| Humans have used candles
to light their way for centuries. Ancient Egyptians
used rushlights, made by soaking a core of reeds in
tallow.
Romans were the first to develop the wick candle,
using it to aid night time travel as well as lighting
homes and places of worship.
The Egyptians relied on tallow, gathered from cattle
or sheep suet, as the main ingredient in candles. In
the Middle Ages, beeswax, a substance secreted by honey
bees to make honeycomb, was introduced.
Beeswax candles were a marked improvement over those
made with tallow - they didn't produce a smokey flame,
or emit an acrid odour when burned. Beeswax candles
burned pure and clean, however they were expensive
and only the wealthy could afford them.
Among a number of major material changes introduced
in candlemaking were berries and spermacetti (whale
oil). Then, in 1850, paraffin wax was produced from
oil and coal shales by distilling the residues left
after crude petroleum was refined. It burnt cleanly
and produced no unpleasant odour. Most importantly,
it was inexpensive.
With the introduction of the light bulb in 1879, candlemaking
declined. But at the turn of the century, a renewed popularity
for candles emerged. |
