books Ltd |pages=79–80}}</ref>
The [[Han dynasty]] (202 BC – 220 AD) ''Jizhupian'' dictionary of about 40 BC hints at candles being made of beeswax, while the ''[[Book of Jin]]'' (compiled in 648) covering the [[Jin dynasty (266–420)|Jin dynasty]] (266–420) makes a solid reference to the beeswax candle in regard to its use by the statesman [[Zhou Yi (Jin dynasty)|Zhou Yi]] (d. 322).<ref name="needham volume 4 part 1 79 80"/> An excavated earthenware bowl from the 4th century AD, located at the [[Luoyang Museum]], has a hollowed socket where traces of wax were found.<ref name="needham volume 4 part 1 79 80"/>
There is a fish called the [[eulachon]] or "candlefish", a type of [[smelt (fish)|smelt]] which is found from Oregon to Alaska. [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] from this region used oil from this fish for illumination.<ref name=telesco/> A simple candle could be made by putting the dried fish on a forked stick and then lighting it.{{fact|date=December 2024}}
==Middle Ages== [[Image:Candles Oberflacht.jpg|thumb|upright|The oldest surviving bees wax candles north of the Alps from the alamannic graveyard of Oberflacht, Germany dating to 6th/7th century A.D.]] After the collapse of the [[Roman Empire]], trading disruptions made [[olive oil]], the most common fuel for oil lamps, unavailable throughout much of Europe. As a consequence, candles became more widely used.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}
Candles were commonplace throughout Europe in the [[Middle Ages]]. Candle makers (known as [[chandlery|chandler]]s) made candles from fats saved from the kitchen or sold their own candles from within their shops. The trade of the chandler is also recorded by the more picturesque name of "smeremongere", since they oversaw the manufacture of sauces, vinegar, soap and cheese. The popularity of candles is shown by their use in [[Candlemas]] and in [[Saint Lucy]] festivities.
[[Tallow]], fat from cows or sheep, became the standard material used in candles in Europe. The unpleasant smell of tallow candles is due to the glycerine they contain. The smell of the manufacturing process was so unpleasant that it was banned by ordinance in several European cities. [[Beeswax]] was the preferred substance for the production of candles without the unpleasant odour, but its use remained restricted to the rich, and for churches and royal events, due to their great expense.
In [[England]] and [[France]], candle making had become a [[guild|guild craft]] by the 13th century, and a French guild was documented as early as 1061.{{sfn|Baur|1996|page=8}} The [[Worshipful Company of Tallow Chandlers|Tallow Chandlers Company]] of [[London]] was formed in about 1300 in London, and in 1456 was granted a [[coat of arms]]. The [[Worshipful Company of Wax Chandlers|Wax Chandlers Company]] existed prior to 1330 and acquired its charter in 1484. By 1415, tallow candles were used in street lighting. The first candle mould comes from the 15th century in Paris.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.millhousecandles.com/history.php|title=A Short History of Candles|website=Millhouse Candles|access-date=2015-07-06|archive-date=2019-03-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190313125009/https://www.millhousecandles.com/history.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> Sieur de Brez of Paris introduced the technique of using a mould to England, although candles had a tendency to stick to the mould and break when it was being removed from the mould. Real improvements for the efficient production of candles in moulds were only achieved in the 19th century.{{sfn|Forbes|1966|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-VmmHdm5STIC&pg=PA138 138–139] }}
In the Middle East, during the [[Abbasid]] and [[Fatimid]] Caliphates, beeswax was the dominant material used for candle making.<ref name="Beg 1997">{{cite book |last1=Beg|first1=M.A.J. |editor1-last=Bosworth |editor1-first=C.E. |editor2-last=van Donzel |editor2-first=E. |editor3-last=Heinrichs |editor3-first=W.P. |editor4-last=Lecomte |editor4-first=G. |title=The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Vol. IX (SAN-SZE) |date=1997 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden |isbn=90-04-10422-4 |page=288 |url=https://ia600603.us.archive.org/14/items/EncyclopaediaDictionaryIslamMuslimWorldEtcGibbKramerScholars.13/09.EncycIslam.NewEdPrepNumLeadOrient.EdEdComCon.BosDonHeinLec.etc.UndPatIUA.v9.San-Sze.Leid.EJBrill.1997..pdf |access-date=13 June 2022 |chapter=SAMMĀ'}}</ref> Beeswax was often imported from long distances; for example, candle makers from Egypt used beeswax from [[Tunis]].<ref name="Beg 1997"/> As in Europe, these candles were fairly expensive, and most commoners used oil lamps instead.<ref name="Beg 1997"/> Elites, though, could afford to spend large sums on expensive candles.<ref name="Beg 1997"/> For example, the Abbasid caliph [[al-Mutawakkil]] spent 1.2 million silver [[dirham]]s annually on candles for his royal palaces.<ref name="Beg 1997"/>
