[1] The Food Timeline history website states that "The earliest print reference we find for Candle Salad is dated 1916.

It was presented in this socialite menu; no description or recipe was included: "Fruit Cocktail, Chicken a la King, Mashed Potatoes, Buttered Peas, Rolls, Olives, Candle Salad, Cheese Straws, Fancy Cakes, Nut Ice Creams, Candies and Nuts, Coffee."

The recipe for candle salad was published in the 1950 edition of A Child's First Cook Book by Alma S. Lach, one of the first cookbooks written for children.

"[3][4] A version of this salad appeared in the Mormon children's magazine The Friend in 2008, which included a bed of alfalfa sprouts and strawberry yogurt drizzled over the top of the banana to look like dripping candle wax.

[6] Carolyn Andrew Lynch published a small booklet called The Candle Salad Story in 2003 with several reprinted images from cookbooks and articles.