# Single candle in the window **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 5, 2005, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-candle-in-the-window/334141 "2005-12-05T06:42:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-candle-in-the-window/334141/21 "2005-12-06T04:18:46Z")
**Support your local and national law enforcement. Put a BLUE Light electric candle in your window this month!** ---
**Author:** ![cbarnes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@cbarnes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbarnes)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-candle-in-the-window/334141/22 "2005-12-06T04:25:36Z")
> [@anyrose](#): > > In the 80’s, it was for the troops in Desert Storm. Really? ---
**Author:** ![cbarnes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@cbarnes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbarnes)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-candle-in-the-window/334141/23 "2005-12-06T04:26:09Z")
> [@anyrose](#): > > In the 80’s, it was for the troops in Desert Storm. That’s interesting… ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-candle-in-the-window/334141/24 "2005-12-06T04:55:49Z")
That was my first thought - for soldiers. Wasn’t there something about a light in the window during W.W.1? I;m just going by very vague memory here. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-candle-in-the-window/334141/25 "2005-12-06T06:44:18Z")
I just moved to the “other end” of my neighborhood and it turns out that this is the end that likes to decorate their houses for Christmas. I have no intentions of decorating but the lack of multi-colored lights amongst the sea of sparklies makes my house look awful creepy. So, i did the best I could. I found 8 plastic battery-powered candles in my mom’s attic, bought 16 AA batteries and set them up in my 3 windows. I broke 2 of them on setup, so each bedroom window has a single candle and the front window has 4. Of course, on the first night I forgot to turn off the bedroom window candles so I had 2 single candles that night. The second night I only managed to turn on the 4 large window candles. Tonight I left the house in a hurry and forgot to turn them on, and when I got home I noted that no one else’s lights were on so I had missed whatever standard timeframe for house lighting for the day. Funny thing is - taking stock of the situation and driving by my awkwardly-lit house amongst the sea of lights, I wondered straight off if my neighbors might think I was Jewish. I guess they do 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-candle-in-the-window/334141/26 "2005-12-06T14:09:21Z")
There’s also this story of a single candle in a window from the song [‘Morning Glory’](http://www.alwaysontherun.net/tim.htm#b10) by Tim Buckley. First verse is below: I lit my purest candle close to my Window, hoping it would catch the eye Of any vagabond who passed it by, And I waited in my fleeting house ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-candle-in-the-window/334141/27 "2005-12-06T15:25:31Z")
I don’t have an answer for you, but an observation. I have intended to post just such a question before. My wifes parents moved from Canada to south-eastern Indiana and, when visiting, we have noticed at all times of the year that many houses display a single candle in one, many or all front windows. It does not appear to be a Christmas or Jewish tradition. It does appear to have spawned an [industry](http://windowcandles.com/index.php) though. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-candle-in-the-window/334141/28 "2005-12-06T17:48:29Z")
When I was a kid (born in 1949,) my folks explained that it was “so the Christ Child could find his way to your house.” Later on, my town had a lot of folks setting out luminarios to line the driveway on Christmas Eve. Each luminario was a small paper bag with the top folded in a cuff. Inside was a handful of sand for weight and a plumber’s candle. Those who still do that now use plastic milk jugs instead of bags. Even as a kid, I thought the idea of a baby wandering around in the snow was pretty silly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-candle-in-the-window/334141.md?page=1)