If you want more information on the original soywax source you can go to the website: www.soyawax.com.
The Iowa Soybean Board and the Soyfoods Center have both provided extensive research and documentaion that Chandler Guild co-founder, Michael Richards was the first in the world to invent soybean wax. Mr. Richards now has one more bit of history recorded for posterity... The Oxford English Dictionary!
Each year, the OED adds many new words that have come into common usage in the English Language. The Oxford English Dictionary is the accepted authority on the evolution of the English language over the last millennium. It is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both present and past. It traces the usage of words through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of international English language sources, from classic literature and specialist periodicals to film scripts.
English is very much a living language with new words for new meanings being coined as we live, work and learn. Science and Business are both fertile ground for new words that officially enter the English language. Often, at the convergence of science and commerce we find a ripe source of new words.
Several decades ago words such as "internet", "byte", "download" did not exist.
These are now words in the Oxford English Dictionary.
"Soywax" has now been recorded and documented as an official "new word" in the English Language by the esteemed Oxford English Dictionary. The etymology of the word "soywax" documents that the originator of the word soywax is the same person that also invented soywax as a paraffin replacement material, Michael Richards.
Etymology is the word that describes the scientific study of the origin, history and development of the words that make up a language.
Michael Richards was already documented historically in the candle, wax, soybean processing and agriculture industries as the original inventor of soybean wax. Mr. Richards is now officially credited by the Oxford English Dictionary as the source of a new word in the English Language: "soywax".
The Oxford English Dictionary has documented that the very first time this new word was used in print in the English Lanquage was in 1998 by Michael Richards.
At the Chandler Guild we are making History! We are establishing a revolutionary new way of doing business with this innovative soywax product.
Michael Richards started his research that led to the the development of soybean wax in 1991. Michael Richards presented his new word "soywax" for the very first time in the public press in The Catalyst, December issue, 1998. The Catalyst is a monthly magazine published in Iowa City, Iowa by The New Pioneer Cooperative.
Here is a reprint of the original article written in 1998 by Catalyst guest author, Michael Richards:
IC's Candleworks Makes
Candles from Soybeans
Aromatherapy and fragrance candles represent the most rapidly growing area of the six billion dollar candle industry. This growth has happened so quickly that consumers and producers did not stop and think through all the details thoroughly. Aromatherapy oils in paraffin wax is totally incongruent.
Here are some very important facts you need to know:
The Paraffin Problem
1. Almost all candles made around the world are made with paraffin. Do you know what paraffin is? Paraffin is the waste sludge produced when gasoline is refined!
Paraffin aromatherapy candles are now presented to consumers as a therapeutic, health enhancing product. A few decades ago cigarettes were also marketed as a health aid!
In a recent report issued by the Agricultural Engineering and Food Science Departments at Purdue University, it is stated: "Paraffin contains aromatic compounds, which are released when candles are burned, that are detrimental to health. Paraffin candles release carcinogens when they are burned.". Purdue encourages a safe soywax alternative.
The book, Censored, The News That Did Not Make The News in 1998, authored by Peter Phillips, lists as the #1 censored story, Secret Global U.S. Arms Deals.
The second most important censored news listed is about extensive evidence of the carcinogenic effects of petroleum in personal care products. Once a retailer or manufacturer is aware of such a health risk, they have a legal and moral responsibility to remove the health risk or face serious liability issues.
2. Paraffin candle wax was created 125 years ago as the petroleum distillation industry started. Such candles were used to light a distant dark corner in a room. For aromatherapy and home fragrance candles, used in a close personal proximity, paraffin wax is totally obsolete.
Lynette Richards, co-founder of Candleworks, asks, "If you prepared a healthy drink of fresh squeezed fruit juice, would you add in a shot of gasoline for your health? Absolutely not! It is just as inconsistent and unthinkable to take pure aromatic plant-derived essential oils prepared for therapeutic use in aromatherapy and dump them into wax made from harmful gasoline sludge. The aromatherapy industry has grown so quickly that not many people have stopped to think."
The Soybean Solution
Candleworks did stop to think. We've taken the innovative action necessary to create a healthy alternative: A 100% vegetable, pure, safe new candle wax made with soybeans grown right in America's Heartland. Burning soywax is as benign as the aromatic vapors from vegetables sauteed in vegetable oils in your kitchen.
Our soy-base wax is literally the first real innovation in the candle industry in the 125 years since paraffin came into use as the predominant candle manufacturing material. Our soy oil candle is so pure that you could melt it down to saute vegetables!
The Candleworks Way
The soybean is the metaphor of the daily life of Candleworks. Farmers plant soybeans in their crop rotation cycle when the soil needs to be stabilized and restored with important nutrients.
We restore stability and nurture our community by providing economic opportunity for disadvantaged and disabled persons. We only use pure plant-based wax, colors and aroma oils. Packaging materials are recycled.
Candleworks is a model business that operates with social, consumer and environmental responsibility. Candleworks has been cited as the U.S. Small Business Administration's National "Business of the Year" for Welfare to Work initiatives.
Candleworks was named Business of the Year by the Iowa City Human Rights Commission. Candleworks is recognized nationally as an innovator in economic development: Federal HUD Office and President Clinton awarded Candleworks the "Best Practice Award" at the National Conference of Mayors.
The National Chamber of Commerce presented us the "Blue Chip Enterprise" award to recognize our initiative. Rotary International has inducted Candleworks founders into the Paul Harris Humanitarian Fellowship.
New Pioneer Cooperative is proud to offer Candleworks soywax candles.
--written by Michael Richards, published by The Catalyst, December 1998.
The orginal copy of this historic article is in the archives of both The New Pioneer Cooperative of Iowa and The SoyFoods Center in California.