There's not much to be found about the designs of the jars that we know and love and their history online. It is a known bit of history that the first Yankee fragrance was 'Roses Of Cliff Walk' and our 'Fresh Cut Roses' that is still available today is inspired by that original scent.
From my bit of research, the first commercially available type of Yankee Candle was called a 'Cannikin'. I have only
ever seen photos of this in the ‘Spiced Apple’ fragrance and I've not been able to find out when it was available from and to.
Update (Feb 16) - we think the Cannikins were sold in the 1970s. I've seen a few more photos since! Here's the back of one (photo courtesy Ian Gambles)
Then I think the first ever traditional large jars were the original ‘Country Kitchen’ range (there have been variants in this range, not sure if this is the very first type but it looks to be an early design). Note the fragrance is highlighted via a simplistic sticker on the jar neck!
Then I think the first ever traditional large jars were the original ‘Country Kitchen’ range (there have been variants in this range, not sure if this is the very first type but it looks to be an early design). Note the fragrance is highlighted via a simplistic sticker on the jar neck!
Black Band Box label jars were next or at the same time as the original country kitchen jars. They look to be a bit more sophisticated than the country kitchen design so I would guess they appeared at a later date.
The black
box (around the image as shown above) went and then made way for what is known as Black
Band jars (the box around the image with a white outline only). The first date I am sure of is that the Black Band jars were withdrawn from sale in 2005/6.
Then came
'Housewarmer' labels which are a lot closer to the modern variant.
Then it's what has become known as the 'classic' large jar label which was introduced circa 2007.
A new design of label was introduced to the American market in 2016 (below), while the UK and European market retained the classic label until 2019.
The last 'new' fragrance of the classic label jars is "Alfesco Afternoon" released in the UK/Europe in 2019.
A new permanent label has now been adopted for the UK and Europe officially introduced in January 2020, although the design was tested on the autumn and Halloween collections in 2019.
Anyone with
any further information, dates or corrections please let me know by email at
andyfair1@yahoo.com and I will update this article.