Peace Candle
The original plywood candle was replaced with a stronger candle made of fiberglass and galvanized steel, the covering of which was stretched on steel and wood frames. It was designed by the Allentown-based firm Rileigh's Inc. and constructed at a cost of about $12,500. The flame was built out of fiberglass strips with lights that changed color in sequence, to create a more realistic burning flame than the original candle. The new structure was , compared to the original . Each side of the new candle was about wide on each side. Due to the increase in size, it was no longer necessary to place the flame structure over the bugler statue on the top of the Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument. Four new smaller candles were built and stood tall and were about wide on each side. Special lighting equipment was added to give the Peace Candle a natural effect that would make it realistically flicker throughout the night. At the base of the candles, 75 tall evergreen trees with gold ornaments were placed, strung with more than 2,000 Christmas tree lights.
Candle
Prior to the candle, people used oil lamps in which a lit wick rested in a container of liquid oil. Liquid oil lamps had a tendency to spill, and the wick had to be advanced by hand. Romans began making true dipped candles from tallow, beginning around 500 BC. European candles of antiquity were made from various forms of natural fat, tallow, and wax. In Ancient Rome, candles were made of tallow due to the prohibitive cost of beeswax. It is possible that they also existed in Ancient Greece, but imprecise terminology makes it difficult to determine. The earliest surviving candles originated in Han China around 200 BC. These early Chinese candles were made from whale fat.