In 1927, Franklin C. Gurley, Sr purchased W&F Manufacturing, a confectionery company. Along with candies and chocolates, W&F made paraffin novelties such as wax lips and teeth. In 1939, Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, now known as ExxonMobile, was looking for a way to use the excess paraffin produced while refining oil. Socony commissioned Frank Gurley to produce a line of novelty candles under the name Tavern Novelty Candles. In 1949 Frank (W&F) bought the rights to Tavern and changed the name to The Gurley Novelty Company. In the mid 1950s, Frank signed with a Canadian company, O-Pee-Chee, allowing candles to be sold in Great Britain, Scotland, Ireland, and eventually Canada. W&F sales peaked in the late 1960s, but rising cost of paraffin and competition from imports left the company struggling. In 1994 they closed for good. Gurley candles are now quite popular on the secondary market. There is also at least one company currently creating reproductions. This box has "Distributed by O-Pee-Chee" on the side, meaning that this particular set was made no sooner than the mid 1950s.