Amish Hand Crafted Wrought Iron Courting Candle Holder USA, a Fathers Must Have

Description: All My Wrought Iron is made in AMERICA Featured in this sale . . . . One Wrought Iron Amish Blacksmith Hand Crafted Courting Candle Holder WHAT YOU ARE BUYING One each Amish Hand Crafted Courting Candle Holder. Fabricated using 1/4" round steel rod with a beautiful flat black finish. The holder has a heart shaped base approximately 5" x 5" and is over 6" tall. The spiral holder has a wooden peg with a short arm that will vary the candle height, as it is moved around the spiral. (It's purpose is described in the explanation of the tradition). You will receive a small card to keep with the holder explaining it's tradition. You also will receive a paper with a brief history about the Amish (See picture below) Uncle Jack personally drives to The Amish Pennsylvania Area (Greater Lancaster, PA) and hand selects all these items to ensure quality and authenticity. Look at the detail Pride and Craftsmanship put into this piece. Look at the detail Pride and Craftsmanship put into this piece. Read the tradition below ! Tradition Of the Courting Candle In the 1600s to 1800s, Fathers, parents or guardians of a marriageable young lady would allow suitors to visit her in her home. The couple were allowed to visit in a sitting room, parlor or on the front porch. The father would prepare a candleholder called a courting candle or suitors candle and set it up in the area where the couple sat. The father would observe the suitor and decide an amount of time that he felt comfortable with for the man to visit and socialize. The candle height would be adjusted to measure out the time. The candle was raised or lowered with a peg or thumb lever. When the candle burned to the metal at the top of the candleholder it was the firm yet polite signal that it was time for the suitor to bid the young woman good evening and leave. The father also had the choice to snuff out a candle and immediately end the meeting if he thought it was necessary. If the suitor was highly approved, the father would raise the candle to its highest possible point. This would enable the couple to have a longer, yet supervised visit, as was proper at the time. On occasions a father was known to add a second candle to the holder. Fathers from high society to the Amish, on to hardworking farmers and fisherman observed this tradition. Daughters learned that they must respect their parent's judgment concerning the men who presented themselves to the family as a potential husband. She had to defer to her father's ability to measure the honesty, character and ability of a man. The couple also learned to use time wisely as they got to know one another, talking, singing and reading together. The suitor most certainly learned how much the parents loved and cared for their daughter's well-being. On the day of the daughter's wedding the father sometimes passed the courting candle on to his new son-in-law to for future daughters. A courting candle was generally made from wrought iron, tin, pewter or silver and fashioned by a blacksmith or tinsmith. Replicas of these holders can be found at museum stores and blacksmith's shops. Original Courting Candles were a wrought iron piece that resembles a loosely coiled spring. A piece of wood sits just under the taper. The unit has a small peg of metal or wood that can be inserted between the coils and into a drilled hole. This keeps the wooden support in place with the candle set on top of it. The candle can be raised or lowered with this wooden piece that is the basic shape of the candle taper bottom. Pictured Flowers and Candle (not supplied) Be aware that some of the Wrought Iron Products sold by other vendors are imported ! Before you bid or buy ask where they are made ! One note about my craftsman. I could obtain these Products from other American suppliers (Manufactured in a factory in mass quantities.), at a cheaper price. But I choose to support the Amish folks who are hard working, honest, and full of faith and forgiveness beyond our imagination. Plus their products are original and the craftsmanship is far superior. This particular Blacksmith; who prefers just to be called Emanuel, has a quaint shop with a small show room, lit just with sunlight. I was able to find him only by directions from an other blacksmith I had visited. Emanuel appears to work alone and has his work area located in a detached planked floor building apart from his farm house. You can tell he is proud of his workmanship, but does not have a vane bone in his body. He cheerfully showed his work to me, but was not the least bit pushy about me buying. We talked about an idea I had about a new product and he was up for the challenge. Soon, I hope you will see it on my eBay items. What a pleasure, I get from doing business with these great people! Please visit E-Bay often and look for other fine products.

Price: 15.03 USD

Location: Wilmington, Delaware

End Time: 2025-02-02T15:21:02.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD