What is a candle and what is its history?
Humans have used light to lengthen and lighten their days for fifteen thousands years. Hollowed-out stones filled with animal fat and used as lamps were among the earliest light sources.
Early methods of torch lighting involved soaking papyrus, flax, or other fibres in resins, pitch or natural oils and burning them as torches.
This technique progressed to the use of twisted fibres dipped in various combustible substances that remain solid at room temperature. These dipped fibres were early versions of candles.

What is a candle?
A candle is a body of tallow, was or other fatty material formed around a wick composed of braided cotton threads and used for a portable light. A candle works because the wick burns and melts the solid fuel into a liquid, which is transported by capillary action to the flame, which vaporizes the fuel and burns it off.

History of candles
Candle making was developed independently in many countries throughout history. The Egyptians produced candles out of beeswax, the Chinese made candles from whale fat, in early China and Japan, tapers were made with wax from insects and seeds, wrapped in paper.
It’s hard to imagine the world we live in now, without light, matches and indeed candles. In India, wax from boiling cinnamon was used for temple candles.
Early candles were made of vegetable waxes, animal tissue and secretions or sometimes, entire animals such as the candlefish of the Pacific Northwest were threaded with a wick and burned as candles.
All of these candles were rather crude, time-consuming to make and couldn’t be classified as scented candles.

Beeswax was considered the better product as it burned cleaner than tallow and had a lovely odor compared to smoky burn. Beeswas was much more expensive. Churches adn the wealthy could afford beeswax candles.

Today

Nowadays, candles are used predominantly for romantic atmosphere, during electrical outages, and in spiritual quests and religious rituals. We share this with our nineteenth-century relatives – we never stopped using candles, even after we no longer needed them!