Creating Candles

The early lamps were a bowl of oil with a wick inserted.  However, these could be messy and weren’t exactly convenient. 

So how did you get the light without the bowl and the mess?  All you really need is the oil and the wick, and that was how the candle was born.

Wick and tallow

Early candles were relatively simple.  All you had to do was take the wick and dip it into the melted tallow. 

When you take it out again, it is thoroughly coated.  Allow it to cool, and you have a candle, perfect for lighting that wood burning fireplace.

Early candles were often made in this way.  Multiple wicks would be tied onto one rod and then dipped into a pot of tallow.  For thicker candles, wicks would be dipped multiple times.  Most people made their own candles at home.

Later on, candles were made by pouring the tallow into a tin or pewter mold.  These candles had a smoother and more even appearance than candles that were dipped.

An expensive commodity

Candles were usually made of tallow instead of wax.  While there were wax ones available, they tended to be much more expensive and so were limited to royalty and the church. 

Kings would use them for special occasions and celebrations to decorate the fireplace mantle and the dining tables.

Tallow candles were not cheap either.  Even in recent history, some families would spend their evening with just the light of one candle.  For a party or guests, two or three might be used.

This is a stark contrast to the lights that we use today!  Even the brightest illumination to our ancestors would be barely lit by today’s standards and advances in fireplace designs.

Snuffing

Another downside to tallow candles is that they smoke.   They also need to be snuffed to keep the candle from getting covered in drippings.

As a candle burns, the wick does not burn up entirely and gets bigger and bigger.  The bigger the flame, the more tallow is melted, and the excess runs down the side.

To prevent this, the wick has to be trimmed, or snuffed.  Snuffing is done with a pair of special scissors that are generally stored near the candle.

To punch the wick off with your fingers was considered to be bad manners.  Once the end of the wick was removed, it had to be thrown on the floor and stepped on.

Modern candles

Today’s candles are made of stearine, which burns brighter than tallow.  The other advantage is that they do not need to be snuffed because of the way the wick is designed. 

In stearine candles, the hottest part of the flame is on the outside, where there is more air.

To see for yourself, take a piece of paper and hold it for a second over the flame of a candle.  When you remove it, you will see that that a circle has been burned, showing that the flame is hottest on the outside. 

If you do the same with a tallow candle, you will find a hole burned into the paper.  This causes the wick to be in the center of the flame, creating a charred end.

Another difference between the two is the style of wick.  In a tallow candle, the wick is twisted, while in a stearine one, it is braided. 

As a stearine candle burns, the wick unwinds, and the ends stick out into the hottest part of the flame and are burned away.

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Materials for Curtains

Curtain materials may be grouped into two general categories, light and heavy. In the former group, there is net, lace, scrim, muslin, etc. In the latter, there is gingham, chintz, linen, velour, brocade, damask and other similar fabrics. The light materials are appropriate for under-curtains, and the heavier ones for over-draperies. In choosing materials, where both under-curtains and over-draperies are used, the two types should be considered in their relation to each other both as to color and texture.

The type of material used largely depends on the character of the room and the style of furniture and hanging picture frames. Formal rooms with luxurious furnishings, call for sumptuous velvets, damasks, silks and brocades. Simple and informal rooms call for printed linens, chintzes and sun-fast materials, which are quaint and cheerful in their effect. For bedrooms and summer homes, chintz is an ideal material for draperies.

The English chintzes are usually more original in design than those of American manufacture. The favorite patterns, with birds, flowers, lattices and trees, give just the outdoor effect required. Among the plain materials, rep, either cotton or wool, is particularly effective, because of its texture. A border or edging in gold or a contrasting color may often be used to relieve it, if the effect is too monotonous.

Velour is a suitable material when an effect of great richness is desired, and lends itself particularly to Italian and Spanish effects. Figured velvets are almost too rich to be used for curtains, but brocade and damask may be used where a rich patterned fabric is required. These materials should be lined with sateen. Where a lighter material is used, color may be added by a silk lining through which the light shines.

In a large room where the furniture covering, walls, rugs, and pediment entry are plain, the draperies may show patterns and also many colors. On the other hand when the upholstery fabrics and rugs are figured and when wall paper has been used, it is well to keep the drapery material subdued.

Striped materials are sometimes used for draperies, but if their color contrast is strong they may cut up the wall space too much. Figured materials are to be preferred especially if the walls are a plain tone. If a quieter, less exuberant effect is desired, plain material, with perhaps a contrasting border, may be used.

The color of the curtains should harmonize with that of the walls, and when several rooms are so arranged as to be seen together, their color scheme should be linked together. The selection of a patterned material also partially depends upon the number of openings to be treated. Numerous windows will not stand the repetition of a strong pattern. Patterns should also be chosen to be in scale with the size of the room and window toppers. Trimmings should be appropriate to the fabric and its use.

The style of the draperies and the method of hanging should next be considered. The decision as to whether the curtains should hang straight or be tied back depends upon the following considerations. Straight draperies are always more formal than those that are draped.

The latter arrangement permits more light to enter a room and also introduces a curved line instead of a straight line. This is often important in the general design of the room. Where there is an abundance of straight lines, as in wall panels, the eye demands relief and contrast, which is met in the graceful curved lines of draped window or door hangings.

Draperies should just clear the floor in formal rooms. The valance may be hung straight with an ornamental shaped edge, or hung in French pleats. A good general rule for designing valances is to make them about one-ninth of the total height from the top of the door pediment to the floor. As a substitute for the valance, one can use the cornice board. They should be made so that they turn the corner at the outside of the curtain and turn back to the wall.

The return may sometimes be nailed to the outside molding of the trim. Cornice boards are today also being made in many materials and many finishes. The wooden ones are sometimes left perfectly plain and painted or enameled with a color used elsewhere in the room. The wooden ones look better, however, if they are finished with a small molding both at the top and bottom.

Sometimes the moldings are striped in colors used in the curtains. Occasionally ornamental features such as flowers or figures or conventional ornaments are painted in the center of the board and at both ends.

In early American pine, oak or maple rooms, the top and bottom of the cornice boards are sometimes cut into a curved silhouette and the board is merely stained to match the woodwork and then waxed. A very simple method of ornamenting a cornice board is to cut out a small portion of the pattern or figures used in the curtains and apply it with glue to the board.

In addition to wood, mirrored, etched or painted glass amd round picture frames are sometimes used. The glass is painted on the rear side in black, blue, gray, red, and other colors or it may be mirrored in either silver or gold and an original effect is produced by the use of ground glass with a silver mirror placed on the ground side. The effect is a soft reflection of the colors used on the opposite side of the room.

Venetian blinds can sometimes take the place of sash curtains. They may be used in very formal and sophisticated rooms in combination with draped voile that is hung over the curtain rods in swags, making a very original and unique effect.

Sash curtains are also sometimes omitted when painted draw shades are used. These decorated shades are comparatively new in this country and are becoming more and more popular. They may be obtained in a great variety of patterns and colors that harmonize with French, Italian and Colonial rooms.

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