Ethnographia • 121. évfolyam (2010)
TANULMÁNYOK - Paksa Katalin: Vargyas és Kodály 59-67
80 Selmeczi Kovács Attila Attila Selmeczi Kovács TECHNOLOGICAL SHIFT IN CANDLE DIPPING IN THE 19TM CENTURY Candles have taken a place high on the list of lighting devices used by common folk in the past centuries. Candles have always come in two varieties - fundamentally different in both raw materials and quality; one made of beeswax, the other of tallow. The former type was associated with spiritual life inasmuch as serving as a prop in church ceremonies and holy wax candles were also on stock in practically all households. Tallow candles, on the other hand, only had a role to provide everyday lighting. Despite the fact that wax candles had much better properties, they were only lit on special occasions (births, deaths, prevention against malign forces) on account of being much costlier. At all other times, tallow candles, homemade or bought from craftsmen, were used for lighting even if they emitted weaker and less even light. This study gives an account of the technological changes in candle dipping in the 19th century.