Superior Spermaceti
American whaling ships often brought in cachalots, or sperm whales, and it was soon discovered that the fatty solid substance called “spermaceti” (erroneously thought to be the whale's sperm, hence the term “spermaceti” and the name “sperm whale”) could be used to produce splendid candles. In fact, spermaceti was the best candle material known to that time. Candles made from it gave a brilliant light, burned evenly, and never dripped: a miracle! The reason they did not drip was because the flame burned without melting the wax into the usual liquid pool. So treasured were these candles that a candlemaker could sell them at extremely high prices — and therefore make a good profit, limited only by the supply of sperm oil he could garner. Since even in the poorest of times, there were always people with sufficient funds to afford such luxuries as the spermaceti candles, whaling became a lucrative trade.
By mid-century, chandlers were using all the spermaceti they could buy from the whalers, which made the whale one of the most fiercely hunted creatures on earth. As we now know, the whalers became so efficient — and the demand for their catch was so great — that once it was discovered that spermaceti made such splendid candles, the whale population was hunted nearly to extinction.
Spermaceti candles are the basis of the Standard International Candle unit of light intensity on which incandescent light bulbs were based when they were invented. A Standard International Candle unit is the intensity of light an incandescent bulb matches alongside the light from a pound spermaceti candle burning at a rate of l20 grams per hour.
Ambergris, a fatty substance formed in the sperm whale's intestinal tract, was the most precious material whale hunters sought. Prized by perfumers, it was found floating in the ocean when whales were in the area. Although in the fresh state it is black and has an unpleasant odor, after exposure to sun and sea and air, it is transformed to a pleasant-smelling mass, yellow or gray in color. One wonders who discovered its properties for use in fragrances!
Obediah Brown, of the entrepreneurial family of Rhode Island Browns, opened the first spermaceti candle works in l753. That year alone his company made three hundred barrels of spermaceti candles. Brown and his brother Nicolas became the moving force behind the United Company of Spermaceti Candlers, which was responsible for parceling out the supply of spermaceti oil, which was limited despite the avaricious whaling industry's most stringent efforts. And, they always got the biggest share. The association kept its trade secrets close to its vest — so closely guarded, in fact, that Nantucket, into whose ports came more whales than at Naragansett, only learned how to make the candles in l772.
