I just read a delightful account of the history of the courting candle. The courting candle was a way parents managed their daughters suitors during the revolutionary to civil war periods. When a gentleman caller visited a young lady, the couple was escorted to the family sitting room. The father, or head of the household, would determine how long the suitor was allowed to stay by adjusting the size of the courting candle.

If the father like his daughters suitor, then he would light a long candle in a wrought iron sconce or dish. Suitors that did not meet the father's approval would have their courting candle cut in half. When the candle burned out, that marked the end of the visit. If the father felt the suitor was totally inappropriate, he could stuff out the candle himself.

This was a delightful story and times were different then, but has human nature changed that much since then? I can just imagine the reaction of my 16 year old daughter if I cut her courting candle if half, or if I gave a long candle to a gentleman caller she was not found of.

The daughters of the courting candle era learned to respect their father's judgement concerning the men who called on them socially. Again, this is charming, but I wonder how many narrators of the courting candle tradition ever raised teenage girls themselves.

finesWroughtIron