Candle With Confidence
September marks World Candle Month, a celebration established by NCA to bring to light the various ways candles enrich our daily lives. Every year, candle lovers come together from around the world to participate. World Candle Month serves as one of the many ways NCA encourages industry collaboration to promote global candle sales and bring awareness to the benefits of candles.
This year’s World Candle Month theme is “Candle with Confidence” Click on the link to the 2023 World Candle Month toolkit to find ideas and tips to celebrate and Candle with Confidence.
2023 World Candle Month Toolkit
Be sure to use #WorldCandleMonth and the Myths & Truths of Candles Infographic (below) in your social media posts, on your website and even on your email signature during the month of September.
For more on World Candle Month, please find us on Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest.
WATCH & SHARE THE WORLD CANDLE MONTH VIDEOS
USE OUR WORLD CANDLE MONTH DIGITAL BADGE
Click on the image or download here.
About
Let the illumination commence this September as we celebrate World Candle Month. With the summer winding down and the cooler, darker, autumn taking over, September is the perfect time of year to celebrate the remarkable history and modern relevance of the humble (and not so humble) candle. World Candle Month highlights the many ways that candles, scented or otherwise, can be incorporated into our daily lives. Once used to bring light into dark places, candles are now a source of calm and relaxation with scents designed to freshen any space and improve any mood.
HISTORY OF WORLD CANDLE MONTH
As you might have already guessed candles have been around for a very long time. There’s evidence that the ancient Egyptians used a rudimentary form of a wicked candle as far back as 3000 BC and it is well-known that the ancient Romans had developed candles with wicks. Throughout the millennia progress was slow. In middle age Europe improvements came in the form of using the cleaner-burning and better-smelling beeswax. However, their cost made them prohibitive outside of church ceremonies and the homes of the very rich.
However, it wasn’t until the 19th century that candles and the process we’re most familiar with today would take shape. The 1830s saw the mechanization of candle making (or chandling) making them significantly less expensive to produce and opening their use up to a larger population. In the 1850s the nascent petroleum industry developed a way to separate a waxy substance called paraffin from petroleum. Paraffin would be the most common form of candle wax for more than a century.
It is around the turn of the 20th century that candle use changed from being a source of light to being a source of entertainment. The light bulb displaced the candle as the primary light bringer in the late 19th century and their numbers stayed steady until the 1980s when candles, now often scented, saw a resurgence as decoration, mood-setters, or gifts. The candle industry continues to grow today as advances in wax, scent, and color technology offer consumers a panoply of options for their homes.
WHY WE LOVE WORLD CANDLE MONTH
It celebrates a critical invention
The wheel gets all the attention but where would the world be without candles? It would have surely been a darker, less enlightened place, especially in the winter. These days candles still have an important function, that of mood setter and decoration.
It reminds us to treat ourselves and each other
A candle lit room often denotes a special occasion, but that doesn’t always have to be the case. World Candle Month reminds us that any time we want to add a little extra pampering to our day, lighting a sweet smelling candle can be just the thing.
It promotes candle safety and best practices
Candle lighting is so much more than wick to flame. There are the obvious safety practices, but there are also tips and tricks to better enjoy your candling experience. World Candle Month highlights those tips and practices.