Christmas has many distinctive symbols, and one of the most iconic is the classic red and white striped candy cane, universally known as a candy cane. It's primarily a candy, but the shape has become so symbolic that it's used for everything, not just sweets (for example, candy cane-shaped cookies are famous), but also ornaments to hang on the tree or as prints to apply to Christmas sweaters. Candy canes are a true emblem of the holiday season, but how did a simple candy transform into the quintessential Christmas decoration on a global scale? Their history is older than you might imagine, dating back to 1670, intertwined with German folklore and a legend linked to the city of Cologne. For candy canes as we know them, however, we need to thank ourselves, the USA, where candy canes first took on almost mystical symbolic meanings, then became a commercial product and, finally, became one of the symbols of our Christmas.
Join us on a journey to discover the origins of candy canes, to discover how this simple candy has become the bearer of a variety of meanings and symbolism, evolved and layered over time to reflect the different cultures and the various religious and cultural interpretations that have been intertwined with its history.
The Legend of The Birth of Candy Canes
Tracing the exact moment candy canes were officially invented is extremely difficult, but from various historical accounts it is fairly certain that they were already widespread throughout Europe by the 16th century. Supporting this theory is a legend, which even offers a very specific date: 1670. German popular folklore tells that, at Christmas that year, the choirmaster of the enchanting Cologne Cathedral was having trouble keeping the children quiet during religious services. How could he distract them and get them to remain silent? The choirmaster asked a friend who made candied sweets for help, and together they invented something simple yet ingenious: candy canes that the children could eat during mass, thus keeping them busy and not disturbing them during the celebration.
According to legend, many of the faithful rebelled: how could it be considered Christian to offer sweets and ignore the Lord's words? The choir director, once again, used his cunning and invented an explanation that would keep parents and faithful happy: unable to directly state that the children were, to say the least, annoying, he said that the cane shape was meant to remind the little ones of the shepherds' visit to the cave where Baby Jesus was born, and that the white color of the candy cane was meant to represent the innocence and purity of the Savior's life.
There is no objective evidence regarding the director's story, although it is not difficult to imagine it as real, but it is certain that these candy canes appeared in the 17th century and indeed became very fashionable: this is confirmed by Susan Benjamin, founder of True Treats Historic Candy, a candy shop in West Virginia where you can find all the sweets made up to the mid-20th century. Benjamin is also the author of the book "Sweet as Sin: The Unwrapped Story of How Candy Became America's Pleasure", in which she states that candy canes were born in this era as an evolution of a new and much-loved product, puffed sugar.
This story also gave rise to a whole current of religious symbolism surrounding candy canes: the Christian religion, in fact, has seen in this candy much more than a simple sweet, supported by the explanation given by the choir director. According to this interpretation, the "J" shape of the candy cane represents Jesus Christ, both because upside down it would be the initial of the English name Jesus, and because it resembles the shape of a shepherd's crook, echoing the figure of Christ as the "good shepherd." Furthermore, the choice of colors —white and later red—has been the subject of various symbolic interpretations, according to which white traditionally represents purity and grace, while red has been associated with the blood of Christ, symbolizing sacrifice and salvation.
The Story of How the Candy Cane Was Born
The modern candy cane developed a few centuries later on the other side of the ocean, in the United States of America. The first official documentation, however, dates back to 1837, when exhibitors from the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association in Boston offered the first boxes of candy canes on their stalls in one of the earliest recorded culinary competitions. This sweet treat was likely brought to the New World by the colonists, like many other delicacies that later became typically American.
Sales went poorly and candy canes were almost completely unsuccessful: it seems that at the time they were just sticks of white sugar, without the rounded top and without the red streaks. Another very important date is 1844 because the first candy cane recipe appears in the cookbook "The Complete Confectioner, Pastry-Cook, and Baker", but only three years later this trend exploded in the United States. In 1847, in Wooster, Ohio, the half-German, half-Swedish immigrant August Imgard hung candy canes on his Christmas tree, sending the resulting typical American Christmas card. The idea was a huge hit with all his friends and relatives, who jumped at the chance and began decorating their trees with candy canes, spreading this particular custom.
We had to wait another two hundred years or so for candy canes to have the characteristic shape and colors we know today: despite the proverbial Americans' business acumen, for a long time no one thought to industrialize the process, and so these candies were made by hand. Everything changed after the First World War, thanks to two Chicago confectioners, who filed the first patents for machines designed to produce candy canes. Virtually simultaneously, in the 1920s, Robert McCormack burst onto the scene in Albany, Georgia: he had a candy company, the Famous Candy Company, which later became Bobs Candies, and he began investing in candy canes.
He was the first to associate candy canes with the Christmas season, giving handmade sticks to friends and family. It wasn't until the 1950s that his brother-in-law, Gregory Keller, designed an automatic production machine. The problem with early production was that there was no real machinery to shape the sticks, which often lost shape when bent, resulting in a loss of about 20% of the product. After years of refinement, study, and experimentation, Gregory patented the Keller Machine, a machine capable of automating the process of twisting the soft candies into spiral strips and cutting them into precise lengths. The Keller Machine revolutionized the business and created a new industry: the commercial production of candy canes, which during this period also saw the addition of the iconic red stripes and the unmistakable peppermint flavor.
Thus, the little candy given to children to keep them quiet on a cold Christmas night hundreds of years ago has become a universal symbol of Christmas, coming to represent the joy and festivity, hospitality and sharing that are at the heart of Christmas celebrations. Not only that: candy canes also bear witness to the innovation and adaptation over time of a recipe that today boasts dozens of variations.
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