Debunking the myth….
BROTHEL CANDLES
The myth…
Brothel candles were used extensively in European brothels, between 1880 and 1905.
They were also popular in the Western United States, during the Gold Rush years.
The concept was simple.
You paid your price of admission, and then you and your ‘date’ would head to the ‘Room of Requirement’……
The Lady of the Night would light the wick, and you’d get down to some hanky panky.
A brothel candle burned for approximately seven minutes…..
Yep, seven minutes lol.
When the candle went out, you went out – even if you hadn’t ‘finished’
To earn more money, and get extra clients in, some of those saucy ladies would trim the candles down even further, so they’d burn for even less time!!
The fact….
These tiny candles in small boxes with pictures of pretty ladies on them, are regularly mentioned on social media with the claim that they are brothel candles.
The candles are real but there is no contemporary evidence at all for them being used as ‘naughty time’ timers.
What they really are is “bougies de poche” – pocket candles.
These are tiny wax candles in a sort of matchbox that you would light and place in the little hole in the box.
This would give you a temporary light for when you didn’t have an oil or gas lamp nearby.
Some were also clearly made as a commemorative souvenirs, or mass produced novelty items sold or perhaps handed out at special events.
A brothel related item on your coffee table would raise quite a few Victorian eyebrows, and be a good talking point.
Some of them were a bit saucy, and there were others with naughty poems on them too.
Of course brothel candles get a lot more attention than pocket candles, so maybe that’s how the fake history began – with someone making up a story to sell something so mundane as a tiny candle.
