Vigo County Historical Society

Historical Treasure Article

Historic Treasure of the Week - June 3, 1984
By Dorothy Frey
Vigo County Historical Society

Candles were essential in pioneer households

The first candles were probably grease impregnated rush or fibre, or soft wood cores with fat molded around them.

In early colonial days candles were made by dipping twisted wicks into tallow, setting them aside to dry, and re-dipping them until there was enough coating of tallow to enable the candle, when dry, to stand upright in a candle mold.

This slow , painstaking method was superceded by the use of candle molds, such as the "Treasure of the Week." The date of origin of these molds is debatable, but since the surviving molds are made of tin, we have to assume most were made by local tinsmiths. Apparently every tinsmith had his own idea of how many candle tubes a mold should have, for they vary form single tube molds to as many as 30 tubes. The one pictured holds 12 candles.

The molding of candles was a comparatively simple process. Each tube of the mold was perforated at the lower end. Through this hole a flax or cotton wick was threaded until it projected slightly from the end of the tube. The upper end of the wick was looped round a piece of wire laid across the cup framing the large opening of the tubes. Melted tallow was poured into the cups until it filled the attached tubes or tube and completely covered each inserted wick. After the tallow had cooled and hardened, this part of the process sometimes took as long as 24 hours, the mold was plunged in hot water to loosen the tallow. The completed candle was then withdrawn from the mold and hung out of doors to dry.

Some skill and care was necessary to the success of the method, Wicks had to be centered in the tubes and drawn tight to keep them from kinking.

The tallow used in making the candles was rendered from deer suet, bear grease and left-over fat. from domestic butchering. Sometimes beeswax or bayberry wax, which yields a spicy odor, was substituted for the ordinary grease or fat.

The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, 1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday through Friday.