I haven’t seen that phrase before so looked it up …
This phrase relates to occupations, games etc. that were thought so lacking in merit that it wasn’t worth the expense of burning a candle to create enough light to partake in them. Candles were as significant a drain on household expenses as is the electricity bill today.
I had posted previously that changing the App Tree Mode using the Toolbar (as shown in Kevin’s screen capture) is a quicker single click versus using the Tree Mode drop list on the the right.