Bayberries
From Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com
With staring at screens taking up much of the waking hours of young people, how many still engage in the seasonal activities we used to enjoy in New England? In my family and those of our neighbors the seasonal cycles included smelt fishing (fried smelt are delicious!) in the early fall and making bayberry candles later in the fall.
You’d strip as many bayberries as you could off the bushes (of which we had many) and boil ‘em in water, in which the wax would rise to the surface, which we then skimmed off. Cheap and aromatic thrills, though it was a lot of time for only a little wax. Five pounds of berries could yield only about a pound of wax.
Because of this small, and from season to season, unpredictable yield, these candles were only for special occasions or as gifts. Pre-moneyed small children would happily give them as Christmas presents.
