Page 26 - North Haven Magazine Issue 31 Holiday 2023

by Susan A. Iverson
Daylight hours are in short supply right now. Imagine living in a world that was truly dark
– how did early man cope with the gloom and remain productive? We humans therefore
celebrate any brightness we can create using easily available materials. Over the centuries our
ancestors were quite creative in casting out shadows. By today’s standards the light they pro-
duced was dim, but it was enough to carry them through the long winters. Eventually creative
forms of lighting accompanied the winter rituals and traditions of many cultures - hence the
Season of Light.
Early settlers in North Haven had to be poured into a shallow metal pan, then a reed
self-sufficient; if a family wanted to illumi- or cotton wick would be coiled in the oil with
nate their homes after sunset, some form a little of it hanging over the rim. The hang-
of easily accessible fuel had to be burned. ing end would be lit to produce a small bit
Candle-wood was very plentiful in North of light. These primitive lamps were known
Haven - it was cut from the Pitch Pine, an as Betty Lamps, and some of the more “ad- Victorian tree light with candle Betty lamp
extremely resinous, flammable tree that grew vanced” designs had two pans, one to hold
on the sand plains in the north end of town. the oil and wick, and a second below the to both light and decorate a room. But they
This wood was cut, dried, and split into fat first to catch the oily residue dripping from still contained flammable liquid or gas and
sticks – then simply jammed between the the burning wick. Although not as smoky as an open flame, making them inherently
rocks making up the chimney stack in the candle-wood, imagine the smell of burning dangerous. It is not surprising that when
main room of the house, and ignited. Can- fish oil! electricity became available for lighting, it
dle-wood gave off a bright light while burn- permanently replaced any previous forms
ing, but it was extremely smoky. As it burned Candles, of course, eventually became the of illumination. However, a hanging bulb
it would drip a sticky residue. Because it was favored form of lighting – animal fat that in the middle of a room was not esthetically
free, easy to harvest, and widely available, might otherwise go to waste could be ren- pleasing, particularly during the holiday sea-
this form of lighting was used for genera- dered to make tallow, and families would use son. In 1882 Edward Johnson, a partner of
tions. Long pieces of candle-wood could be the days following the butchering of their Thomas Edison, decorated a revolving tree
lit and carried, providing mobile lighting - if pigs or cows to make a year’s supply of can- with red, white, and blue lights and placed it
you have ever seen any of the Frankenstein dles. There are numerous examples of early in his Manhattan home – celebrating the sea-
movies from the 1950s, you have seen a mob metal stands that could hold both a candle son of light and promoting the idea of using
carrying pitch pine torches! and a reed, or a candle and a reservoir for electricity as both lighting and decoration.
oil – early lighting was often designed to be By 1895 President Cleveland illuminated the
versatile enough to use whatever fuel was White House Christmas tree with electric
available. Candlesticks fashioned from metal lights, as well. Slowly, the rest of America
or fired clay allowed candles to fit in small came to trust and use electricity for lighting,
spaces, like windowsills, and they became a and the rest is history. The Season of Light
sign of welcome to travelers passing by on a lives on, brighter than ever!
dark winter’s evening – thus the tradition of
candles in the window during the holidays. I
have heard that taverns used different num-
bers of candles in the window to signify the
types of services they provided. One candle
meant the tavern keeper could provide food,
two meant that a bed and a meal could be
Betty Lamp with 4 wicks Betty lamp with drip pan had, and so forth. Sometimes candles were
placed in windows to honor a loved one who
Just like candle-wood, materials plentiful in had recently died, or to celebrate the birth
one’s backyard (or barnyard) were used to of a baby. Candles were even affixed to ear-
provide illumination. Reeds, or the stems of ly Christmas trees – they were used for only
tall grasses, were harvested and dried, then brief periods of time, for obvious reasons.
soaked in melted animal fat. I like to de- Insurance companies would not cover dam- Glass Oil Lamp Reed lamp
scribe them as inside-out candles; the flam- age caused by tree fires, eventually spurring The North Haven Historical Society has a
mable substance soaked into the pithy mid- the birth of electric string lights. fine collection of early lighting on display;
dle of the reed, and the stiff outer casing of please visit on any Tuesday or Thursday af-
the reed acted as the wick. After drying and When petroleum and coal became available ternoon to see how our ancestors used them.
hardening, the reed would be clamped in a to burn, the number of lighting devices in- The Society is located at the Cultural Center,
metal holder and mounted close to the area vented to burn them skyrocketed. The fuel 27 Broadway, in North Haven, Connecticut.
needing light. The light from them was dim, was cheap and cleaner burning, and advanc-
but enough to illuminate a sewing project for es in lamp design provided a much brighter
a few hours on a winter evening. Alternative- light. The lamps could be small with handles
ly, liquid fat, like the oil from fish, would be to make them portable, or large and ornate

26 North Haven Magazine - Holiday Issue 2023