# Candles on birthday cakes - why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 30, 2004, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candles-on-birthday-cakes-why/242859 "2004-04-30T15:23:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jennyrosity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@Jennyrosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennyrosity)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candles-on-birthday-cakes-why/242859/1 "2004-04-30T15:23:01Z")
It occurred to me last night, as I painstakingly lit all ten candles, that I have no idea why we do this. And how did this tradition start? ---
**Author:** ![Teelo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@Teelo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teelo)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candles-on-birthday-cakes-why/242859/2 "2004-04-30T16:04:42Z")
Sorry, I can’t answer your question… But… You don’t sound like a ten year old, and why would it be painstaking to light them? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candles-on-birthday-cakes-why/242859/3 "2004-04-30T20:05:45Z")
Because it’s fun to blow them out? ---
**Author:** ![ZaLucky1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@ZaLucky1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZaLucky1)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candles-on-birthday-cakes-why/242859/4 "2004-05-02T15:39:33Z")
To mark how old you are … the older you get the more likely it is to see your cake from 3 houses down. And in case you ever forgot how old you were, you have a yummy cake to smile up at you and say, “You’re old!” ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candles-on-birthday-cakes-why/242859/5 "2004-05-02T19:34:18Z")
[Google](http://www.cyberkisses.com/Birthday/birth-traditions.html) [Is](http://www.abcog.org/birthday.htm) [Your](http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/birthdaycandles.htm) [Friend](http://www.fun4birthdays.com/fun/traditions_candles.html) Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![cichlidiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@cichlidiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cichlidiot)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2004, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/candles-on-birthday-cakes-why/242859/6 "2004-05-02T19:36:41Z")
I looked for some more in depth answers, rather than what I initially came up with on a search, but didn’t find much. The first, [History Of Cakes](http://www.whatscookingamerica.net/History/CakeHistory.htm) gives a short answer, but doesn’t appear to be biased: > [@](#): > > Birthday candles originally were placed on cakes to bring birthday wishes up to God. In ancient times, people prayed over the flames of an open fire. They believed that the smoke carried their thoughts up to the gods. Today, we believe, that if you blow out all your candles in one breath, your wish will come true. The next, [Origins and Meanings of Birthday Traditions](http://www.abcog.org/birthday.htm) says: > [@](#): > > The book The Lore of Birthdays (New York, 1952) by Ralph and Adelin Linton, on pages 8, 18-20 had this to say: "The Greeks believed that everyone had a protective spirit or daemon who attended his birth and watched over him in life. This spirit had a mystic relation with the god on whose birthday the individual was born. > > The Romans also subscribed to this idea. . . . This notion was carried down in human belief and is reflected in the guardian angel, the fairy godmother and the patron saint. . . . The custom of lighted candles on the cakes started with the Greeks. . . . Honey cakes round as the moon and lit with tapers were placed on the temple altars of [Artemis]. . . . Birthday candles, in folk belief, are endowed with special magic for granting wishes. . . . Lighted tapers and sacrificial fires have had a special mystic significance ever since man first set up altars to his gods. The birthday candles are thus an honor and tribute to the birthday child and bring good fortune" And I did find quite a few sites pointing to Artemis and the Greeks. Most of those sites were warnings about avoiding Pagan Birthdays, but the above site did give a reference. Most of the sites I visited associated lighting candles with prayer, mentioning the Romans and Saturnalia, Artemis, etc. Looks like we just substituted wishes for prayers. If you scroll to the section on birthday cakes in the first link, it gives a pretty good summation of the information from a lot of the other sites I found, discussing the origin of birthday cakes.