Making Rushlights — The Cheapest Light in History

Before candles were affordable, most households across Europe and Asia lit their evenings with rushlights — the peeled pith of a rush stem dipped in tallow or grease. A rushlight is not a candle: it has no wick inside a body of wax. Instead, the porous rush pith itself is the fuel, with the absorbed fat making it burn slowly rather than flashing to ash.

Rushlights cost virtually nothing. Rushes grow wild in every damp meadow and ditch. The grease came from kitchen drippings — bacon fat, mutton drippings, any leftover cooking grease. A family could gather a year's supply of rushes in an afternoon and dip them in an evening. In England, rushlights remained the primary domestic lighting for rural labourers well into the 1800s, long after candles and oil lamps were common in towns.

A single rushlight 30 cm long burns for about 15-20 minutes with a soft, flickering flame roughly equal to a modern tea light. Held in a simple iron clip (a rushlight holder), it provides enough light to eat supper, mend clothes, or spin wool by.