In early modern Syria, candles were in high demand by all socioeconomic classes because they were customarily lit during marriage ceremonies.<ref name="Beg 1997"/> There were candle makers' guilds in the [[Safavid]] capital of [[Isfahan]] during the 1500s and 1600s.<ref name="Beg 1997"/> However, candle makers had a relatively low social position in Safavid Iran, comparable to [[barber]]s, [[hammam|bathhouse]] workers, fortune tellers, bricklayers, and [[porter (carrier)|porter]]s.<ref name="Beg 1997"/> [[File:全尺寸手工蠟燭.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Handmade Chinese candles with bamboo core]]
In China, beeswax candles were common in the [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] and [[Sung dynasty|Sung]] dynasties.<ref name=csst>{{cite web |url=http://www.csstoday.com/Item/5287.aspx |title=A short history of Chinese lamps |last=Yue|first= Jingjin |date= 2 February 2018 |work= Chinese Social Sciences Today}}</ref> Wax from a plant, [[stillingia tallow]] from [[Triadica sebifera|Chinese tallow tree]], may be used to make candles together with beeswax. [[Stillingia tallow]] has a low melting point and it therefore may be encased with the harder beeswax or [[Chinese wax]].{{sfn|Forbes|1966|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-VmmHdm5STIC&pg=PA135 135] }}<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0KIIAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA571 |title=A Practical Treatise on the Manufacture of Soap and Candles |first1= Carl |last1=Deite|first2= Alwin|last2= Engelhardt|first3= Karl |last3=Schaedler |date= 1888 |page=571}}</ref> The Chinese may have started cultivating the tallow tree in the [[Yangtze Delta]] region in the 7th century.<ref>{{cite journal |title=John Bradby Blake, the Chinese tallow tree and the infrastructure of botanical experimentation |first=Robert |last=Batchelor|journal=Curtis's Botanical Magazine|volume= 34| number= 4 |date=December 2017|pages= 402–426 |doi=10.1111/curt.12211 |jstor=48505841 }}</ref> Wax from the plant was commonly used to make Buddhist ceremonial candles.
Another type of wax, the [[Chinese wax]] derived from insects and resembles the best [[spermaceti]], may also be used. The production of [[Chinese wax]] was mastered by the [[Yuan dynasty]].<ref name=csst /> A type of Chinese candle has a bamboo rod as its core, onto which paper is wound spirally with rush pith as wick, and this is then repeatedly dipped in melted wax or fats and cooled until the desired size is reached. The candles may be coloured and sometimes decorated with characters.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CSMlAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA3-PA16 |title= Bulletin |volume =141|date=1928 |page=16 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution US National Museum}}</ref>
The Japanese have similar candle-making techniques as the Chinese, but they also developed a method of moulding candles using paper tubes.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/bulletinunitedst1411928unit/page/16/mode/2up?view=theater |title= Bulletin |volume =141|date=1928 |page=17 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution US National Museum}}</ref> They may use [[Japan wax]] from the [[Toxicodendron succedaneum|Japanese wax tree]] for making candles.{{sfn|Forbes|1966|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-VmmHdm5STIC&pg=PA135 135] }}
Wax from boiling [[cinnamon]] was used for temple candles in [[India]].<ref name=telesco/> [[Yak]] butter was used for candles in [[Tibet]].
==Modern era== [[File:Colonial candle molds at fruitlands.jpg|thumb|upright|left|'Colonial'-style tapered candle molds]] With the growth of the [[whaling|whaling industry]] in the 18th century, [[spermaceti]], an oil that comes from a cavity in the head of the [[sperm whale]], became a widely used substance for candle making. The wax was made by crystallizing the oil, and was the first candle substance to become available in mass quantities. Like beeswax, spermaceti wax did not create a repugnant odor when burned, and produced a significantly brighter light. It was also harder than either tallow or beeswax, so it would not soften or bend in the summer heat. The first "standard candles" were made from spermaceti wax.
