The motto of the Ajello Candle Company is “It’s better to
light a candle than to curse the darkness”. This candle making company has been
in business since 1775. The business has been family owned for seven
generations. The candles from Ajello’s are well known for their beauty and
quality. While they make more candles now than in 1775, their dedication to
quality and to customers has never changed.
The Ajello Candle Company was founded by Rafael Ajello, an
Italian painter. He was also a beekeeper, so he tried his hand at using bees
wax to create candles. He worked hard to create a formula that worked well. The
formula, combined with his outstanding artistic ability, lead to the birth of
the Ajello Candle Company. In 1785, the company earned the honor of creating
all the candles for the Vatican. He and his wife ran the business, keeping
their children involved in the processes from an early age. As time went on,
their children and grandchildren kept the business running as well as passed the
family business on to their children.
By 1862, the company had established itself as a leader
among the candle making industry. They had also added perfumes and many colors
to their line of outstanding candles. The decided to extend the business to
Manhattan, New York. In both places, the business prospered. Kings and
aristocrats in Italy wanted the services of the Ajello Candle Company. They
designed candles for weddings, funerals, and ceremonies. They made the candles
for the inauguration of the King of Spain in 1876, Pope Pius IX in 1878, and
Pope Leo in 1902. Hollywood stars and rich people in Beverly Hills California
wanted the candles from the Ajello Candle Company as well. Candles were also
ordered by President Roosevelt, Charles Lindbergh, and Rudolph Valentino.
In 1922, the Ajello Candle Company made a memorial candle
for their deceased friend Enrico Caruso. This candle was 18 feet tall and
weighed more than a ton. It is estimated this candle could burn 24 hours a day
for 1,800 years before running out of wax. This enormous memorial candle
remains the largest one ever made in the world. Each year it is lit twice to
honor the day Enrico Caruso was born and the day he died.
The Ajello Candle Company continued to grow and sells were
well beyond anticipated both in Italy and the United States. In 1953 the
company was asked to create 2,200 candles for the coronation of Queen
Elizabeth. The company was honored to meet the request, and had all the candles
ready in six months. The Ajello Candle Company was approached to be bought out,
but refused. The family wanted their candle business to remain just that, not a
major corporation.
Despite the creative efforts of the Ajello Candle Company,
they were not able to meet the demand for their candles in 1965 during the
blackout in New York City. The age of computers has found the Ajello Candle
Company offering candles via the internet. Ironically, as Rafael Ajello worked
around the clock to make candles for this need, his wife was giving birth to
their child at a hospital scrambling to find candles for her room.
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