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.

As the wick of candle is lit, the heat melts and ignites a small amount of solid fuel (the wax), which vaporizes and combines with oxygen in the air to form a flame.

Wicks of pre-19th century candles required regular trimming with scissors or "snuffers" to promote steady burning and prevent smoking.

[3] Prior to the invention of candles, ancient people used open fire, torches, splinters of resinous wood, and lamps to provide artificial illumination at night.

[7] The "candles" used in these early periods would not have resembled the current forms; more likely they were made of plant materials dipped in animal fat.

[10] Candles may have evolved from taper with wick of oakum and other plant fibre soaked in fat, pitch or oil and burned in lamps or pots.

[11] Beeswax candles were expensive and their use was limited to the wealthy, instead oil lamps were the more commonly used lighting devices in Roman times.

[20] In the Middle East, during the Abbasid and Fatimid Caliphates, beeswax was the dominant material used for candle making.

[21] In early modern Syria, candles were in high demand by all socioeconomic classes because they were customarily lit during marriage ceremonies.

[21] However, candle makers had a relatively low social position in Safavid Iran, comparable to barbers, bathhouse workers, fortune tellers, bricklayers, and porters.

[23] In 1825, a French man M. Cambacérès introduced the plaited wick soaked with mineral salts, which when burnt, curled towards the outer edge of the flame and become incinerated by it, thereby trimming itself.

[24] In 1823, Michel Eugène Chevreul and Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac separate out stearin in animal fats, and obtained a patent in 1825 to produce candles that are harder and can burn brighter.

In 1834, Joseph Morgan,[25] a pewterer from Manchester, England, patented a machine that revolutionised candle making.

[26] 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.

It was a bluish-white wax, which burned cleanly and left no unpleasant odor, unlike tallow candles.

[citation needed] In the developed world today, candles are used mainly for their aesthetic value and scent, particularly to set a soft, warm, or romantic ambiance, for emergency lighting during electrical power failures.

Symbolic use of candles has extended from the religious to the secular, for example, a candlelight vigil may be held in remembrance for a person, for a cause or an event, or as a form of political action or protest.

[34][31] The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns led to a dramatic increase in the sales of scented candles, diffusers and room sprays.

Candles were also made from stearin (initially manufactured from animal fats but now produced almost exclusively from palm waxes).

[39] More traditional production methods entail melting the solid fuel by the controlled application of heat.

[39] Based on measurements of a taper-type, paraffin wax candle, a modern candle typically burns at a steady rate of about 0.1 g/min, releasing heat at roughly 80 W.[42] The light produced is about 13 lumens, for a luminous efficacy of about 0.16 lumens per watt (luminous efficacy of a source) – almost a hundred times lower than an incandescent light bulb.

The modern unit is defined in a more precise and repeatable way, but was chosen such that a candle's luminous intensity is still about one candela.

The thermal structure of a flame is complex, hundreds of degrees over very short distances leading to extremely steep temperature gradients.

Special candle scissors called "snuffers" were produced for this purpose in the 20th century and were often combined with an extinguisher.

Ornate snuffers, often combined with a taper for lighting, are still found in those churches which regularly use large candles.

Without a stiff core, the wicks of a container candle could sag and drown in the deep wax pool.

International markets have developed a range of standards and regulations to ensure compliance, while maintaining and improving safety, including: Decorative candleholders, especially those shaped as a pedestal, are called candlesticks; if multiple candle tapers are held, the term candelabra is also used.

Bobèches can range from ornate metal or glass to simple plastic, cardboard, or wax paper.

Use of paper or plastic bobèches is common at events where candles are distributed to a crowd or audience, such as Christmas carolers or people at other concerts or festivals.

These are glass or metal tubes with an internal stricture partway along, which sit around the top of a lit candle.