Mantraca candle and packaging

Enterprising hippies started small businesses that catered to the tastes of the Vancouver counter-culture. This sandcast candle was made by Mantraca Designs Ltd., owned by Bob Bellows and Lloyd McKinnon. The two began making and selling candles out of their house on Pender Street in the West End. About 1970, they rented a small factory on Powell Street near Clark Drive where they employed a merry crew of 10 to12 guys. Mantraca made candles in eight styles, ranging in size, and coming in four or five different colours. This is an example of Mantraca’s “large olive” coloured candle.