Snuffers often appeared with a tray to catch the flakes of dried wax. Snuffers were first invented to cut off and retain the burned wicks of candles when the wax around them had melted; they were not necessarily used to extinguish the candle's flame. The point at the end was for retrieving the tip of the wick if it fell into molten wax. They are first recorded in the 15th century. Numerous patents for snuffers are known from the middle of the 18th century, regularly reappearing with new improvements until 1840 when candles that completely consumed their wicks were first developed, rendering snuffers superfluous.