Yankee candles

Before we could discuss the history of Yankee candles, we should consider the history of the candles as such. They appeared about 5000 years ago(3000 BC) and the first to use them were the Cretans and Egyptians, their role was especially practical and religious, being the single source of light over night. Candles survived successfully until the distillation of kerosene that was proved to be a very good and cheap fuel for lamps. Returning to our times candles have lost almost entirely their importance in providing light, they only remain omnipresent in churches because they are a symbol for all Christians.

The history of Yankee candles

Few candle companies survived successfully in the modern times, since candles now have more of a decorative role for many of us. The Yankee Candle Company is the largest industry in US, originally founded in South Hadley and later relocated in South Deerfield, Massachusetts. The founders, Michael Kittredge, Donald MacIver and Susan Obremski were friends from high school, the story goes like this: Michael made a scented candle as a present for his mother's birthday, when one of the neighbors asked if he could buy some. There was only one step away till the company appeared. Donald invested all his earned money in this new business,

Susan was very ingenious and many of her ideas helped them, one of those suggestions made them double their production at a lower price, by reducing the labor hours while producing much better products for less money. This was the new Yankee candle standard that made its way on the market.

Everything went fine and in 1975 the Yankee candles shop was opened, this was one of the first initiatives that hurried future development. Kittredge continued his studies at the Holyoke Community College, and in 2002 he received a Honorary Doctorate of Public Service that was handed over to him by the University of Massachusetts Amherst as a reward for his effort to the service of the local community and state. Another fact that is worth mentioning is that in May 2006 he opened the Kittredge Business Center.

Yankee candles at present

In 1993 the Yankee candle company was sold for $500 millions to Forstmann Little, after serious advertising campaigns the company reported sales records; presently this giant in the candle industry offers any kind of ornaments for every occasion you can think of. If you perform a simple Internet search you will notice the multitude of Yankee candles that can be found, in fact the industry is going so well that candle shops are all over the Internet.

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