AROUND HOME : Notes on Laundry Space, Dipped Candles, Tiffany Glass and Movado Watches : Hand-Dipped Candles

THE CANDLE as we know it--upright, slow-burning wax with a sturdy wick--has only been with us since the end of the 17th Century. Before that, mankind illuminated the long evenings indoors by burning beeswax or animal fats in bowls and lamps. This was marginally bright and, in the case of the animal fat, usually quite smelly.

Paraffin derived from wood tar was developed in the mid-19th Century (most paraffin today is a petroleum by-product), and modern candles followed soon after--dyed, twisted, poured, dipped, decorated like cakes, sequined--some profoundly beautiful and awesomely atrocious objects, a craft gamut that seems to flourish every holiday season.

But no matter how many odd shapes and decorations we bestow on candles, one silhouette, and its technique, remains supreme, the Rolls-Royce of wax: hand-dipped tapers, those long, simple, graceful, flickering lights that make just about everything look better.

Such candles are easy to make, but the process can be tedious to an impatient beginner. Wax is melted in a deep can or vat; wicks are attached to a board or pipe, something that will suspend them over and into the wax, and the wicks are then dipped, at least 30 times or as many as 50. Each dipping is hung to dry before the next is attempted, and eventually a taper of the desired size takes shape. Temperature of the wax is important, and one must use a proper-size wick, one that will best suit the ultimate size of the candle. But those are the only serious requirements. After these are met, the candle dipper can play with colors, add a measure of beeswax, toss in some scent. Even sequins.

Several books on candle making are available in bookstores and libraries; the supplies are harder to find. Michael’s (formerly Moskatel’s) in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Torrance and West Covina, and General Wax in North Hollywood stock candle-making supplies.