| es in Colonial America were a necessity. Obviously | | | | from whale oil didn’t smell much better than that |
| they didn’t have electricity and oil for lamps | | | | of tallow though it did hold up better in the |
| was costly. Candles were the light of the night. The | | | | summer’s heat. |
| common people made their candles out of tallow, | | | | To make candles by the colonial method get a |
| which is animal fat and it burned rancid like the Roman | | | | non-waxed tapered wick and weight the end with a |
| candles made of the same substance. The well to do | | | | washer. Melt the wax in a melting pot, a tall coffee can |
| used beeswax candles; the average family | | | | will do. The container should be tall and narrow. A tall |
| couldn’t afford such extravagance. | | | | can allows melting less wax. When the wax is |
| The common colonist was out in the field quite a bit | | | | thoroughly melted shut off the heat. Place the can or |
| and even the women worked outside some. They | | | | pot on a surface that resists heat. Start dipping the |
| made the discovery of using bayberries that they | | | | wick into the wax. The first time hold the wick in the |
| boiled to get the wax. These candles didn’t | | | | wax while the wax quits bubbling. The rest of the |
| produce a lot of smoke and they smelled very good. It | | | | dipping needs to be just dip in and take the wick out. |
| took so much time to make candles out of bayberry | | | | Hanging the wicks between dipping is a good idea if |
| wax that it didn’t become popular. Plus, eight | | | | you make more than one at a time. Leave the wick |
| pounds of berries made one pound of wax. To recoup | | | | out briefly between each dip. |
| the finest form of the wax took many days. Time | | | | The dipping continues until you get the diameter you |
| was of a premium; there was a lot of necessary hard | | | | want for the candle. This can be time consuming. |
| work to do. | | | | Patience is a part of this process. You’ll hang |
| The main candle they used for their home was a | | | | the candles to let them harden. Clip the candles onto a |
| tapered candle. Repetitive dunking of the cotton | | | | coat hanger and cut the end so the bottom is flat. |
| strands into the wax made these candles. The wax | | | | Once you go through this process with a few candles |
| built up around the wicks of cotton strips. When burning | | | | the big job candle making was in colonial times will be |
| the wicks had to be maintained as they didn’t | | | | quite clear. Think of how many candles a household |
| have braided wicks. When the 1700’s rolled | | | | used in a year. Imagine reading by candlelight, sewing, |
| around the whaling industry flourished in the colonies. | | | | cleaning a gun. Any task they did at night was by the |
| This gave the colonial candle makers the choice of | | | | light of a candle. What difference electricity makes. |
| whale oil and they made spermaceti wax. Wax made | | | | |