This is my third article on Christmas Traditions.
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Around the seventeenth century, European-Christians began to
adopt the use of Christmas trees as part of their Christmas celebrations. They
made special decorations for their trees from foods like cookies and
sugar-stick candy. The first historical reference to the familiar cane shape
goes back to 1670, when the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany,
bent the sugar-sticks into canes to represent a shepherd's staff. The all-white
candy canes were given out to children during the long-winded nativity
services.
There are many other legends and beliefs surrounding the
humble candy cane. Many of them depict the candy cane as a secret symbol for
Christianity used during the times when Christian were living under more
oppressive circumstances. It was said that the cane was shaped like a
"J" for Jesus. The red-and-white stripes represented Christ's blood
and purity. The three red stripes symbolized the Holy Trinity. The hardness of
the candy represented the Church's foundation on solid rock and the peppermint
flavor represented the use of hyssop, an herb referred to in the Old Testament.
There is no historical evidence to support these claims, quite the contrary,
but they are lovely thoughts.
As part of the Holiday Gifts of Christmas Series, I thought I'd blog about the candy I associate the most with the holiday. Below is the information I collected from various sources on the web.
The Candy Cane
The origin of the candy cane goes back over 350 years, when
candy-makers both professional and amateur were making hard sugar sticks. The
original candy was straight and completely white in color.
Around the seventeenth century, European-Christians began to
adopt the use of Christmas trees as part of their Christmas celebrations. They
made special decorations for their trees from foods like cookies and
sugar-stick candy. The first historical reference to the familiar cane shape
goes back to 1670, when the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany,
bent the sugar-sticks into canes to represent a shepherd's staff. The all-white
candy canes were given out to children during the long-winded nativity
services.
The clergymen's custom of handing out candy canes during
Christmas services spread throughout Europe and later to America. The canes
were still white, but sometimes the candy-makers would add sugar-roses to
decorate the canes further.
The first historical reference to the candy cane being in
America goes back to 1847, when a German immigrant called August Imgard
decorated the Christmas tree in his Wooster, Ohio home with candy canes.
The Stripes
About fifty years later the first red-and-white striped
candy canes appeared. No one knows who exactly invented the stripes, but
Christmas cards prior to the year 1900 showed only all-white candy canes.
Christmas cards after 1900 showed illustrations of striped candy canes. Around
the same time, candy-makers added peppermint and wintergreen flavors to their
candy canes and those flavors then became the traditional favorites.
Sweet Secrets of the
Candy Cane
There are many other legends and beliefs surrounding the
humble candy cane. Many of them depict the candy cane as a secret symbol for
Christianity used during the times when Christian were living under more
oppressive circumstances. It was said that the cane was shaped like a
"J" for Jesus. The red-and-white stripes represented Christ's blood
and purity. The three red stripes symbolized the Holy Trinity. The hardness of
the candy represented the Church's foundation on solid rock and the peppermint
flavor represented the use of hyssop, an herb referred to in the Old Testament.
There is no historical evidence to support these claims, quite the contrary,
but they are lovely thoughts.
A recipe for straight peppermint candy sticks, white with
colored stripes, was published in 1844. The candy cane has been mentioned in
literature since 1866, was first mentioned in association with Christmas in
1874, and as early as 1882 was hung on Christmas trees. Chicago confectioners
the Bunte Brothers filed the earliest patents for candy cane making machines in
the early 1920s.
