History of candle making
[1] In China, textual evidence suggests that candles may have been made from whale fat in the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE).
Moulds were used later, and in the 19th century, large-scale industrial manufacturing technique was introduced for the mass production of candles.
Before candles were invented, ancient people used open fire, torches, splinters of resinous wood, and lamps to provide light at night.
[9] However, the candles used in the early periods may not resemble current forms and were likely made from plant materials dipped in animal fat.
[15] Oil lamps were the most widely used source of illumination in Roman Italy, but candles were common and regularly given as gifts during Saturnalia.
[24] The Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) Jizhupian dictionary of about 40 BC hints at candles being made of beeswax, while the Book of Jin (compiled in 648) covering the Jin dynasty (266–420) makes a solid reference to the beeswax candle in regard to its use by the statesman Zhou Yi (d. 322).
[24] An excavated earthenware bowl from the 4th century AD, located at the Luoyang Museum, has a hollowed socket where traces of wax were found.
The trade of the chandler is also recorded by the more picturesque name of "smeremongere", since they oversaw the manufacture of sauces, vinegar, soap and cheese.
Beeswax was the preferred substance for the production of candles without the unpleasant odour, but its use remained restricted to the rich, and for churches and royal events, due to their great expense.
[21] In the Middle East, during the Abbasid and Fatimid Caliphates, beeswax was the dominant material used for candle making.
[26] For example, the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil spent 1.2 million silver dirhams annually on candles for his royal palaces.
[26] In early modern Syria, candles were in high demand by all socioeconomic classes because they were customarily lit during marriage ceremonies.
[26] However, candle makers had a relatively low social position in Safavid Iran, comparable to barbers, bathhouse workers, fortune tellers, bricklayers, and porters.
[27] A type of Chinese candles has a bamboo rod as its core, onto which paper is wound spirally with rush pith as wick, and this is then repeatedly dipped in melted wax or fats and cooled until the desired size is reached.
[30] The Japanese have similar candle-making techniques as the Chinese, but they also developed a method of moulding candles using paper tubes.
Like beeswax, spermaceti wax did not create a repugnant odor when burned, and produced a significantly brighter light.
In 1834, Joseph Morgan, a pewterer from Manchester, England, patented a machine that revolutionised candle making.
[32] At this time, candlemakers also began to fashion wicks out of tightly braided (rather than simply twisted) strands of cotton.
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.
[37] The company traced its origins back to 1829, when William Wilson invested in 1,000 acres (1.6 sq mi; 4.0 km2) of coconut plantation in Sri Lanka.
An accidental discovery swept all his ambitions aside when his son George Wilson, a talented chemist, distilled the first petroleum oil in 1854.
In America, Syracuse, New York developed into a global center for candle manufacturing from the mid-nineteenth century.
The creation of unique wax blends, now requiring different fragrance chemistries and loads, encouraged candle wick manufacturers to innovate to meet performance needs with the often tougher-to-burn formulations.