By 1800, an even cheaper alternative was discovered. [[Colza oil]], derived from ''[[Brassica campestris]]'', and a similar oil derived from [[rapeseed]], yielded candles that produce clear, smokeless flames. The French chemists [[Michel Eugène Chevreul]] (1786–1889) and [[Joseph-Louis Gay-Lussac]] (1778–1850) patented [[stearin]] in 1825. Like tallow, this was derived from animals, but had no glycerine content.
===Industrialization=== [[File:Joseph_Morgan_candle_maker.jpg|thumb|right|Joseph Morgan's candle making machine revolutionized candle making]] The manufacture of candles became an industrialised mass market in the mid 19th century. In 1834, Joseph Morgan, a pewterer from [[Manchester]], England, patented a machine that revolutionised candle making. It allowed continuous production of molded candles, using a cylinder with a moveable piston to eject candles as they solidified. This method produced about 1,500 candles per hour: (according to his patent, "with three men and five boys [the machine] will manufacture two tons of candle in twelve hours"). Now poorer people could now easily afford candles.<ref>{{cite book | last = Phillips | first = Gordon | title = Seven Centuries of Light: The Tallow Chandlers Company | publisher = Book Production Consultants plc | year = 1999 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OWt03_on0qUC&q=Joseph+Morgan+candles+1834&pg=PA74 | isbn = 1-85757-064-2 | page = 74}}</ref>
[[File:Price's Palmitine Candles00.jpg|left|thumb|[[Price's Candles]] became the largest candle manufacturer in the world by the end of the 19th century]] At this time, candlemakers also began to fashion wicks out of tightly [[braid]]ed (rather than simply twisted) strands of [[cotton]]. This technique makes wicks curl over as they burn, maintaining the height of the wick and therefore the flame. Because much of the excess wick is incinerated, these are referred to as "self-trimming" or "self-consuming" wicks.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.expressivecandles.com/history.php |title=A Brief History of Candles |access-date=2013-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130318072713/http://www.expressivecandles.com/history.php |archive-date=2013-03-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In 1848 James Young established the world's first oil refinery at the Alfreton Ironworks in [[Riddings]], [[Derbyshire]]. Two paraffin wax candles were made from the naturally occurring paraffin wax present in the oil, and these candles illuminated a lecture at the [[Royal Institution]] by [[Lyon Playfair]]. In the mid-1850s, [[James Young (Scottish chemist)|James Young]] succeeded in distilling [[paraffin wax]] from coal and oil shales at [[Bathgate]] in [[West Lothian]], and developed a commercially viable method of production.<ref>{{cite book | last = Golan | first = Tal | title = Laws of Men and Laws of Nature: The History of Scientific Expert Testimony in England and America | publisher = Harvard University Press | year = 2004 | pages = 89–91 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kQhYsAmcj-EC&q=james+young+patent+paraffin&pg=PA90 | isbn = 0-674-01286-0}}</ref> The paraffin wax was processed by distilling residue left after [[crude petroleum]] was refined.
Paraffin could be used to make inexpensive candles of high quality. It was a bluish-white wax, burned cleanly, and left no unpleasant odor, unlike tallow candles. A drawback to the substance was that early coal- and petroleum-derived paraffin waxes had a very low melting point. The introduction of [[stearin]], discovered by [[Michel Eugène Chevreul]], solved this problem.<ref>{{cite web|title=Using stearic acid or stearin in candlemaking|url=http://www.happynews.com/living/create/using-stearic-acid.htm|website=happynews.com|access-date=25 September 2014|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000000/http://www.happynews.com/living/create/using-stearic-acid.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Stearic acid (stearin)|url=http://www.howtomakecandles.info/cm_article.asp?ID=ADDIT0003|website=howtomakecandles.info|access-date=25 September 2014}}</ref> Stearin is hard and durable, with a convenient melting range of {{convert|54|–|72.5|C|F}}. By the end of the 19th century, most candles being manufactured consisted of paraffin and stearic acid.
