Grandma Wilson’s Pumpkin Porch
Grandma Wilson loved to cook during the holidays.
And when you walked into the house, you knew it.
There might be pumpkin, pumpkin spice, pies baking, and all the other smells that seem to fill a kitchen when a family is getting ready to sit down together.
Grandma came from a large family, and between her family and my grandfather’s, there really wasn’t such a thing as a small dessert table.
One pie wasn’t enough.
There would be two or three different kinds of pies, Jell-O desserts, and whatever else had made its way onto the table that year. Watching Grandma prepare all of it was just part of the holiday.
Choosing Pumpkin Pie
When it came time to create a pumpkin fragrance for Grandma, the decision was harder than I expected.
One of the things we try to do at Wilson & Wick is create fragrances that don’t have to disappear when a season ends. We want them to be scents you can enjoy because you love them—not because the calendar says it’s October, November, or December.
Pumpkin made that difficult.
Pumpkin spice immediately brings the holidays to mind. But pumpkin pie feels different to me.
A good pie deserves to be celebrated all year.
I could eat pumpkin pie after a holiday dinner, but I’d be just as happy eating a slice on some random Tuesday when there isn’t a holiday anywhere in sight.
So pumpkin pie became the direction.
The Little Touches That Made It Grandma’s
Over the years, I also watched Grandma’s holiday baking change.
The number of homemade pies slowly became fewer. Eventually, some of the pies were store-bought instead.
But even then, Grandma had a way of adding something to them.
Some little touch that made a store-bought pie feel a little less like it came from a store and a little more like it had come out of her kitchen.
And maybe that’s part of what this fragrance is really about.
Not simply pumpkin.
Not simply the holidays.
It’s about the dessert table that always seemed to have room for one more pie. It’s about a kitchen filled with familiar smells. It’s about watching someone you love make something for the family year after year—and realizing later how much those ordinary moments meant.
Every Candle Has a Story
Grandma Wilson’s Pumpkin Porch is our way of holding onto a little piece of that kitchen.
And when you smell it, maybe it won’t be Grandma Wilson you remember.
Maybe it’ll be your grandmother. Your mom. Your dad. An aunt who always brought dessert. Or the pie that showed up at every family gathering without anyone ever needing to ask for it.
Because sometimes a pie is more than dessert.
Sometimes it’s part of how you remember home.
Holiday & Time of Use
This story begins around the holiday table, but it doesn’t have to stay there. Grandma Wilson’s Pumpkin Porch fits Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas gatherings, fall evenings, Sunday desserts, family visits, or an ordinary night when you simply want the house to feel warm and familiar.
For us, pumpkin pie isn’t only a holiday dessert. It’s something worth enjoying whenever the memory feels right.
Try Her Son’s Candle
Continue the family story with Marvin’s Peach Cobbler, inspired by Grandma Wilson’s son, Marvin Jr., and the memories connected to peach cobbler, campfires, and family.
Read the story behind Marvin’s Peach Cobbler →
Every Candle Has a Story.