Too Cute to Burn: The Illuminating History of Gurley Candles

Have you ever noticed that when fall and winter holidays roll around, your social media feed is suddenly filled with amusing displays of cute little vintage figurines with a wick sticking out of them—pumpkins, and Pilgrims, and Santas, and ghosts, and turkeys? What are they? And if they have a wick, how did they survive all these years without getting burned?

Pair of Gurley choir singer candles. All photos taken at Atomic Antiques.

The History of Gurley Candles

How are Gurley Candles and ExxonMobil connected?

The short answer is they were never meant to be burned.

And here’s the long answer: W&F Manufacturing Co., Inc., a confectionery business, was founded in 1927 by Franklin C. Gurley, a chemical engineer, in Buffalo, NY. His most well-known product was Wax Lips, a set of red paraffin wax lips (sometimes with teeth) meant to be worn first and, after the fun of wearing fake lips wore off, could be chewed like gum afterwards. They were actually invented in Buffalo, though not by Mr. Gurley, and with a catchy slogan “Wear Now, Chew Later” became a popular novelty “candy.”

Meanwhile, the executives of the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company (Socony was an acronym for J. D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company; today we know it as ExxonMobil) needed to come up with a more efficient idea than Wax Lips for utilizing the ever-increasing quantities of paraffin wax that was a byproduct of the oil-refining process. Candles were the answer.

Origin of Gurley Novelty

By the 1930s candles became more of a decoration than necessity. Socony-Vacuum Oil Company approached W&F Manufacturing, a company with a history of using paraffin wax, with an idea of producing inexpensive decorative candles from their abundant byproduct. The deal was struck, and Franklin Gurley began producing candles in cute shapes that he designed himself and marketed under the Tavern brand. The candle manufacturing proved a success for Franklin. In 1949, the candle business was separated from W&F Manufacturing Co. and given the name Gurley Novelty.

Gurley choir singer candles. All photos taken at Atomic Antiques.

How much did Gurley Candles cost originally?

The candles were inexpensive, selling at both department stores and dime stores, sometimes for as little as 5 or 10 cents. The affordability and adorableness lead to their tremendous popularity. In the 1950s and 1960s they made their way into almost every American household as seasonal decorations.

Are Gurley Candles still being made today?

Franklin C. Gurley died in 1983, but the company carrying his name continued producing cute little figurines until 1994. The Vermont Country Store, an e-commerce, retail and catalog business, bought Gurley molds and continues making some of the shapes to this day. They differ from vintage ones in several ways, most noticeably a more “perfect” appearance and a different label.

How can you tell if a Gurley Candle is vintage?

Vintage Gurley candles, aided by social media groups, are experiencing a resurgence in popularity today. Still relatively inexpensive, they can be found in antique stores, at estate sales and online. When shopping for Gurley candles, make sure to look at the label on the bottom. Vintage ones will have Tavern (older) or Gurley (newer) labels. Candles with Gurley labels that include a zip code were produced after 1963 when zip codes were introduced by the U.S. Post Office to speed up mail delivery.

Label on the bottom of a Gurley Candle. All photos taken at Atomic Antiques.

Gurley Novelty distributed catalogs of their products, which could be a great resource for collectors. But those are so rare that they became a collector’s item themselves.

Part of the fun of collecting Gurley candles, besides nostalgia and the thrill of the hunt, resides in using them to make creative holiday displays. So once you’re done with setting up your scene, snap a picture and post it to your Instagram or Facebook page. It is guaranteed to bring smiles to your friends’ faces and likes to your feed. Yes, these candles are THAT cute!