Why Do We Have Candy Canes at Christmas?

DISCLAIMER: Sweet Post Ahead.

Beginning in November, curved minty sticks appear to adorn shelves and holiday decorations. One of the most prolific representations of the season, each year 1.76 billion candy canes are made, with over 90% of them being sold between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

But why candy canes? Read on to find out!

One of the oldest Christmas Candy Canes legends is about 350 years old. Back then, candy canes were plain white sticks of sugar.

It is said that in the year 1670, a choirmaster of Cologne Cathedral, Germany was frustrated by children fidgeting in church. He desperately wanted the kids to be quiet and sit still during the hours-long Christmas Nativity Mass. He devised a plan to mix bribery with education and fashioned the sugar sticks so one end was curved. The truth has been lost to the ages, but some say the curve was to represent the curved crooks of the shepherds who visited the baby Jesus during Christmas, and others claim the curve was for the letter J for Jesus.

Sometime around 1900 red stripes and peppermint were added. The white represents purity, red for the blood of Jesus that was spilled, and peppermint for hyssop which purified the bible.

The earliest published reference of the candy cane was in 1837 at a confectioners competition, and a recipe for the modern red and white striped candy cane was published and circulated in 1844.

Canes were being hung on trees by 1882.

Early candy canes were a labor of love. Sugar was melted and handspun, then repeatedly folded and pulled to great lengths much like taffy. Then it was rolled tightly into evenly shaped stick forms and cut.

In early 1920's Chicago candy makers Bunte Brothers patented the first mass candy cane machine, but the bending was still done by hand. As each cane came down the assembly line workers hand curved them to shape, with about 20% breakage. Before this, the canes were made entirely by hand. By the middle of the century, Atlanta's Bob McCormack was the world's leading candy cane producer.

Necessity breeds invention.

Due to the major candy loss and amount of physical labor involved, McCormack's brother-in-law had an idea.

Gregory Harding Keller was a seminary student in Rome who spent the summer breaks at home working in the family candy factory.

In 1957, the same year he was ordained a Roman Catholic Priest he patented the Keller Machine, which automatically twisted the spiral stripes and curved the end of the candy cane.

Candy canes now come in a variety of flavors and colors and remain one of the most recognizable symbols of Christmas worldwide.

Christmas Legends and Traditions- Italy

Christmas Legends and Traditions- Ireland

Images via Pixabay, Unsplash, and Creative Commons

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