Editing Candle (section)

===Modern era===
[[File:Price's Palmitine Candles00.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Price's Candles]] had become the largest candle manufacturer in the world by the end of the 19th century]]

A number of improvements were made to candle in the 19th century. In older candles, the wick of a burning candle was not in direct contact with air, so it charred instead of being burnt. The charred wick inhibited further burning and produced black smoke, so the wick needed to be constantly trimmed or "snuffed".{{sfn|LeFever|2007|page=65}} In 1825, a French man M. Cambacérès introduced the plaited wick soaked with mineral salts, which when burnt, curled towards the outer edge of the flame and become incinerated by it, thereby trimming itself.{{sfn|Forbes|1966|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-VmmHdm5STIC&pg=PA134 134] }} These are referred to as "self-trimming" or "self-consuming" wicks.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.expressivecandles.com/history.php |title=A Brief History of Candles |access-date=2015-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130318072713/http://www.expressivecandles.com/history.php |archive-date=2013-03-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1823, [[Michel Eugène Chevreul]] and [[Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac]] separate out [[stearin]] in animal fats, and obtained a patent in 1825 to produce candles that are harder and can burn brighter.{{sfn|Forbes|1966|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=N6Y3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA139 138–139] }}{{sfn|LeFever|2007|page=65}}

The manufacture of candles became an industrialized mass market in the mid 19th century. In 1834, Joseph Morgan,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Joseph_Morgan_and_Son|title=Joseph Morgan and Son |work=Graces Guide}}</ref> a [[pewter]]er from [[Manchester]], England, patented a machine that revolutionised candle making. It allowed for continuous production of molded candles by using a cylinder with a moveable piston to eject candles as they solidified. This more efficient mechanized production produced about 1,500&nbsp;candles per hour. This allowed candles to be an affordable commodity for the masses.<ref>{{cite book | last = Phillips | first = Gordon  | title = Seven Centuries of Light: The Tallow Chandlers Company | publisher = Book Production Consultants  | year = 1999 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OWt03_on0qUC&q=Joseph+Morgan+candles+1834&pg=PA74 | isbn = 978-1-85757-064-9 | page = 74}}</ref>

In the mid-1850s, [[James Young (Scottish chemist)|James Young]] succeeded in distilling [[paraffin wax]] from coal and oil shales at [[Bathgate]] in [[West Lothian]] and developed a commercially viable method of production.<ref>{{cite book | last = Golan | first = Tal  | title = Laws of Men and Laws of Nature: The History of Scientific Expert Testimony in England and America | publisher = Harvard University Press | year = 2004 | pages = 89–91 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=kQhYsAmcj-EC&q=james+young+patent+paraffin&pg=PA90  | isbn = 978-0674012868}}</ref> Paraffin could be used to make inexpensive candles of high quality. It was a bluish-white wax, which burned cleanly and left no unpleasant odor, unlike [[tallow]] candles. By the end of the 19th century, candles were made from paraffin wax and [[stearic acid]].

By the late 19th century, [[Price's Candles]], based in London, was the largest candle manufacturer in the world.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fJo7AwAAQBAJ|title=London's Industrial Heritage|author=Geoff Marshall|year=2013|publisher=The History Press|isbn=9780752492391}}</ref> Founded by William Wilson in 1830,<ref>{{cite book | last = Ball  | first = Michael  |author2=David Sunderland | title = An Economic History of London, 1800-1914 | publisher = Routledge | year = 2001 | pages = 131–132 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=MI6JfTiEcdAC&q=Prices+Candles+Coconut&pg=PA132 | isbn = 978-0415246910}}</ref> the company pioneered the implementation of the technique of [[steam distillation]], and was thus able to manufacture candles from a wide range of raw materials, including skin fat, bone fat, fish oil and industrial greases.

Despite advances in candle making, the candle industry declined rapidly upon the introduction of superior methods of lighting, including [[kerosene]] and [[Kerosene lamp|lamps]] and the 1879 invention of the [[incandescent light bulb]]. From this point on, candles came to be marketed as more of a decorative item.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Sekimoto|first1=Hiroshi|last2=Ryu|first2=Kouichi|last3=Yoshimura|first3=Yoshikane|date=2001-11-01|title=CANDLE: The New Burnup Strategy|url=https://doi.org/10.13182/NSE01-01|journal=Nuclear Science and Engineering|volume=139|issue=3|pages=306–317|doi=10.13182/NSE01-01|bibcode=2001NSE...139..306S |s2cid=121714669|issn=0029-5639}}</ref>