Preston Frazier, Co-Founder Faroy Candles, Houston
The co-founder of Faroy Candles (now a division of Home Fragrance Holdings) celebrates the company's 50th anniversary and his own retirement.
Meredith Schwartz -- Gifts and Dec, 11/1/2000 12:00:00 AM
Gifts & Dec:What motivated you to start making candles?
Preston Frazier:Addison McElroy and I were college friends in the 1940s and became roommates after we graduated. Though we had jobs, we were still poor. So, in November 1950, we decided to make our own Christmas presents. We chose candles.
Gifts & Dec:How did that become a business?
PF:A buyer for the Houston fashion store Sakowitz saw one of our creations and asked us to make some for him. Then Stanley Marcus asked us to do some for Neiman Marcus. Stanley also recommended that we take them to a manufacturers' rep in New York. I didn't know what a manufacturers' rep was, but I took Stanley's advice and went. That rep wasn't interested, but he sent me to another one who was. I went on to Boston to visit a friend, but Addison called to say that we had more orders than ever, and that I had to come back at once. We started making candles full time and hired one employee: my mother. She was the one person who'd work all year and wait until December to be paid.
Gifts & Dec:Where did the name Faroy come from?
PF:We didn't have a name for the first five years. In 1955, Neiman's was running an ad and said we had to have a name. So we came up with "Faroy" from Frazier and McElroy.
Gifts & Dec:Are those first candles still in the line?
PF:No, it would be impossible to make them today. The labor cost would be enormous, because we hand-poured and -carved each candle.
Gifts & Dec:What was the secret to Faroy's success?
PF:First, we broadened the color palette. When we started, candles were for Christmas, and the palette was white, yellow, pink, blue, red, and green. We had 28 colors, which was unheard of. Second, a local florist requested the longest candles we could make, and the founders of Dansk [tableware] saw them at a gift show. From then on, every Dansk salesman carried our order form, and every time they sold a pair of brass candlesticks they sold a pair of Faroy candles, which got us into the market at exactly the right place. Pillars, tapers, and votives became the backbone of the line, but specialty candles really moved it. We came out with a whole different range every six months, from vegetable candles packaged in cans with gorgeous Art Nouveau labels to teardrop vases dipped in coloring and filled with wax.
Gifts & Dec:Faroy is now part of Home Fragrance Holdings, and you are director of special projects. How did that come about?
PF:Twelve years ago we merged with Flintlock, a Houston-based candle manufacturer, and Home Fragrance Holdings purchased Flintlock in 1998. Now Faroy is only a small part of our company. Home Fragrance also provides private-label candles for large retailers such as Pier 1, and does business in a number of other channels.
Gifts & Dec:How has the industry changed since the 1950s?
PF:Initially, consumers didn't use [decorative] candles much. But after the Depression and World War II, people began to think about luxuries. When the Atlanta Mart first opened it was a very conservative institution. In our display, we used shocking pink, orange, and lime green tissue paper. People actually bawled us out for putting something so vulgar in the window! Then the contemporary look started to gain acceptance: plain porcelain, plain crystal. You'd go to the showroom and it would be almost like a chapel. People worshiped the new look. Contemporary stores sprang up all over. It was a great movement toward simple quality and strong color. Fragrance has also become much more important. And there were big changes in technology, of course.
Gifts & Dec:You're retiring?
PF:Yes, as of November 2. Addison retired in 1995. But I will still have one candle project: Brookwood Community, a local campus for retarded adults, has a candle factory, which I will help reorganize. I also intend to keep busy fundraising for the Houston Ballet and traveling to Africa, London, and the south of France.
Gifts & Dec:How is Faroy celebrating its anniversary?
Bruce Cazenave, president and CEO of Home Fragrance Holdings: Our real celebration will be the relaunch of Faroy in January. There will be a new product line and logo, a fresh modern perspective, and new colors and fragrances.
I have some glass votive holders that have santa on one side, an angle one one, and some kind of tree. It is made to look like stained glass. It has Faroy 1973 inc. Houston,Texas,USA. I would like to know more about them.
kristie miller - 2011-03-12 06:41:03 ESTI also have a Faroy Angel Candle, bought in eary 70's, that I have been using since then. It has 3 angels, one playing a lute, one playing a lyre, and one with a songbook. I would love to purchase more of these candles; I used to give them as Christmas gifts. Does Faroy still make these candles?
Rebecca Yancey - 2010-12-17 20:54:45 EST
I have a Faroy Angel Candle (3 angels approximately 6 inches tall. Instructions were: This candle burns down inside itself leaving the outer shell intact. When the wich ha burned down well into the middle a warmer or votive candle may be placed in the shell for repeated burning.
My mother had this candle many years before she died in August 1979.
The box indicates: Faroy, Inc., Houston, Texas 77042 U.S.A. It is a black box with pictures of the candle on the 3 sides.
I would like to know when this candle was actually made and its value today.
Thank you
Waldine Hernandez - 2009-01-08 18:22:00 EST
My mother had this candle many years before she died in August 1979.
The box indicates: Faroy, Inc., Houston, Texas 77042 U.S.A. It is a black box with pictures of the candle on the 3 sides.
I would like to know when this candle was actually made and its value today.
Thank you
I enjoyed reading the article about the beginnings of the Faroy company. I have a pair of tapers that are about 30 inches long. They are purple and have a cotton like sleeve over them. They were my grandmothers and the price on the box is $3.00. Can you tell me anything else about these candles?
Julie Moening - 2009-01-07 19:25:00 EST
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