Pilgrims and Pioneers: Rush Lights

Welcome To Pilgrims and Pioneers!

After many years of researching my family geneaology I have been lucky enough to discover actual information about my relatives that lived in the Pilgrim Era and the Pioneer Era- while many people also have realtives from those eras- many do not know their names or where they lived- actually seeing the proof in print makes you much more aware of who they really were.
After discovering these relatives it of course made me curious to learn more about the eras that they lived in and what their lives were like as, the history I learned in grade school had long since been forgotten.
I decided to start this blog for others who are also interested in these eras.
Some of the information here will be actual facts about my realtives and some will be information about the eras in general that I have found on the web.
I hope you will enjoy traveling back in time with me!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Rush Lights

In the 1800's many people could not afford candles so burned what was known as rush lights- here is an article I found that tells more about them.

In small cottages there were people who could not afford any kind of candle. For them a cheap alternative was a rushlight made from a rush dipped in grease, or a burning splinter of wood. These were held pinched in a nip, also called nippers or a pair of nips, like pliers or tongs on a stand. (See photograph of a modern re-creation left. Older rushlights might be thinner.) Nips could be combined with a candle-holder for people who used both kinds of light, depending on their needs and budget at different times.