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They aren't usually real candles. They are plastic candle shapes with Christmas bulbs. Safe and long lasting.

I grew up in Richmond, Virginia, and we always had a single candle in the windows. We also decorated with magnolia leaves from the tree in our front yard. Dad would put them on the mantle as a backdrop to the nativity set, and he'd make a wreath.

My mom used to put candles in the windows at Christmas. Our candles were plug-ins. I asked her why, what was the significance and she said that it was meant to be a offer; it was a sign to the cold and hungry that they were welcome in our home. We lived in a small city in Canada. It was pretty much the suburbs. We never had anyone knock on our door and take us up in that offer.

Some others I miss from my years in Virginia: the carved-fruit votive holders and fruit in the evergreen wreaths...

and just so nobody leaves candles unattended and burning by any sheer window treatments-- most houses don't have actual candles in the window, but candle-shaped lights in the windows

I love love love my mom's semi-demented magnolia door hanging . . . featuring a frieze of real fruit.
You cut a pineapple in half lengthwise, along with apples, pears, oranges, and dip the cut side in paraffin wax, the stuff you'd use to seal homemade jelly. On a rectangle of deep green florist foam, anchor a bed of magnolia leaves. On top of that, using floral picks, anchor the pineapple in the center, surrounded by the other fruit. This works best if you have side-by-side double exterior doors, for your matching wreaths.

This is only for exterior doors.
Even then, it ferments wonderfully and lasts a number of weeks, depending on the weather.
:)

Colonial Willamsburg has a great book on decorating for the holidays. They really promote the use of fruit in decorations as told above. Nothing like a semi-circle wreath of evergreens and apples above the door to say Christmas to me!

And, of course, magnolia leaves are another great staple.

"A Christmas Memory" by Truman Capote is a southern holiday classic I revisit every year.

I grew up in Maryland but my sister went to college at William & Mary in Williamsburg so we adopted the Williamsburg tradition of fruit in holiday decorations. They are really beautiful and smell great. The only bad thing is the occassional frozen lemon would fall off on the door hanging outside(watch your head!).

I used to do the faux candle in the window, but my new place doesn't have window ledges. But, we do wrap greens on the porch banisters and the front doors. We also put huge planters full of greens in the front yard....

This is just as much a New England thing as a Southern thing (I grew up in Connecticut)...

What Jane said.

If you drive around my town in rural coastal Massachusetts, every other house has an electric window candle. I also used to see them in my grandparents' neighborhood in Fall River, MA.

The most fantastic display of candles in the windows has to be Allentown-Bethlehem PA. Such simplicity, and of course the Moravian stars look great as well.