Early Lighting

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Overview

Rushlights

Crusies, Sluts, Phoebes, and Bettys

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18th C wrought iron candlestand with adjustable telescoping candlearm and brass finial together with a table top rushlight

In today's society, when the sun sets over the horizon and the winter days get shorter, we use the electricity by turning on our lights in our homes. Can you imagine the little amount of light available for the colonist during the night? They could gain a good amount of light from the walk-in fireplace, but they couldn't spend all night by the fire. There were other chores to do.

This it is no accident that historians, antiquarians, and scholars studied the methods by which the colonists lit their homestead. There have been countless magazine articles and books on the subject. Prior to the nineteenth century, wills and inventories mentioned the types of lighting used, but these lists did not go into specific detail.
Misinformation continues to confuse the early collector of colonial lighting. Some of the errors remain in printed publication today.

Colonial Sense wants to bring to you a series of articles on early lighting that will start with rush lighting and extend into the tin and iron lighting of the nineteenth century. We hope you are able to gain an understanding and great appreciation of how difficult it was to live with the lighting of Colonial America.

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Source: Text by Bryan Wright

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