Have you ever heard of a Courting Candle? I hadn’t. Not until a recent visit to a local museum. According to the museum’s exhibit, a father used a courting candle to limit the length of time a suitor could spend with his daughter. When the candle burned down to the top of the spiral candleholder, the date was over. However, because the candleholder was adjustable, the father could extend the date—or cut it short—by raising or lowering the candle.
A wonderful story. Just not the full story.
As I researched courting candles, I learned that on June 28, 1998, the Chicago Tribune addressed the validity of this story. They wrote: According to Henry Prebys, curator of domestic life at the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Mich., the term “courting candle” probably is more folklore than fact. Although the candleholder indeed may have been used as a time-keeper for suitors, it was not intentionally made for that purpose.
According to Mr. Prebys, the spiral-shaped candleholder was of German origin and brought to America by early Pennsylvania-German settlers.
So, although an enterprising father didn’t design the courting candleholder, at least a few resourceful fathers put it to good use.
Did you know there are probably more reproduction courting candles made today than there were originals made during the Colonial period?
Timeless Wrought Iron Courting Candle