Tallow Candles

The history of candles is a long and interesting. We have been using them for light for many centuries. Over time the candles were made from various substances. Some of them were better than others. Let's look further into this history to see what we find.

Nobody knows when the candle was lit first for sure. But the first people to make some advances to something that could be called a precursor of the candle were the ancient Egyptians. It was essentially a reed dipped in the fat of animals. He was known as a lighted candle and got on the end.

The Romans discovered the peculiarity of the candle with a wick. All candles have been made at the beginning of tallow, which is another name for the animal fat. The good thing is tallow it was cheap, the bad thing is that it produces smoke when burned, and did not feel very well at all.

Then progress has been made in the history of candles, namely beeswax. It was found that beeswax can be melted and transformed into candles during the Middle Ages. This type of clean burning wax and had no smell. The main problem with beeswax, is that it was expensive, so only the rich could afford to use candles from it. The poorest people still had to use tallow candles.

candle manufacturers continued to search for better materials for making candles. During the colonial period in America, they discovered that the berries of bayberry plant could be used to make wax. The berries are boiled to make a wax that had a sweet fragrance. This removes the odor and smoke problems seen in tallow. But there was so much work involved in this process the wax did not become popular.

Then, during the 18th century another important progress has been made in the manufacture of candles. It was found that the wax could be made using whale oil that came from the head of the whale. The wax is oily, but with a hard consistency. There was no smell or taste. Candles could be crazy now to the masses at prices they could afford. They have burned and no odor to them. The whales start being used much more, but by that time oil was discovered a source of lighting.

During the 19th century period of industrialization came and helped to modernize many aspects of life. Improvements have also been made in the manufacture of candles during this time. Paraffin was discovered and he was a high quality wax machines that could form candles. This made them very affordable for the general public.

Then the candle making has become less important when the light bulb was invented in 1879. Then the history of candles enjoyed resurgence during the new century.

Today, the history of candles is happening with the fans enjoying the process of making candles. Also many different shapes sizes of candles can be purchased at stores. The candle is still used in homes, but not so much the need for the warmth of light they emit.