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Home My WebLink AboutThe Huron Expositor, 1976-11-25, Page 31b. 7 Electricity pages Your Life • • CONSEINE1T Don't Get Your Wires Crossed! The way to.get the most power from the least amount of energy is to be sure your wiring system is in super shoPe. That not only it makes for good makescitiz sense, r tisiepn... Do your part: Ax It up! 0)cPOW Pioneer's fineSt Dolby cassette deck has elec- tronic solenOid switching, wide range vu meters, peak warning light,' microphone/line mixing, excellent Specifications and sound quality. • Frequency response 20.1,7000HZ • Signal to noise ratio- 63dB • Wow & flutter 0.07% • Warranty one year .ii; Ontario Street Stratford 271.2950 • F ri *Pa Rempmbqrlog„..„ tandipmqicing, travelling candle-maker or chandler to bring his own molds to the house and make' up the family's accumulated stock of tallow and beeswax into candles. He was rarely paid in coin but rather in "Country pay"' in the• form of extra wax or any other product of the household on which both parties could agree. Candle sticks were created for domestic and ecclesiastical use. The first candle:beams were crude chandeliers made of crossed pieces of wood with sockets or pockets of metal' to hold the candle upright. In time such material as iron, brass, pewter, silver and glass were employed. Many can still remember the first simplest fOrm of candle-holder;, a saucer-shaped base To the rim's edge a circular handle was soldered to make for easier and safer carrying.The open flame always created afire hazard. '''' "Irmight be- only a block of wood With a hole for the candle; It may be a quaint old brass affair With a curly handle, ' Or silver, embossed, or gold or jade In design ornate, .Or clearest crystal or china rare All most delicate. No matter the holder, the candle it holds Will melt the gloom, The same soft light from the taper flows Till it fills the room." (Dawson) Machine's have replaced hand labour and new formulations have been introduced for various effects. Modern candle-making plants are equipped with wax-melting kettles for blending the wax formula and with candle-molding machines whose temperatures may be controlled. The wax formula is coiled as low as possible without solidifying and pumped into a series of molds of be immersed in a circulating cool bath until the solidification. is.complete . The finished candles are automatically ejected and the cycle repeated. Finishing operations include polishing with soft buffers, Special candles are molded in almost any shape or size. Suitable oil-soluble dyes may be added for colouring and perfumed to emit a desired fragrance while burning. To=day's wicks are soaked in solutions of certain salts to facilitat e the proper burning of the wick and to prevent after-glow when the candle is extinguisheed. Attention has to be paid to the porosity of the wick in order that all the wax In elted by the wick flame is consumes "Soft candle-light betokens cheer That beckons when the dusk appears And sends its gentle golden beams To set bright silverware aglow." (King)- GEO. A. SILLS and SONS *can St., HARDWARE MERCHANTS Seaforth If 'NW gvoryone gets; 'into tie act at this :favorite brist, tnaa Party. Invite dear friends and relatives for, heartrWarMing evening for all. The hostess heaps bas- kets with ribbons, popcorn; colored papers and cello- phane, foil, seals, bells, col. ored yarns, scissors, glue, whatever. Each one makes ornaments from whatever suits his Or her fancy, and then uses them to trim the tree. 'Prizes-can be awarded for the funniest, prettiest, or cleverest ornament. After . light . refreShMents, guests take home one or two Aof their. creations for their TICTORIAd GREY TRoSt Con.IPANY SINCE 1589 VG Get your Santa Claus money now with a low interest, life insured personal loan from Victoria and Grey. . Get it today! ,= to give at Christmas Give what you'd like own tree. It's a art - NJO `.. T . W CiatiSTIVIAS Women's lib endorses green Christmas For about 35 years both men and women have been sentimentally dreaming of a "White Christmas." The poignant message of Irving Berlin's popular song is' dear to us all, at holiday time. "However, a Green Christmas is an ancient cus- tom and more universally observed. At pagan winter festivals in early times, winter flow- ering plants and evergreens were prized for their prom- ise of the return of the sun and of spring. Holly and ivy are part of that ancient heritage and were extolled in an old Christmas carol "The Holly and the Ivy." As far back as those an- cient 'pagan games, holly was characterized as mas- culine, ivy as feminine. At a later date, it was decided that spiney-leaved hollies are "he" and smooth-leaved hollies are "she." Depending on the kind of holly brought home at the holidays, it was determined whether he or she would be head of the house, the New .Year! Womens libbers will un- doubtedly be cornering the market on smooth-leaved holly this happy holiday season! DAVE ON CASE.. BATTERIES FOR: , CARS • TRUCKS • SNOWMOBILES , TRACTORS AND CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT H. LOBB 81 SONS LTD. cLINTotsi W. a Strong) If you were to ask today's child the simple question, "Row do you light your house?" the reply would likely be, "By pushing a button". The child of an :early settler would need many more words to descrilmthe primitive illuminatioil procedures which had changed little from early Roman days. Lighting the home of the earliest pioneers differed little from that of the old land but they fared better in that they had unlimited wood for bright fires, especially the pitch pine that 'blazed brightly, if smolely, from its own resin. Candles have been important since ancient times.as sources of light, and, although they were replaced by