Candles are one of the oldest manufactured goods still in daily use. The basic principle — a wick drawing fuel upward into a flame — has not changed in 5,000 years. What has changed is the precision, the materials, and the scale. Here’s how candle making developed from its origins to the modern industry, including what that history looks like from an Auckland factory that’s been making candles since 1969.
The Ancient World
The earliest candles were made by the ancient Egyptians, who dipped reeds in tallow — rendered animal fat — around 3,000 BCE. These rush lights produced a smoky, unsteady flame but were sufficient for basic illumination. The Romans developed a more recognisable candle form using papyrus wicks dipped repeatedly in tallow or beeswax.
Beeswax candles appeared in early medieval Europe and were immediately prized over tallow: they burned brighter, longer, and without the acrid animal-fat smell. The Catholic Church adopted beeswax candles for liturgical use — a tradition that persists today, and one that still drives a significant portion of candle sales in New Zealand and worldwide.
The Industrial Shift
The early 19th century transformed candle making from a craft to an industry. The 1820s saw two developments that changed everything: the invention of the plaited cotton wick (which replaced the old straight wick that required constant trimming during burning) and the isolation of stearin from animal fat, which produced a harder, cleaner-burning wax than raw tallow.
In 1850, paraffin wax was refined from petroleum for the first time. It was cheaper to produce than stearin or beeswax, burned cleanly, and could be produced in precise grades for different candle types. Within decades it had become the global standard for candle manufacturing — a position it holds today. High-grade paraffin remains the material of choice for taper, pillar, and church candles because of its consistency, drip resistance, and clean burn profile.
The 20th Century: Scale and Specialisation
Candle manufacturing industrialised through the 20th century with continuous-process machinery replacing batch production. Automated wick-setting, pour lines, and quality control equipment made large-scale consistent production possible. At the same time, specialisation emerged: different candle types — tapers, pillars, votives, container candles — developed distinct manufacturing processes, wax formulations, and wick specifications.
The arrival of soy wax in the 1990s added a new material to the market. Developed as an alternative to paraffin using American soybean oil, soy wax is softer, burns at a lower temperature, and is well-suited to container candles. It became popular in the handcrafted and artisan candle segment and is now mainstream for scented jar candles.
New Zealand Candle Making
Golden Glow Candles was founded in Auckland in 1969 by Murray Davies — the same year man first walked on the moon and a decade before synthetic fragrance technology would transform the scented candle category. The business was built around manufacturing the candle types NZ institutions and households actually needed: taper candles for dining tables, pillar candles for churches and events, tea lights for hospitality.
Murray’s son Glenn now runs the business from the same Birkenhead, Auckland location. The core manufacturing processes we use — mould-pouring pillars, dipping and extruding tapers, hand-pouring soy jar candles — are refinements of techniques that are decades old, now paired with modern quality control and raw material standards.
The wax formulations we use for our taper and pillar candles have been tested and refined across more than 55 years of NZ production. That institutional knowledge — knowing how NZ ambient conditions affect burn behaviour, which fragrance loads work at which wax temperatures, how to spec a wick for a given candle diameter — is not something that can be replicated quickly. It’s part of what distinguishes a manufacturer with genuine history from a business that imports and repackages.
Candles Today
Global candle production is dominated by paraffin wax, with soy and beeswax holding significant premium market share. The basic technology is mature — innovation today is mostly in fragrance, vessel design, and sustainability of raw materials rather than fundamental manufacturing process.
What hasn’t changed: the market for quality, consistent candles across every category — from church altar candles to luxury scented gifts — remains strong. New Zealand’s distance from major manufacturing centres makes a local manufacturer more valuable, not less, for buyers who need reliable supply of consistent product.
Golden Glow’s full NZ-made range is at candles.nz. For a look at how we make our candles today, read Inside Our Auckland Factory, or browse our pillar, taper, and church candle ranges. Free shipping on orders over $99 throughout New Zealand.