Frontier Fridays: Before Electricity There Were Candles

Candle Hints - Most tallow, in summer is more or less soft and often quite yellow. To avoid both, take your tallow and put a little beeswax with it, especially if your beeswax is dark, put into a suitable kettle and add a weak lye, boil gently for an hour or two each day for two days stirring and skimming well each morning cutting it out and scraping off the bottom which is soft and add fresh lye (1, 2,3 gallons depending on the amount of tallow. The third morning use water in which alum and saltpeter are dissolved at the rate of l pound each for 30 pounds of tallow, then simmer, stir and skim again. Let cook and you can take the water off for use. Candles can be dipped and run in molds.

More Candle Lore Candles had a totally different importance and purpose on the prairie than they do today. Used for light, candles were highly valued and not wasted for such frivolous ideas as "setting a mood"!   Candles had to be hand dipped in molds (either wooden or metal). It was a very tedious and hot job  standing over vats of hot wax. Molds were plain and mostly tapered - long thin like candles.  Today, candles are used for far different purposes from fragrance to bug control, and we can order our candles in any style, color and scent!