By the late 19th century, [[Price's Candles]], based in London, was the largest candle manufacturer in the world.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fJo7AwAAQBAJ|title=London's Industrial Heritage|author=Geoff Marshall|year=2013|publisher=The History Press|isbn=9780752492391}}</ref> The company traced its origins back to 1829, when William Wilson invested in {{convert|1000|acre|mi2 km2||}} of coconut plantation in [[Sri Lanka]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Ball | first = Michael |author2=David Sunderland | title = An Economic History of London, 1800-1914 | publisher = Routledge | year = 2001 | pages = 131–132 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=MI6JfTiEcdAC&q=Prices+Candles+Coconut&pg=PA132 | isbn = 0-415-24691-1}}</ref> His aim was to make candles from coconut oil. Later he tried [[palm oil]] from palm trees. An accidental discovery swept all his ambitions aside when his son George Wilson, a talented chemist, distilled the first petroleum oil in 1854. George also pioneered the implementation of the technique of steam distillation, and was thus able to manufacture candles from a wide range of raw materials, including skin fat, bone fat, fish oil and industrial greases.
In America, [[Syracuse, New York]] developed into a [[Industry in Syracuse, New York|global center]] for [[Industry in Syracuse, New York|candle manufacturing]] from the mid-nineteenth century. Manufacturers included Will & Baumer, Mack Miller, Muench Kruezer, and [[Cathedral Candle Company]].
===Decline of the candle industry=== [[File:Birthday candles.jpg|thumb|Candles here are used to celebrate a birthday]] Despite advances in candle making, the candle industry declined rapidly upon the introduction of superior methods of lighting, including [[kerosene lamp]]s, and from 1879 the [[incandescent light bulb]].
In the 20th century, candles came to be marketed as more of a decorative item. Candles, however, retain their unique symbolic significance, for instance as [[votive offering]]s. Candles became available in a broad array of sizes, shapes and colors, and consumer interest in scented candles began to grow. During the 1990s, new types of candle waxes were being developed due to an unusually high demand for candles. Paraffin, a by-product of oil, was quickly replaced by new waxes and wax blends owing to rising costs.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}
Candle manufacturers looked at waxes such as soy, palm and flax-seed oil, often blending them with paraffin to achieve the performance of paraffin with the price benefits of the other waxes. The creation of unique wax blends, now requiring different fragrance chemistries and loads, encouraged candle wick manufacturers to innovate to meet performance needs with the often tougher-to-burn formulations.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.atkinsandpearce.com/candle-solutions/new-product-development/ |title=Atkins & Pearce Candle Wick History |access-date=2015-01-04 |archive-date=2017-10-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015044504/http://www.atkinsandpearce.com/candle-solutions/new-product-development/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery> File:K&M Candles Brockholes UK, 1972 (RLH), Hand Operated Candle Machines 01.jpg| Hand operated, water cooled, candle making machines File:K&M Candles Brockholes UK, 1972 (RLH), Hand Operated Candle Machines 03.jpg| 12" candles wound out from a hand-operated machine File:K&M Candles Brockholes UK, 1972 (RLH), Staff Packing Candles.jpg| Workers packing candles into boxes File:Fabricación de velas con noque..jpg|Candle making by dipping File:Candlemaking, candle molds, poured candles.JPG|Candle making with moulds File:Candle with bats, coins, and characters for happiness, China, Qing dynasty, 1800s, oil or wax, pigment - Peabody Essex Museum - Salem, MA - DSC05127.jpg|A decorated Qing dynasty candle File:Candle maker.jpg|Handmade candle in Japan </gallery>
== References == {{Reflist}}
===Bibliography=== *{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PLGFAAAACAAJ |title=Metal Candlesticks: History, Styles and Techniques|first= Veronika |last=Baur |date= 1996|isbn=9780764301568 |publisher=Schiffer Publishing }} *{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=-VmmHdm5STIC |title=Studies in Ancient Technology |first=Robert James |last=Forbes |publisher=Brill |date= 1966 |isbn=978-9004006263 }}
== External links == * [https://www.psychvarsity.com/Psychology-Of-Candles History and Psychology of Candles]
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Candle Making}} [[Category:Candles]] [[Category:Industrial history|Candle making]] [[Category:History of technology|Candle making]] [[Category:Articles containing video clips]]