Peace Candle
The Peace Candle has undergone several changes and variations over the last 58 years. The current candle was built in 1990, and is expected to last until about 2014, after which time Easton officials expect to build a new one. As of 2009, the central main candle stands , and the base brings it to about . It reaches a height of about above ground level when factoring the monument it rests atop. When the candle is assembled, several by 8-foot by box pieces are placed around the Soldiers' & Sailors' Monument, a Civil War memorial in Centre Square, the town square of Easton's Downtown neighborhood. Made from marine-grade plywood and galvanized steel, the box pieces are stacked vertically until the structure is assembled, and then bolted together using about 500 bolts inside the Peace Candle. The flame placed atop the candle is about high and illuminated with 31 bulbs. The entire structure weighs between eight and 10 tons. The main candle is surrounded by four, high side candles, and a fountain that surrounds the Peace Candle's base is filled with a ring of Christmas trees.
Peace Candle
Both in 1967 and 1968, U.S. Rep. Fred B. Rooney lobbied the United States Post Office Department seeking for the Peace Candle to chosen for the official Christmas Stamp in the following year. However, it was rejected both years by the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, which reviewed the proposals and narrowed the applications. In 1968, an image of the painting "The Annunciation" by Jan van Eyck was chosen rather than the Peace Candle. In October 1979, the Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania-based Michter's Distillery created whiskey decanters patterned after the Peace Candle. The idea was first posed by Mark Hammerstone of Palmer Township, a decanter collector who approached Schultz with the concept in 1978. Schultz brought the idea to the distillery, which chose to base their second annual Christmas decanter on the Peace Candle. They spent $3,500 to build a sculpture based on photos of the structure. The decanter, which holds is off-white with red and yellow flames atop the candles and bunches of Christmas greens around the base. Six thousand decanters were produced and originally sold for a $49.50 retail price. They were shipped to collectors as far as Texas, California and England.