Gurley Novelty or simply Gurley was a candle-making company that existed throughout the second half of the 20th century. Gurley was known for making small, figurine-shaped candles for the main holidays, most notably Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Halloween. The company was owned by Franklin Gurley, who also designed the candles. Gurley candles have become popular collectible items.

Company history

The company started out in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

in the 1939 as part of candlemaker Franklin Gurley's W&F Manufacturing Co. Inc. At first the Gurley line was commissioned by the

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(now

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) as a way to reuse excess paraffin produced as a by-product of the oil refinery process. Gurley's first products were marketed under the name Tavern. The product line consisted of

wax lips Wax lips are the common name of a candy product made of colored and flavored food-grade paraffin wax, molded to resemble a pair of oversized red lips. They were most popular in the 1970s and currently are sold by Tootsie Roll Industries as Wack-O ...

and teeth, as well as a limited number of small candle figures in holiday shapes such as ghosts, pilgrims, and

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

. By the late 1940s the company's business was almost exclusively novelty candles. In 1949 Franklin Gurley bought the rights to the Tavern brand, and changed the name to the Gurley Novelty Co. Under the Gurley Novelty Co. name the company continued to manufacture the small wax figures that had made it prosperous. Most candles were manufactured for specific holiday themes. Though each candle came with a wick, they were not marketed as practical candles. Rather, most were purchased as small wax figures for holiday display. Smaller candles were sold individually out of shallow cardboard boxes. Sets, and larger candles were sold in sealed paper boxes. Beginning in the 1960s the two and three-candle sets, and larger candles, were generally sold shrink-wrapped in

cellophane Cellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose. Its low permeability to air, oils, greases, bacteria, and liquid water makes it useful for food packaging. Cellophane is highly permeable to water vapour, but may be coated w ...

. Most candles had a round paper Gurley label attached to the bottom.Ledenbach, Mark. ''Vintage Halloween Collectibles''. Krause Publications, 2003. Tavern and Gurley candles were inexpensive. The 3 1/2 inch figures were sold for decades for $0.10 each, in packs of two for $0.29, and threes for $0.49. Individual larger sizes rarely exceeded $0.99. Tavern and Gurley candles were primarily sold at

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s such as

Ben Franklin's Ben Franklin is a chain of five and dime and arts and crafts stores found primarily in small towns throughout the United States, currently owned by Promotions Unlimited of Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. They are organized using a franchise system, ...

and

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, though they could also be found at larger stores such as

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

. Sales continued to rise throughout the 1950s and peaked in the late 1960s. By the late 1970s the company was in decline. Today, Gurley Novelty candles are popular collectibles. By far the most popular are the Halloween and Christmas candles, though demand has recently increased for Thanksgiving and Easter candles as well. The company's line of Glow Candles were the company's most expensive products. They were never a big seller and today are rare.

Reproductions

Several years ago the Gurley candle molds were purchased by the

Vermont Country Store The Vermont Country Store, Inc. is an American catalog, retail, and e-commerce business based in Vermont. The company was established in 1946 and is operated by the Orton family. History Although The Vermont Country Store was first opened in 1 ...

, which has begun reproducing them.

References

{{Reflist Candlemakers Companies based in Buffalo, New York Privately held companies based in New York (state)