Christmas Candy Canes
The Christmas Candy Cane
originated in Germany
about 250 years ago. They started as straight white sugar sticks.
A story says that a
choirmaster, in 1670, was worried about the children sitting quietly all
through the long Christmas nativity service. So, he gave them something to eat
to keep them quiet! As he wanted to remind them of Christmas, he made them into
a 'J' shape like a shepherd’s crook, to remind them of the shepherds that
visited the baby Jesus at the first Christmas. However, the earliest
records of 'candy canes' comes from over 200 years later, so the story,
although rather nice, probably isn't true!
Sometime around 1900 the
red stripes were added and they were flavored with peppermint or wintergreen.
Sometimes other Christian
meanings are giving to the parts of the canes. The 'J' can also mean Jesus. The
white of the cane can represent the purity of Jesus Christ and the red stripes
are for the blood he shed when he died on the cross. The peppermint flavor can
represent the hyssop plant that was used for purifying in the Bible.
Around 1920, Bob McCormack,
from Georgia, USA,
started making canes for his friends and family. They became more and more
popular and he started his own business called Bob's Candies. Bob McCormack's
brother-in-law, Gregory Harding Keller, who was a Catholic priest, invented the
Keller Machine that made turning straight candy sticks into curved candy canes
automatic!
In 2005, Bob's Candies was bought by Farley
and Sathers but they still make candy canes!
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