There was kept the huge iron mortar where the grains of corn were crushed
to make the delicious hominy Kentuckians are so fond of. When rightly
prepared each grain stands out like the beautiful white-plumed corn
captains and colonels that dance up so gaily over beds of live coals.
There were made also the tallow dips, almost the only light used in the
old days on the farms in Kentucky. Pieces of cotton wick were cut the
required length and fastened at regular intervals to sticks of wood. One
of the rows of wicks was dipped in the melted tallow, taken out and
suspended over a vessel to drip. Then another was dipped, and another,
till the same process was gone through with all. That was repeated many
times before the wicks held enough tallow to be used for candles. An
improved method was to run the wicks through tin molds, the required size
and shape, and fasten them at one end with a knot; then pour in the melted
tallow, and set the molds aside for the tallow to harden. The candles were
put in brass, silver, and bronze candlesticks, accompanied by quaint
little waiters that held snuffers, used to nip off the charred wick, as
the tallow melted away from it.
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