Guided Sleep Meditation & Sleep Hypnosis from Sleep Cove - The History of Candle Making

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Starting point is 00:00:46 please go to sleepcove.com slash support. That's sleepcove.com slash support. If you can't support the show right now, please subscribe with a bell to get alerts on all new free content Thank you Have you ever gazed in wonder at the Great Pyramid Have you marvelled at the golden face of Tudankhamun

Starting point is 00:01:16 Or admired the delicate features of Queen Nefertiti If you have, you'll probably like the History of Egypt podcast Every week we explore tales of this ancient culture The history of Egypt is available wherever you get your podcasting fix. Come, let me introduce you to the world of ancient Egypt. Hello and welcome to Sleep Cove. With me, Christopher Fitton, a place to come for a great night's sleep. Please listen to this recording in a place where you can safely go to sleep.

Starting point is 00:02:01 Hi everyone. I hope everyone is having a fantastic stress-futable. free week. I've asked my supporters on Patreon what they would like to hear in the next episode and I thought this was a really interesting idea. So thanks to Leah, a long-time Patreon supporter who came up with this idea for the history of candle making. Let's begin. Firstly, what is the definition of a candle? A candle is an ignitable, wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow that provides light and in some cases a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time.

Starting point is 00:02:58 A person who makes candles is traditionally known as a chardler. Various devices have been vented to hold candles, from simple tabletop candlesticks, also known as candle holders, to elaborate candelabra and chandeliers. For a candle to burn, a heat source, commonly a naked flame from a match or lighter, is used to light the candle's wick, which melts and vaporizes a small amount of fuel, the wax. Once vaporized, the fuel combines with oxygen in the atmosphere to ignite and form a constant flame. This flame provides sufficient heat to keep the candle burning via a self-sustaining chain of events. The heat of the flame melts the top of the mass of solid fuel.

Starting point is 00:04:01 The liquefied fuel then moves upwards through the wick, via capillary action. Their liquefied fuel finally vaporizes to burn within the candle's flame. As the fuel, all wax, is melted and burned, the candle becomes shorter.

Starting point is 00:04:24 Portions of the wick that are not emitting vaporized fuel are consumed in the flame. Their incineration of the wick limits the length of the exposed portion of the wick, thus maintaining a constant burning temperature and a rate of fuel consumption. Some wicks require regularly trimming with scissors or a specialised wick trimmer, usually to about one quarter inch to promote slower steady burning,

Starting point is 00:04:56 and also to prevent smoky. Special candle scissors called snuffers were produced for this purpose in the 20th century and were often combined with an extinguisher. In modern candles, the wick is constructed so that it curves over as it burns. This ensures that the end of the wick gets oxygen and is then consumed by fire. A self-drimming wind.

Starting point is 00:05:26 The history of candle making. Candle-making was developed independently in many places throughout history. Dipped candles made from tallow were made by the Romans beginning about 500 BCE. Evidence for candles made from whale fat in China dates back to the Qin dynasty 221 to 206 BCE. In India, wax from boiling cinnamon was used for temple candles. candles were primarily made from tallow and beeswax in ancient times but had been made from sperm whales, purified animal fats and paraffin whack

Starting point is 00:06:19 in recent centuries antiquity The early Greeks used candles on moon-shaped cakes Of some sort to honour the goddess Artemis' birth on the sixth day of every lunar month. The tradition of putting candles on birthday cakes for common mortals might be traceable to this custom, but cakes with any resemblance to modern-day Western birthday cakes

Starting point is 00:06:52 only arose about 1600 in Europe. Romans began making dipped candles from Tano beginning around 500 BCE, while oil lamps were the most widely used source of illumination in Roman Italy. Candles were common and regularly given as gifts during the satinalia. The mausoleum of Queen Chai Hung contained candles made from whale fat, Zuhu was also used as candle during the warring states of 403 to 221 BCE. Some excavated bronze wares from that era feature a cricket for to hold a candle.

