The Sweet and Surprising History of Candy Canes
There are two different stories when you are discussing the history of candy canes and how it is a significant part of Christmas.
There is the first side of the story, which over time has been proven to be credible. It has it that the first of this kind was known as ‘a candy stick,’ and it was recorded at an exhibition in Massachusetts, the USA in 1837. Here, it was just a straight white sugar stick. The red stripes were added later. They were first called ‘candy canes’ 1866, and they were just sugar-flavored sticks before this new addition of peppermint and wintergreen. They became a piece of Christmas in the year 1874.
The production of candy canes began with a certain Bob McCormack in 1920, when he made it for his friends and family in Georgia before he made it into a business under the name ‘Bob’s Candies.’ His brother-in-law further modified this production with the invention of the ‘Keller Machine’ that helps in curving the canes.
The Rise of Christmas Candy Canes
The other story which is more appealing yet is likely not true is that a German choirmaster decided to give the kids something to chew during the Xmas nativity service as he did not like that they just sit quietly all-through. So he decided to invent the Christmas candy canes. He also wanted to remind these kids of Christmas, which prompted him to make them into a j-shaped stick just as shepherd’s crook (which will also remind them of the shepherds that visited Jesus as a baby in the manger).
There are other stories on this with new peculiar information. Some say the J shape reflects Jesus. The original white color of the stick is for Jesus’ purity. Whatever your own story is, they all tell us more about the candy canes.