The first and most natural way to light Colonial homes. Dates back in time in Europe, Asia, and Africa and was used by Native Americans.
Preferred to candle light as it is more intense and has longevity.
To supplement candles, nearly every family laid in a good supply of this light-wood or candle-wood, especially for the long nights of winter.
Homes in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont were still using pine knots right up to the early part of the 20th century.
Made from the wood of the pine tree, cloven into little slices, sometimes thinly, which are so full of the moisture of turpentine and pitch that they burn as clear as a torch.
Downside to the use of pitch-soaked wood (fat wood) is that it produces an oily, sooty smoke and a tar residue when burning. To avoid having smoke in the room, and the pitch droppings of tar as it burned, the candlewood was usually lit in a corner of the fireplace, on flat stones.
CANDLES
Most colonial families burned an average of three to four hundred candles a year.
Candle making is a labor-intensive craft, and candles were used sparingly as they burn quickly.
Only the wealthiest landlords and merchants lit entire rooms.
TALLOW (ANIMAL FAT) CANDLES: Settlers carefully saved the deer suet, moose fat, bear’s grease, etc. Every ounce of this grease tallow was conserved as a precious treasure. The fat would be saved for months and smelled rancid by autumn, which was the traditional time to lay aside the next year’s supply of candles. Candles of hot tallow or animal grease were painstakingly layered around twisted fiber wicks. They burned poorly and smelled badly.
BEES WAX CANDLES: Were used extensively by the clergy during the Middle Ages. Reduced quantities made them expensive, limiting their use to the church and upper classes. In America, heated beeswax pressed around the wick and shaped by hand became more common, and the odor produced was appealing.
BAYBERRY WAX CANDLES: Early colonists discovered a very appealing wax from boiled bayberries. It created a pleasant smell, gave off little smoke, did not melt in the summer, and proved to be a good burning candle. A quart and a half of bayberries, however, yielded only enough wax for one small candle. The process was very time-consuming.
WHALE OIL
1700-1930 The whaling industry existed in New England.
In the 1700s and early 1800s, whale oil was the fuel of choice, but whale oil was relatively expensive.
Glass whale oil lamps were created by many companies,
The 19th-century whaling industry was one of the most prominent businesses in America.
1840: Peak of the whaling industry.
1850s Whaling ships> 700 out of 900 worldwide were American ships.
In 1853, 8,000 whales were killed for many uses.
Indigenous Arctic communities today, such as the Inuit, still harvest blubber and render it for use in traditional whale-oil lamps.
SPERMACETI whale oil candles– Spermaceti is a waxy substance that comes from the sperm whale’s head. These candles burned longer, cleaner, brighter, and with little odor. Appearance after bleaching is appealing, white, and translucent, and favored. The process from Spermaceti to candle was long and time-consuming, and the candles were expensive.
In 1860, New England whaling was declining due to the use of alternative fluids like coal oil and turpentine.
By 1895, the New England whaling fleet had dwindled to 51 vessels, with only four ports regularly sending out ships.
COST COMPARISON & NEW ENERGIES
Camphene or burning liquid (also called turpentine and camphor oil, both sweet-smelling), .50 cents per gallon.
While oil is $2.00-2.50 per gallon
Lard (smelly) .90 per gallon
Coal oil (smelly) original kerosene, .50 gallon
By the 1860s’s Kerosene from petroleum .60 cents a gallon
In 1803, Newport, RI, was the first city to use gas from coal for street lighting.
In 1828, Boston had gas streetlights.
In 1852, Concord had an established gas plant
In 1888, the Concord Gas holder was built
More research is needed to see how gas was used in homes, especially in rural areas like Salisbury, if at all.
In 1888, the Concord Gas holder was built. Efforts to restore it are underway
1900 Telephone and power lines are gradually strung in Salisbury, bringing electricity to our town.