Starting point is 00:07:54 The Han Dynasty from 202 BCE to 220 AD hints at candles be. made of beeswax, while the Book of Jin makes a solid reference to beeswax candles in regards to its use by the statesman Zwao Yi. An excavated earthenware bowl from the 4th century AD located at the Luoyang Museum as a hollowed socket where traces of wax were found. Generally, these Chinese candles were moulded in paper tubes. using rolled rice paper for the wig and wax from an indigenous whalefish wax from boiling cinnamon

Starting point is 00:08:42 was used for temple candles in India yak butter was used for candles in Tibet there is a fish called the Escheron or candlefish a type of smelt which is found from Oregon to Alaska During the first century AD, indigenous people from this region used oil from this fish for illumination. A simple candle could be made by putting the dried fish on a fork stick and then lighting it for Middle Ages. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, trading disruptions made olive oil the most common fuel for oil,

Starting point is 00:09:31 unavailable throughout much of Europe. As a consequence, candles became more widely used. By contrast, in North Africa and the Middle East, candle making remained relatively unknown due to the availability of olive oil. Candles were come in place throughout Europe in the Middle Ages and candlemakers known as chandelur, made candles from fats, save from the kitchen, or sold their own candles from within their shops. The trade of the chandelur is also recorded by the more picturesque name of the Smeer Mondeur,

Starting point is 00:10:19 since they oversaw the manufacture of sauces, vinegar, soup and cheese. The popularity of candles is shown by their use. use in candle math and in St. Lucie festivals. Talo fat from cows or sheep became the standard material used in candles in Europe. The unpleasant smell of tallow candles is due to the glycerin they contain. The smell of the manufacturing process was so unpleasant that it was banned by ordinance in several European cities. Beeswax was discovered to be an excellent substance for candle production without the unpleasant odour, but remained restricted in use for the rich and for churches

Starting point is 00:11:17 and royal events due to their great expense. In England and France, candle making had become a guild craft by the 13th century. The tallow, shardle-less Company of London was formed in 1300 in London and 1456 was granted a coat of arms. The Waxed Shardless 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. modern era. With the growth of the waiting industry in the 18th century, sperm spaghetti, an oil that comes from the cavity in the head of the sperm whale,

Starting point is 00:12:15 became a widely used substance for candle making. The spermageti was attained by crystallizing the oil from the sperm whale and was the first candle substance to become available in mass quantities. Like beeswax, Spermaghetti wax did not create a pungent odour 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 spermagetti wax. By 1800, an even cheaper alternative was discovered. Colza oil derived from Beriska Campistris

Starting point is 00:13:06 and a similar oil derived from rapeseed yielded candles that produced clear smokeless flames. The French chemist Michel Eugène Chevro and Joseph Louis Gilles Lusac painted steering in 1825. Like tallow, this was derived from animals, but had no glidering content. Naturalisation. The manufacture of candles became an industrialised mass market in the mid-19th century. In 1834, Joseph Morgan, a butera from Magister England, painted a machine that revolutionised candle making.

Starting point is 00:14:00 It allowed for continuous production of moulded candles by using a cylinder with a movable piston to eject candles as they solidified. This small, efficient, mechanised production produced about 1,500 candles per hour. According to his patent, with three men and five boys, the machine will manufacture two to of candles in 12 hours. This allowed candles to become an easily affordable commodity

Starting point is 00:14:37 for the masses. At this time candle makers also began to fashion wicks out of tightly braided rather than simply twisted strands of cotton. This technique

Starting point is 00:14:53 made wicks curl over as they burb, 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. In 1848, James Young established the world's first oil refinery at the Alfredton Ironworks in Riddings, Derbyshire.

Starting point is 00:15:26 Two paraffin wax candles were made from, from the natural occurring paraffin wax present in the oil, and these candles enuminated a lecture at the Royal Institution by Lion Playfair. In the mid-1850s, 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. The paraffin wax was processed by distilling residue after the crude petroleum was refined. Paraphan could be used to make inexpensive candles of high quality. It was a bluish white wax, it burned clearly and left no unpleasant odour unlike tallow candles.

