The approximately 106-foot (32 m) tall structure, which resembles a giant candle, is assembled each year over the Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument, a Civil War memorial located in the city's Centre Square.

[5][6][7] Although conceived with the hopes of restoring Easton's pre-20th century reputation for elaborate Christmas decorations, city officials also believed a candle would serve as a symbol of peace for all religions and denominations.

One of the suggestions was to pile evergreen trees around the Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument, a Civil War memorial located in Centre Square, but it was deemed too expensive to pursue.

[12] During one of the committee meetings, Easton resident Virginia Purdy suggested the idea of assembling a large candle in Centre Square, "because it would have no commercial aspect and it would serve to further good will in the community".

Jones, with the help of committee member and architect William Tydeman, studied the engineering angles involved in building a wooden candle structure that could be assembled over the Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument.

[14] However, four days before it was scheduled to be built, Tydeman determined the structure design was too high to withstand the winds, and that there was a risk that it could topple along with the Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument.

Heller, the Reading-based company that built the Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument, and sought advice from the son of the man who owned the firm when the work was done.

Using a crane with a 95-foot (29 m) berm, as well as electrical equipment and other tools, 20 workmen placed the heavy plywood sheathing sections along all four sides of the Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument.

[24] Joining Morrison and Frank Bechtel in the dedication were a Catholic priest, a Jewish rabbi and a Protestant minister, to demonstrate the Christmas Candle was meant to serve as a symbol of peace for all religions and denominations.

The blaze caused only minor damage to the Christmas Candle, but the bugler statue was exposed and visible inside the flame for the rest of the season.

[11] The program continued to grow each year, and included 3,000 Evergreen trees assembled around the Centre Square by 1957, when more than 500 people attended the lighting ceremony in 20-degree weather.

The Easton Area Christmas Committee also had trouble raising additional money needed for the repairs, For all these reasons, they decided not to assemble the candle again.

[12][31] The candle was placed into storage at an old incinerator plant on Pennsylvania Route 611,[12] and the Easton Area Christmas Committee sought alternative decorations for its holiday program.

[12] Councilman William Tomino also urged that repairs be made, claiming the candle was "known all around the world" and should remain part of Easton's holiday celebration.

[37] On October 29, Henry Schultz, now chairman of the Christmas committee, announced the four smaller candles were damaged beyond repair and no effort would be made to rebuild them.

On November 20, 1970, heavy rain and inclement weather snapped a wire helping keep the structure in place, and firefighters had to install additional braces the next day.

When city workers removed the flame next day, they realized the bugler statue atop the Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument had moved on its base and would have toppled over had it not been leaning against the candle structure.

On November 16, 1989, Mayor Sal Panto Jr. announced on WEST's Voice of the People show that the Peace Candle would not go up another year because the support structure was too weak and the Easton Area Christmas Committee was not receiving enough donations to pay for repairs.

[9] The new candle was designed by the Allentown firm Alvin Butz Co., the Allentown firm Barry Isett & Associates, and Bethlehem Steel Corp. Supplies were provided by Dugan & Marcon Inc., Eisenhardt Mills, Ingersoll-Rand Co. and Dectis Painting, and the construction done by the Carpenters Union Local 600, Electricians Union Local 367 and the Northampton County Labor Council.

In order to cover the $15,000 shortfall in funds raised, the city sold Christmas cards, posters, ornaments and $10 Peace Candle ownership shares.

[59] By 2000, the city's Christmas decorations also included lighted snowflakes on the utility poles of Easton streets surrounding the Peace Candle.

[64] James Pruznick, a filmmaker from Pohatcong Township, New Jersey, made a documentary film in 2004 focused on that year's assembly of the Peace Candle, as well as interviews with politicians, artists, merchants and construction workers about the history of the structure.

At about 7 p.m., the mayor introduced U.S. Navy veteran Kyle Stocker, whose son 4½-year-old Kayden hit the switch to turn on the spotlights illuminating the candle.

[67] In 2009, Superior Court Judge Jack Panella won a $770 bid on the auction website eBay to flip the switch and turn on the Peace Candle during the candle-lighting ceremony on November 27, 2009.

[68] In November 2010, Easton Holiday Committee Chairwoman Sandy O'Brien-Werner voiced doubts that the current candle structure would last until 2014 as previously projected and might need to be replaced sooner.

[70] In 1975, the activist citizens group Lehigh-Pocono Committee of Concern (LEPOCO) formed a "human peace candle" in front of the real structure as a protest against the Vietnam War.

Three group members formed a triangle while another man stood on top of their shoulders, holding a lighted candle and a sign that read, "Bring the troops home for Christmas and the rest of the year".

[41] Both in 1967 and 1968, U.S. Rep. Fred B. Rooney lobbied the United States Post Office Department seeking for the Peace Candle to chosen for the official Christmas Stamp in the following year.

[56] In 1982, a petition was signed by 90 people and submitted to the Easton City Council seeking to discontinue the Peace Candle tradition, calling it a "garish symbol of inner-city decadence".

The group wanted to replace it with a decorative display of evergreen tree, in honor of Easton's claim to be the first city in the United States to observe that German custom.