PartyLite has been selling quality candles and accessories in the United States since 1973, and has expanded into many international markets. You may not have heard of us because we sell only in home demonstrations — if you would like to get in touch with someone in your area to buy candles or accessories, to host a Show, or to get started selling yourself, click here, fill out the corresponding form and we'll get in touch with you.

The quality of PartyLite candles continues a tradition set by a New England schoolteacher and entrepreneur, Mabel Baker. In 1905, Mabel began to make candles from the bayberries on Cape Cod — her business grew and flourished for years as Colonial Candle of Cape Cod. For more about Mabel, click here.

In 1973, Colonial Candle of Cape Cod set up PartyLite Gifts, Inc. to sell excess inventory of candles from their factory and gift shop in Hyannis, Massachusetts. The PartyLite Home Office was composed of three people: Ruben Deveau, Charles Lester, and Anne MacInnis, and the offices were in a corner of a candle warehouse in Cordage Park, Plymouth.

Anne chose the product line and communicated with the Consultants, Ruben was the President of the company, and Charles was the Financial Officer. But, in reality, everyone did everything. Anne says, "We typed all the orders, hand-wrote all the income cheques for Consultants, hand-picked the orders, and hand-collated the catalogue pages."

Soon the business grew to add more people, but the offices still remained in Cordage Park. Anyone who worked for PartyLite in those days is fond of telling stories about both the rugged conditions of the offices, and the wonderful team spirit that prevailed. Anne says, "We all sat in one room, and tracked the whole business without computers or faxes. The offices weren't air conditioned or heated. When it got too cold, we'd take our papers and go to a local restaurant and work there."

The next growth step was a unique profit plan for the Consultants, the people who were selling the candles. The plan offers cash incentives for not only selling the candles, but for bringing in new sellers and developing their potential. The no-risk, people-oriented career plan took off, and company sales totals doubled in the very next year. Since then, sales have grown dramatically, and Consultants worldwide have found fine income potential in the PartyLite plan.

In 1990, Blyth, Inc., acquired both Colonial Candle of Cape Cod and PartyLite. Under the leadership of Bob Goergen, Chairman, CEO and President, Blyth believed in and invested in PartyLite, playing a key role in supporting its phenomenal growth. By January of 1992, the company was ready for a move away from the original facility. They relocated to a building of 72,000 square feet in the Plymouth Industrial Park — Home Office employees were delighted with their own workspaces, the carpeted floors, and all new furniture.

1992	PartyLite Canada opened
1993	70,000 square feet of warehouse space opened in Carol Stream, Illinois
1994	PartyLite Germany opened
1995	Carol Stream warehouse doubled in size PartyLite Home Office expanded with an attached 20,000-square-foot building
1996	PartyLite United Kingdom opened New factory opened in Batavia, Illinois
1997	New Home Office building adjacent to the Plymouth Industrial Park building opened, adding 100,000 square feet to the operating space PartyLite Austria and PartyLite Switzerland opened Opened a manufacturing facility in Cumbria, England Opened a distribution center in the Netherlands (known as the European Distribution Center) to service Europe
1998	PartyLite France opened
1999	PartyLite Finland opened
2001	PartyLite Mexico opened
2002	PartyLite Australia opened
2003	PartyLite Sweden opened
2005	PartyLite Denmark opened
2007	PartyLite Ireland opened

The number of employees at the Home Office in Plymouth has increased from 40 in 1990 to over 500 in 2003, U. S. Regional Vice Presidents are now over 100, Consultants are now over 36,000 strong — some achieving profits amounting to six-figure annual incomes.

What's next? The current Home Office building has plenty of space for future needs, and automated equipment has simplified and speeded the ordering and delivery of product. Each year, the Company introduces roughly 100 new products, re-enchanting Customers and Host/Hostesses, and maintaining the enthusiasm of an already committed and energetic salesforce.

You can join this company as a Customer, Hostess or Consultant. Let us get in touch with you and tell you how.

Mabel Baker, maker of quality candles
Mabel Kimball Baker began a candle business in a time when it was unusual for a woman to be an entrepreneur. Teacher, nurse, or secretary, yes, but in 1909 it was not common for a woman to be founding a business. But her love of handcrafts and of history led her to produce the finest candles in New England. News about the quality of those candles spread, and soon Mabel had a thriving enterprise.

It all began in 1905, when Mabel was teaching home economics at the Hyannis, Massachusetts, Training School. She knew that the Pilgrims of Plymouth Plantation made candles from the native bayberries growing in southeastern Massachusetts. She resolved to follow their process to make bayberry candles as Christmas gifts for her friends and family.

After classes she gathered the bayberries and boiled them down in a workshop in her barn. The wax would float to the top to be skimmed, strained and refined — a laborious process because each bushel of berries yielded only 2-2.5 kg of wax. Mabel then hand-braided cotton for the wicks, and hand-dipped each candle as many as 35 times.

Have you ever inhaled the fragrance of a bayberry candle? Its rich, spicy aroma speaks of the warmth of Christmas, of the lush New England countryside, and of the love that goes into its making. Mabel's candles were all this and more, and her friends loved them. They insisted she make more for the next year, and the next year.

In 1907, Mabel married Walter D. Baker, the owner of a Hyannis department store. That year, she offered her bayberry candles for sale in Walter's store. Within a year, several other stores on Cape Cod were also selling Mabel Baker's candles. By 1910, the fame of her candles reached Boston, and one of the largest stores there purchased her entire supply of candles that year.

It was time for Mabel to expand. She hired local people to pick the bayberries. She set up a network of women to hand-dip the candles. She added on to her home and enlarged the barn several times. From the start, Mabel was dedicated to quality. She said, "We are not trying to make the cheapest candles nor the greatest number. We are trying to make the best candles on the market, and steadily improve them. Our candles are unquestionably the highest-grade candles".

Finally, by 1921, Walter Baker sold his department store and financed a candle factory on the land behind the Baker home. He joined Mabel in the business, and it was his research that developed the formula for the first-ever solid colour candle. Heretofore, only the bayberry candle was solid in colour throughout. Paraffin candles were white at the core, and dipped in a coloured shell.

Walter's research led, in 1925, to an entire line of solid colours. The beautiful colours meant that using the candles expanded from an item used only for holidays to a decorative note women wanted in their homes year 'round. Mabel realized that women would love candle holders and floral rings to coordinate candles with their home décor. Her company became the first one to offer candle accessories for stunning combinations and ensembles.

The next leap toward today's product line was the addition of a second fragrance in 1937. It was called Scent-o-Pine^®, and was hugely successful from the start. Again, her company took the lead in developing the perfect formula to add fragrance oils to wax for an exquisitely scented candle.

Mabel Kimball Baker died at the age of 94, in 1965. That year, the business that was built from a bayberry was a $6 million operation!

PartyLite came along in 1973 as an outlet for the excess inventory from Mabel's company, Colonial Candle of Cape Cod. Today, we follow Mabel Baker's tradition of quality with a product line of over 400 candles and accessories each year. Candles are offered in more than 25 fragrances and colours, and a myriad of shapes and sizes. Where and how would you like to place a candle in your home? We've got the perfect one for you!