Starting point is 00:16:25 A drawback to the substance was that early co-courgreens. and petroleum-derived paraffin waxes had a very low melting point. The introduction of steering, discovered by Michelle Eugene Chevroffreau, sold this problem. Steering is hard and durable, with a convenient melting range of 54 to 72.5 degrees Celsius. By the end of the 19th century, most of the 19th century, most of the same. candles being manufactured consisted of paraffin and stearic acid. By the 19th century, Price's Candles based in London was the largest candle manufacture in the world. The company traced its origins back to 1829 when William Wilson invested in 1,000 acres of coconut

Starting point is 00:17:25 plantation in Sri Lanka. 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, distill 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, there developed a global centre for candle manufacturing from the mid-19th century.

Starting point is 00:18:22 Manufacturers included Will and Barmer, Mac Miller, Mench Cruiser, and Cathedral Candle Company. The decline of the candle industry. Despite advances in candle making, the candle industry declined rapidly upon the introduction of superior methods of lighting,

Starting point is 00:18:47 including kerosene and lamps and the 1879 invention of the incandescent light bulb and in the 2000s with faux candles and lanterns using LEDs from this point on candles came to be marketed as more of a decorative item candles retain their unique symbolic significance however for instance as religious offerings Candles became available in a broad array of sizes, shapes and colours, and consumer interest in scented candles began to grow.

Starting point is 00:19:32 During the 1990s, new types of candle waxes were being developed due to an unusually high demand for candles. Parapherin and bi-product of oil was quickly replaced by new waxes and wax blends due to rising costs. Candle manufacturers looked at waxes such as soy, palm and flaxseed oil, often blending them with paraffin in hopes of getting 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, placed pressure for innovation on the candlewick manufacturing industry. to meet performance needs, with it often tougher to burn formulations. In the developed world today, candles are used mainly for their aesthetic value and scent, particularly to set off a soft, warm or romantic ambience. They're used for emotionally lighting during electrical power failures

Starting point is 00:20:46 and for religious or ritual purposes. other uses. With the fairly consistent and measurable burning of a candle, a calming use of candles was to tell the time. The candle designed for this purpose might have time measurements, usually in hours, marked along the wax. The song to stay in China used candle clocks. By the 80th century, candle clocks were being made

Starting point is 00:21:22 with weights set into the sides of the candle. As the candle melted, the weights fell off and made a noise as they fell into a bowl. Days leading to Christmas, some people burn a candle a set amount to represent each day as marked on the candle. The type of candle used in this way is called an Advent candle. Although this term is also used to refer to a candle that are used in an Advent wreath. Accessories. Candle holders.

Starting point is 00:22:00 Decorative candle holders, especially those shaped as a pedestal, are called candle sticks. The root form of chandelier is from the word for candle, but now usually refers to an electric fixture. The word chandelier is sometimes now used to describe a hanging fixture

Starting point is 00:22:21 designed to hold multiple tapers. Many candle holders use a friction-tight socket to keep the candle upright. In this case, a candle that is slightly too wide will not fit in the holder and the candle that is slightly too narrow will wobble. Candles that are too big can be trimmed to fit with a knife and candles that are too small can be fitted with aluminium foil.

Starting point is 00:22:51 Traditionally, the candle and candle holders were made in the same place, so that they were appropriately sized. But international trade has combined the modern candle with existing holders, which makes the ill-fitting candle more common. This friction-tight socket is only needed for the Federals and the tapers. For tea-light candles, there is a variety of candle holders. including small glass holders and elaborate multi-candal stands. The same is true for votives. Wall sconces are available for tea light and votive candles. For pyrrida-type candles, the assortment of candle holders is broad.

Starting point is 00:23:42 A fireproof plate, such as a glass plate or small mirror, can be a candle holder for a pillar-style candle. A pedestal of any kind, with the appropriately sized fireproof top, is another option. A glass bowl with a large flat bottom and tall, mostly vertical curved sides, is called a hurricane. The pedestal candle is placed at the bottom centre of the hurricane. A hurricane on a pedestal is sometimes sold as a unit. Thank you for listening to this history. of candle making. If you would like more historical non-fiction content like this, please let me know.

Guided Sleep Meditation & Sleep Hypnosis from Sleep Cove - The History of Candle Making

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