sene lamps and later by the incandescent electric bulb, their use has actually expanded because of their domestic, ornamental or ecclesiastical value. In spite of progress in lighting, the term, "candle `power", is still used as a unit for measuring the brilliance of any given light.. '.A candle's but a simple thing; It starts with just a bit of string, ' Yet dipped and dipped with patient hand It gathers wax upon the stradd ' Until complete and snowy white It gives, at length, a lovely light." Anon. A torch of "candle-wood" could be lit and stuck • between two flagstones on the hearth and most of the smoke would be drawn up the chimney flue but usually the family preferred• to just sit around the firelight's glow. There were few opportunities to read during tee long winter evenings because books were scarce and newspapers infrequent. Candles were in general use even in the early years of the last century and even later in certain remote areas. Eventually they were displaced by kerosene and mineral oils. Some settlers brought 'candles from England, Scotland and France but were too expensive to use except on rare occasions and then carefully wrapped in tree moss to be used again when another special event was to be celebrated. Candles naturally divide themselves into two categories, the dipped and the molded, according to the mode of their manufacture. The soft and lovely light of candles, however, was only accomplished through long, tiresome and unpleasant labour. Usually it was an autumnal household task. Collecting the tallow was a year-round chore. since every precieus drop of fat from •mutton, 'beef and venison was carefully herded. In the fall this unsavoury mess was .dumped into the large iron kettle, boiling water added into which the gum from certain evergreens or bay-betties to impregnate the whole was stirred.The addition of the latter ingredients caused the candles to burn more slowly and omitted a pleasant aroma. The boiling and repeated skimmings often lasted all day until a clear tallow was obtained. At first, due to the scarcity. Of mateiialS for wicks, the silky down of the milkweed plant was gathered in quantity in late summer and hand-shaped and rolled into wicks and carefully mixed , with warm, molten tallow to make them more rigid. Occasionally salt-petre was added to insure better burning. The ingenious housewife made the candle mold each spring from willow shoots whose outer layer of bark could be hentIV tapped, cut into the required ''lengths and 'slipped off the central core. Many a country lad fashioned for himself a whistle by employing the same simple procedure and cutting away a portion of the woody mass. 'At candle-dipping time a hot fire had to be kept going all day under the kettle of, melted tallow. Two long poles were laid across the backs of a couple of kitchen chairs and across these were placed the wick. The buSy housewife dipped the wick into the hot kettle and hung it to cool and harden.-This operation was repeated until the candles attained the desired size. An experienced werker eould make as many as a couple of 'hundred a day. The kitchen proper , however, had to be kept relatively cool in order to harden the candle. The racks, too, had to be hung well away from the boiling kettle, sometimes in a lean-to addition to the house. Great care had to be taken to keep the pot at the right temperature. If it were too cool the candle tended 'to become lumpy and, if it were too.hot, if would melt off the tallow already depositecLThe finished products were stored in covered boxes in dark corners so as to prevent disclouration. When life became more complex, artisans set up shop and it was possible to buy metal candle-molds' which made candle-making much simpler. These molds were tapered tubes made of tin or, more rarely, of pewter. They came connected in groups of multiples of two. In any group the upper end of the mold which would make the bottom of the finished candle opened into a shallow pan into which the hot tallow was poured. The bottom of the tubes were cone-shaped with a hole through which the wick of hemp or cotton was threaded. The entire' mold was then filled with a sufficient amount of hot tallow or beeswax to fill ,the. tubes and set aside to cool. In the cooling process the tallow or wax shrunk enough for the finished candles to be pulled out. Occasionally at today's auction sales, a few ,of these prized antiques may be purchased at fantastic prices. In, time it became Customary in certain areas for the CASE BATTERY, SALE! 10% OFF ALL BATTERIES TILTITE CAPS AVAILABLE Ph. 527-0240: Expospor Action Ads Enemy Saver DISHWASHER by MODERN MAID Specially priced for Christmas. • What lady wouldn't love this time saver? And what Man wouldn't love the savings! The Modem Maid dishwasher features: $319.00 FOR BUILT-INS • 2 power spray arms • rinse and hold • wash and hold Suggested Retail Price $469. • natural dry FREE DELIVERY • normal wash with pot and pan FREE SET UP cycle • full cycle FULL YEAR WARRANTY • push button 6 cycle FULL 2 YEAR PART • • built in or portable models WARRANTY • cutting board top NO CHARGE FOR COLOUR • Harvest Gold or White • • , Come to Merwood C. Smith Limited for the largest dis- play of refrigerators, ranges, dishwashers, washers and dryers,.televisios, stereos and much more in Midwest- ern Ontario. By manufacturers such as General Electric, Simplicity, Findlay, Norge, Gibson, Gilson, Moffat,Leo- nard, Quasar, Philips, Sharp and many morel Merwood C. Smith,Ltd .. 1 14: 1.1.1:t111:endr1jr; "' " ' 1 I 11111......1.11.4 Nut . ; 11,11061M M. C. Witt. 1-.. t I . • Offer good until Dec. 31 RR 2 Listowal, Ontario Tel. 291-3810 Store Hours: Open daily Monday thru Friday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.: Saturdays till S p.m. loriarhoiiirlimwmankiro