In Harlem, where history lives on every corner, the scents of the past fill the air inside Teri Johnson's apartment.
Monday, March 30, 2026 3:01PMIn Harlem, where history lives on every corner, the scents of the past fill the air inside Teri Johnson's apartment."I fell in love with Harlem because you can walk outside and you see the names of different streets and statues and symbols, and there's a lot of little symbols and things that are very historic," Johnson said.
"I was like, wow. This place is so cool. There's so much history here.", a brand rooted in culture, design and storytelling. The business began right in her kitchen. "I decided I was going to give candles as Christmas gifts one year, and I decided to make 50 candles for friends and family, and I did it in my kitchen," Johnson said. "I'm making these candles in my Harlem kitchen. I might as well call it the Harlem Candle Company, and why not use the Harlem Renaissance as the inspiration for each fragrance?" The Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s marked a period when the neighborhood became the epicenter of Black culture, art, music and literature."I was living in Paris. I was in college, and I didn't realize how important jazz musicians, jazz culture," Johnson said. "There were so many contributions that a lot of African Americans made. Josephine Baker, for instance, she is just so celebrated. She was a World War II spy for the French resistance. It's an incredible legacy."She went on to describe a collection honoring iconic figures of the era."Josephine Baker," Johnson said. "It is inspired by her reimagined boudoir. Imagine her being in her castle in France. What does her boudoir smell like? Really cool.""If Langston writing late at night, what is the space smell like?" Johnson said. "And so it's a little, there's some tobacco notes. There's some incense."Inside Johnson's apartment, walls filled with black-and-white images of legends serve as daily reminders and inspiration. "Part of the reason why I like to surround my space with their black and white images is because I want to be reminded," she said. "I almost feel like in a sense they're a little bit like my angels. My job is to carry on your incredible legacy, and I want to do it through beautiful fragrances that people love.""My grandfather was being honored for the work that he had done in civil rights, and I found a picture, and I'm looking at Duke Ellington," Johnson said. "I said, that is my grandfather. It was further confirmation that I'm doing the right thing. This is my grandfather, and that's Duke Ellington.""Well, he was a professor," Johnson said. "During the civil rights movement, he would encourage his students to do the lunch counter sit-ins. In his family, my great-great grandparents would bail all the kids out. But he also did a lot of marches with Martin Luther King. He didn't really know him as an adult, but I feel like there's something about his spirit and his energy. It really does live through me." "What do you think they would think about this girl living in this fabulous apartment in Harlem, creating something in her kitchen, and now having a full-blown company?" Garguilo asked. "I really do think they would be proud of me," Johnson said. "I feel like my grandfather, if you say, he would be really proud of me as well. I hope I make him and everyone else proud." From 50 handmade candles in a Harlem kitchen to more than 40 variations sold across the country, including a spot on Oprah's Favorite Things, Johnson says the legends of the Harlem Renaissance and their lasting legacy live on through every flame.
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