Colonial candle making is a common arts and crafts project that produces beautiful results. For women in Colonial America, making candles was necessary because there was no electricity and families needed a source of light. Colonial taper candles were the most commonly created candles during this time.

Woman used tallow (animal fat) to make candles. These candles had an unpleasant smell and did not burn well. If you were in the elite class, you could make your candles from beeswax, which smelled and burned better, but this candle making substance was not widely available.

A New Discovery
Soon colonists realized that bayberries could produce a pleasant fragrance when added to the wax and were much cleaner to burn. The only problem with bayberries was that it took an abundance of them to make just one candle. The time and effort to produce these types of candles was hard on the women. Bayberry wax can still be found in select locations today.

Using Whale Oil
In the 1700s, it was discovered that whale oil could be used in candle making. The wax produced from whale oil was called spermaceti wax. While the scent was still nothing to behold, the candles made from this wax burned longer and stood the heat during the summer months to provide light at night for the colonists.

Making Colonial Candles
If you want to try your hand at making authentic Colonial candles, you can purchase bayberry wax. Melt and pour the wax just as you would for any other type of candle wax. You can also choose to pick your own bayberries, but this is only really feasible for people living in the North Coast regions and parts of Canada. If you decide to pick your own bayberries, you will need approximately six pounds of berries to make one pound of wax.

The molds used in Colonial times consisted of wooden boxes. They did not have access to the many different styles and materials of molds we have today. In addition, while we have specially designed wicks that are made to burn for extended periods of time, women in Colonial times generally used cotton strands to make their wicks. This required much maintenance to keep the candles burning.

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