Candle molds

[lojafan]

Would anyone know where I can get a period correct candle mold? Most of the ones I can find are the long dinner table style or decorative ones.

Thanks!

[Marylander in Grey]

Re: Candle molds

Andrew,
I would suggest ebay look under candle molds. My wife bought me a 28 hole 6 inch taper mold that was very old and still servicable for around $60.00. We have made several hundred candles with it. Also try this link although not of our period they have what your looking for.

http://jas-townsend.com/

[dwar]

Re: Candle molds

Andrew
Try Turkey foot Trading Company LLC. He has them

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Candle molds

Would anyone know where I can get a period correct candle mold? Most of the ones I can find are the long dinner table style or decorative ones.

Thanks!

By the 1860s most people purchased candles. Candles were not very expensive, especially the tallow ones. There is an article on our website, www.raggedsoldier.com in the Virginia's Veranda section, that is all about candles. For now, it is in the current article and is called, "Dispelling the Darkness."

Granted some people were making their own candles, if they lived in the country and had access to tallow but even then, most people had started using stearin or adamantine candles which were much more harder, didn't smell as bad, and lasted much longer when burned. These candles were only commercially made.

Beeswax candles could only be dipped. Tallow candles could be molded or dipped and more candles could made at one time by dipping than molding.

If you have further questions about candles, please feel free to contact me.

[lojafan]

Re: Candle molds

Thanks everyone for the information!

[PAUL BARNHART]

Re: Candle molds

I can get stearin or adamantine candles. They used to be made by proctor and Gamble and the military bought oodles of them. A 4 0z candle was in the daily ration of Feds.

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Candle molds

This is Virginia's spouse posting.

She didn't mention it in her earlier reply since it wasn't germain to the topic but we can obtain 100 percent stearin or adamantine candles. Visit our website www.raggedsoldier.com We also have complete documentation upon request. I'll be at Cedar Creek in October if you would like to examine the candles as well as receive some information about their burn times.

Michael Mescher

[lojafan]

Re: Candle molds

I've seen your candles on your website and if they are authentic to the period, I sure can say your price is definatly right and I'm buying from you!

Thanks!

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Candle molds

I've seen your candles on your website and if they are authentic to the period, I sure can say your price is definatly right and I'm buying from you!
Thanks!

The article about candles on our website gives the full documentation of the candles.

We try to offer authentic items for everyone and have documented almost every item we sell. We know how expensive the hobby can be so we also try to keep our prices as reasonably low as we possibly can. If you have questions about any item or its authenticity, please feel free to contact us.

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

Re: Candle molds

My research on candles is NOT as extensive as the Mescher's, however it's important that we understand that while the adamantine candles may have been the most prevalently sold, other types of candles were still being sold as well (just not in as great as quantities).

Candles.--Tallow 15 Per lb.; Jackson's 15; Hull's 16; Adamantine 22@25; Sperm 45; Patout Sperm 54@56

Keeping in mind, this is only 1 Newspaper, and at a specific shot in time it shows the commercial sale of more than just Adamantine candles. My assumption would be that candles such as the 'Tallow' were being sold expressely for the lower-end of society, since they were fouler than the other candles being offered for sale. Any other thoughts??

Another concern is that while the Adamantine candles certainly appear to be more prevalent as far as sales, this should not exclude the encouragement/use of other period type candles from the being represented in our hobby either. Note: This doesn't even get into the rosin/beeswax candles being touted as 'patriot' candles in several do-it-yourself books post-1863.

Paul B.

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Candle molds

My research on candles is NOT as extensive as the Mescher's, however it's important that we understand that while the adamantine candles may have been the most prevalently sold, other types of candles were still being sold as well (just not in as great as quantities).

Keeping in mind, this is only 1 Newspaper, and at a specific shot in time it shows the commercial sale of more than just Adamantine candles. My assumption would be that candles such as the 'Tallow' were being sold expressely for the lower-end of society, since they were fouler than the other candles being offered for sale. Any other thoughts??

Another concern is that while the Adamantine candles certainly appear to be more prevalent as far as sales, this should not exclude the encouragement/use of other period type candles from the being represented in our hobby either. Note: This doesn't even get into the rosin/beeswax candles being touted as 'patriot' candles in several do-it-yourself books post-1863.

Paul B.

I'm not saying that adamantine candles were the only ones used. In Historic Accounts the store ledger from 1859-1861 that I transcribed, there were 215 sales of candles (not the total candles sold but just sales and most sales were for multiple pounds of candles) 23 were tallow, 13 were spermacetti, 136 were adamatine, and
43 were unspecified types. 3 candle molds were also sold. No beeswax candles were sold.

I expect that reason that the tallow sales were so low is that tallow candles could be made at home if they had access to bulk tallow but unfortunately there is no way to know how many were made at home.

I realize that many made their own candles during the war it is wonderful project to make some of those recipes and produce some of the candles but I expect that it is not practical to reproduce them sale to the general public. I do applaud those that make candles and wish that I had the time and facilities to make more of the candles. In my article there is a section on the candles shortage in the South and mentioned many of the substitutes that were used in place of candles and lamp oil and the extenders that were used to make candles.

When I do a display on candles, I include other candles besides adamantine. I have a candle made from tallow and I have to be careful when I do a display in warm weather that I leave the tallow candle at home because it gets very soft and I don't want to risk it melting. I do have a couple of "Confederate Candles" that used beeswax and rosin and are wrapped around corn cobs. The public finds them interesting but I don't use them because of the labor involved in making them. I also have beeswax and bayberry candles that I use in my display but I don't make them myself as I am not a candle maker. In addition to candles, I include button and fairy lamps to show everyone that people could adapt without candles or kerosine [sic] lamps. It my intention to present as much of the picture of lighting in the mid-19th century minus lamps since that was the transition between whale oil and kerosene. It was also important to include wartime substitutes since I usually do a wartime display.