Pioneer Candles

More uses for animal fat??? How about candles?

Candles evolved rather quickly but for the pioneers who were usually far from town and anything but rich they had to remain resourceful. Bees wax was more expensive and would have made candle making much simpler however, pioneers used what they had, even if it meant sticking to a less desirable method.

Tallow candles were made from animal fat (tallow) that was collected after every meal until there was enough to constitute spending the afternoon making candles, which was a long, hot process.

The tallow was heated in a pan with water and salt. It was skimmed several times to reduce the amount of meat still in the fat. Once the substance was thoroughly skimmed it was ready for candle making.

Side note: Sometimes spices and herbs were added to help the candles smell better while they burned, because the tallow candles smelled horrible.

They would then take anything from cord to silk threads or strips of cloth for the wick and begin dipping into the tallow. After each dip in the tallow they would dip into a pot of cold water to cool it, then wipe off excess water (Water left within the layers of tallow caused the candle to sputter and put itself out) and dip in tallow again, repeating the process until the candle was thick enough.

Some people had candle molds that made this process much simpler. They would pour the tallow into the mold and wait for it to cool.

The only experience I have ever had with candle making was when I was about 14 my mom decided to melt down all of my sisters and my broken crayons (we had a TON).

We cooked and cooked until finally the wax crayons melted into a gooey brown substance and then we poured them into molds with the wicks. We were so excited we had made candles…..until we burned them! They stunk! Well, hindsight is 20/20, ha!

Have any of you made candles? What techniques do you enjoy using and what have you found to be successful?

Pioneer Soap

I watched a short video online today about one family’s journey to be more resourceful and live a waste free lifestyle. They downsized their family home and decided that the multiple cans of trash, being disposed of every week was not only a waste of money, but also bad for the environment.

This leads me back to the pioneer thinking. I can’t help but think that this way of life is slowly making a comeback. Pioneers didn’t have a garbage man come by every week to dispose of all their trash. They didn’t pile it up and burn it or toss it on the side of the road. The trash didn’t exist. They grew their own food and made their own cleaning supplies… everything from soap to toothpaste. They used everything they had, even ashes from their stoves. I am not sure who came up with the idea to use the ashes but I commend that person for being so ingenious!

This brings me to my topic for the day… SOAP!  J

Side note: Making soap was an all day ordeal for pioneers. It was dangerous too. The fumes were toxic and of course the substance was very hot.

How Pioneers made Soap:

An ash hopper was filled with ashes either from the stove or from stumps that had been burned while clearing land. The pioneers would soak the ashes in water which created lye. The lye was combined with heated lard (fat, grease) and more water.

This substance was cooked in a kettle outside usually over an open fire. The fumes were unhealthy to breathe so cooking it outside was safer. Several hours later the substance would cook down and thicken up. Then it was poured into pans and left to cool. Once it was cooled it was cut up into bars.

So, are you ready to roll up your sleeves and make your own soap?  I am still on the fence about it myself...   :) 

Soldiers exchanged tobacco for coffee

When I picture an officer during the civil war what comes to my mind is a man with deep sunken eyes, a thick beard, a shapely mustache and smoke billowing from his ornately carved pipe.

You may be asking yourself why I chose to touch on this topic. I was actually doing some research on my WIP (work in progress) and realized that when I pictured the father in my story he would have most certainly smoked a pipe. Everyone seemed to smoke back in those days, even young children. This was, of course, before they realized how bad smoking can be for your health. I am not a fan of tobacco but the plain truth is that tobacco was a widely popular in the 1800’s.

What people used to smoke with distinguished the rich from the poor. Pipes were used by all, poor and rich. However, the exquisitely carved wood or porcelain pipes were usually owned by the wealthy. The poor used corncob pipes or carved their own out of wood. Chewing tobacco of course was the cheapest route and was used by all. Cigarettes were around prior to the civil war but not very popular until after 1864. Tobacco was a thriving market and plantation owners seized the opportunity to get into the business.

By the onset of the Civil War approximately 350,000 slaves were cultivating tobacco. During the middle of the war tobacco growers were urged to grow foodstuffs and to refrain from growing tobacco. The food in the fields was used to feed soldiers and also the families left behind as food supplies became more expensive.

Around 1864 the Confederacy began to include tobacco in the rations for their soldiers. The Union troops were rationed up to 6 cups of coffee a day while the Confederacy roasted everything from okra seeds to peanuts to come up with a less than exciting substitute. This lead to the Union and Confederate soldiers calling truces between battles to exchange northern coffee for southern tobacco! Can you imagine this? I guess for me this is a stretch but I found this information verified on several sites. But can you imagine calling a truce to exchange vises only to shoot at each other a few minutes later?