A quick snapshot of a project that was unfortunately cut too soon due to shifting priorities. I had been commissioned to create a short animated video to illustrate the remarkable, little-known story of Colonial Candle's founder, Mabel Baker.

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Mabel Baker lived on the coast of Cape Cod in the early 1900’s, working as a young schoolteacher of 4th grade home crafts at the Hyannis Massachusetts State Normal School. With her love of crafting, she began creating hand-dipped table candles, made from wild bayberries harvested from the path that grew along her way home. Upon perfecting her candles, she began to give them away as gifts - but her husband, recognizing craftsmanship and potential, had a bigger idea.

Mr. Baker began selling Mabel's handmade bayberry candles in his local general store, where they were an instant success. Together, they moved Mabel's candle-making operation from their small kitchen to a dedicated space in the barn, and worked together to develop new methods for coloring wax and adding fragranced oils. Their unique high-quality candles were soon noticed by a large store buyer from Boston, who bought a year’s supply to sell in the big city.

Mabel’s space in the barn soon became a busy factory, and her husband sold his store to join her quickly growing business. The company became affectionately known by locals as the “Willy Wonka of Candles,” eventually carrying 100 different fragrances and employing over 500 workers.

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I spent one week dedicated to deep historical research - poring over archives, letters, and long-lost records to piece together her life and legacy - then I retold her story to the company’s new owners. To this day, "Aunt May" and her candle factory is remembered lovingly throughout Cape Cod by her coworkers, friends, and descendants.