A History of Lighting in the Home: From Rushlights to Light Bulbs

How did people illuminate their homes before electricity? What creative solutions did our ancestors use to push back the darkness after sunset?

The history of lighting reveals a fascinating progression. In his book At Home, Bill Bryson explains that, contrary to popular belief, pre-electricity life didn’t end at sunset. People simply found ingenious ways to light their evenings—though often with smelly, expensive, or dangerous consequences.

Keep reading to discover how lighting evolved and transformed the way we experience nighttime at home.

A History of Lighting

In his book, Bryson details the history of lighting in the home. He says that, while many assume our ancestors simply went to bed at sunset in the pre-electricity era, people stayed active well into the night. There were numerous forms of lighting throughout history.

Rushlights: This was the simplest form of early lighting. People made rushlights by coating 18-inch strips of rush plants with animal fat, typically mutton. These provided about 15 to 20 minutes of illumination each.

(Shortform note: According to historical accounts, people gathered these rushes—especially the common soft rush (juncus conglomeratus) that grew near streams and under hedges—during summer months. Children, women, and elderly members of the household would collect the rushes and keep them in water to prevent them from drying. They then peeled and bleached the rushes in sunlight before using them as candles. Once lit, people would secure these rushlights in special holders to provide light in their homes.)

Candles: Bryson explains that candles existed in two main varieties. Tallow candles, made from animal fat, were cheaper but they flickered constantly, needed frequent trimming, gave uneven light, and smelled bad. Beeswax candles offered better illumination and needed less maintenance but at about four times the price of tallow.

(Shortform note: In medieval England, beeswax candles cost a sixpence per pound—which was equivalent to a day’s wages for an artisan. Churches used these candles in large quantities during the 14th century for large candlelight displays at funerals and ceremonies. As a result, the candle business was incredibly profitable: One wax chandler charged the modern equivalent of £200,000 just for setting up candle displays for King Henry V’s death. Eventually, Parliament had to step in to regulate prices to stop candlemakers from charging too much for their ceremonial candles and wax figures.)

Oil lamps: While they provided efficient light, oil lamps required daily cleaning and maintenance because soot built up in their chimneys. Whale oil provided the best lighting but was expensive. Later, kerosene (derived from petroleum) emerged as a more affordable option.

(Shortform note: Whale oil powered glass lamps known as toy lamps because they were smaller than standard lamps. The Sandwich Glass Company in Massachusetts made these simple lamps with just a brass or pewter cap to hold the wick. Before the Civil War, American whalers hunted an estimated 10,000 whales annually for fuel for these lamps, driving many species to the brink of extinction. This aggressive hunting damaged whale populations so severely that even today, most species haven’t returned to their original numbers.)

Gas lighting: Gas lighting emerged in the mid-1800s, and it provided 20 times more brightness than previous lighting methods and became increasingly popular. However, it came with its own problems—it damaged ceilings and metals, killed plants, and was often a safety hazard.

Electric lighting: Joseph Swan and Thomas Edison both independently developed incandescent light bulbs in the late 1870s. However, while Swan demonstrated the first working bulb, Edison was more commercially successful because he developed the entire electrical system needed to make lighting practical, from power plants to wiring to switches. Despite people’s initial fears of electrocution, fires, and other health risks, electric lighting quickly became standard in cities by 1900.