The Story of the Candy Cane

Today I want to talk about Candy Canes.

A candy cane is a stick candy shaped like a cane. It is often associated with Christmas time, as well as Saint Nicholas Day. Traditionally white with red stripes and flavored with peppermint, they also come in a variety of other flavors and colors.

The Christmas candy cane is a symbol of the simple roots of Christianity. The candy cane is the shape of a shepherd’s crook which represents the humble shepherds who were the first to worship the baby Jesus.

Did you know that the candy cane dates back to 1670? Legend has it that the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany gave out sugar sticks to his young singers during the long Living Creche ceremony. He wanted to keep them quiet and since it was a Christmas event, he had the candy maker bend the candies into shepherds’ crooks.

The first documented case of candy canes occurred in 1847. A German-Swedish immigrant in Wooster, Ohio decorated a small blue spruce tree with candy canes.

The first candy canes were all white. Images on cards before the 1900s show snow white canes.

Around the turn of the century, a candy maker in the midwest decided to make a holiday candy for children that would be a reminder of Christ and a symbol of his birth, ministry, death and resurrection.

He started with a stick of pure white hard candy to symbolize purity, the Virgin Birth and the promises of God. The shape represents the shepherds’ staff or the Good Shepherd himself. When you turn the candy cane upside down, it is also a “J’, which is a reminder of Jesus.

Three small red stripes were added to represent the time when Jesus received a whipping by the Roman soldiers, and the large red stripe is a symbol of the blood He shed on the cross.

Sometimes a green stripe is added to remind us that Jesus is alive and is an everlasting gift from God.

The peppermint flavor of the candy cane is similar to hyssop which is from the mint family. Hyssop was used in the Old Testament for purification and sacrifice.

It wasn’t until the 1950s that a machine was invented to automate candy cane production. Today, candy canes come in all colors and flavors, but the traditional peppermint flavor and cane shape remains the most popular.

Most candy canes are about five inches long and contain only about 50 calories and no fat or cholesterol. In 2012, the world’s largest candy cane was built by chef Alain Roby from Geneva, Illinois. It was 51 feet long and required 900 pounds of sugar. Eventually it was smashed up with a hammer so people could take a piece home.