Everyone knows that Christmas is coming in about 9 Days, so, up until the end of December only, I'll be doing Christmas ones!
Todays is about the History of the Candy-Cane, Enjoy!
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The Beginning of 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.
In the seventeenth Century, the european-christians had started putting up Christmas Tree's as a new tradition. They started putting cookies and sugar-stick candy, for an example, on the Tree's for decorations. The first historical reference to when Candy-canes got their cane shape was in 1670. The choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany, bent the sugar-sticks into canes to represent a shepherd's staff. They remained white, and were given out to the children in the long-winded nativity services.
The Start of the Stripes
The clergymen's custom of handing out Candy-canes during Christmas services spread throughout Europe and later to America. The canes remained white, but the Candy-Makers would sometimes add a sugar rose for more decoration. The first historical reference to there being Candy Canes in America goes back to 1847 when a German immagrant named Agust Imgard decorated his Christmas Tree in Wooster, in Ohia, with Candy-Canes.
After about 50 years, the first red-and-white striped Candy-canes appeared. No one knows who exactly invented the red and white 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, which probably looked much better. Around the same time, candy-makers added peppermint and wintergreen flavours to their candy canes and those flavours then became the traditional favourites.
Other Candy-cane beliefs
(Photo of your average Candy-cane. Which one do you like better? White and straight? Or colourful and caned?)
(Photo of your average Candy-cane. Which one do you like better? White and straight? Or colourful and caned?)
There are many other legends and beliefs surrounding the tasty Candy-cane. Many of them depict the Candy-cane as a secret symbol for Christianity used during the times when Christians were living under more hard circumstances. It was said that the Candy-cane is shaped like a ‘J’ for the ‘J’ in Jesus. (It only looks like a cane though when you turn the ‘J’ around.) 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 flavour shows the use of hyssop, an herb referred to in the Old Testament, or Bible as it’s more known to be called now. There is no historical evidence to support these claims, on the contrary, they're lovely thoughts.
