Trick candles are a novelty candle often used at children's birthday parties. These candles relight themselves, using a fuse similar to those in dynamite sticks, the principle being that by igniting magnesium inserted into the wick of the candle, the paraffin vapour given off when a candle is blown out can be set alight, and through this, the candle can reignite.
Despite being a principle shared with dynamite, these fuses are, however, much less dangerous, and are easily extinguished with water.
Trick candles are banned in Canada.
Famous quotes containing the words trick and/or candles:
“People who make puns are like wanton boys that put coppers on the railroad tracks. They amuse themselves and other children, but their little trick may upset a freight train of conversation for the sake of a battered witticism.”
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)
“how seasonably
leaf and blossom uncurl
and living things arrange their death,
while someone from afar off
blows birthday candles for the world.”
—Irving Layton (b. 1912)