Penny candle

Posted by RRC on May 19, 2009 at 15:08

In Reply to: Penny candle posted by RRC on May 18, 2009 at 17:25:

: : Just wanted to respond to the thread on "penny candle". Being a semi-ignorant fellow with Irish ancestors I know the phrase "penny candle" from the song "Galway Bay", which I am going to fess up, incidentally, brings a tear to my eye, both eyes. Just wanted to comment that this phrase probably, you think?, derives its meaning from how it is used? In the song it hits me as meaning simply an anachronism? such as one might say nowadays: send me a penny postcard. That's how it hit me. And I'll bet the song was written long after the fact by New Yorkers?

: The version of the song mentioning the penny candle was written in 1947 by Arthur Colahan who grew up in Galway.
: Penny postcards cost US 1 cent to mail around 1900. Ten-penny nails were 100 for 10 British pence back sometime before 1500 when the size became the standard instead of the price but we're stuck with 3" nails being 10d nails.
: US postcards cost 28 cents to mail now. Speaking of inflation, how much was an old 240-to-the-pound penny worth in Ireland in the 1940's or the 1900's?

In a bit of serendipity, I was watching the movie of Frank McCourt's memoir "Angela's Ashes" last night and there's a scene where he pays a penny to light a votive candle. Searching the book on Google Books, I found:
"It's a penny to light a candle and I wonder if I should just light the candle and keep the penny. No, St. Francis would know."