The Marvelous Candy Cane

Christmas brings miracles in many forms

Moments of joy and laughter shared

Traditions we embrace as part of

The magic woven into this holiday

But have we ever paused to wonder

Where some of these customs began?

Could you believe

The candy cane dates back over 350 years?

When confectioners first crafted

Simple sugar sticks, hard as glass

They bore no color, no patterns—

Only pure white and straight as a line

Let us take a journey into the past

To the 17th century,

Where European Christians adorned

Their evergreen trees—

Soon to be called Christmas trees—

With humble, natural ornaments:

Cookies and plain sugar sticks

In 1670, a choirmaster in Cologne, Germany

Had an ingenious idea

He bent the sticks to resemble

A shepherd’s crook

And these crooks were given to children

To keep them still

During nativity services

This custom spread far and wide

From Europe to America

Though the candy canes remained pure white

Some were adorned with sugar roses for flair

In 1847, a German immigrant,

August Imgard,

In Wooster, Ohio,

Decorated his Christmas tree

With an array of candy canes

Not until 50 years later

Did the world witness

The candy cane evolve—

Striped in red and white

Perhaps it was Santa’s magical touch

That made them so festive

The creator, however, remains unknown

After 1900, striped candy canes

Began appearing on Christmas cards

And confectioners enhanced their charm

With peppermint and wintergreen flavors

Many legends and beliefs surround

The story of the candy cane

Some say it was a hidden Christian symbol

Shaped like a “J”

To honor Jesus’ name

The stripes—red for His sacrifice,

White for His purity—

And the three red lines

Signifying the Holy Trinity

Its firmness likened to a foundation,

A fortress for the Church

The peppermint hints at hyssop,

An herb of biblical times

While historical proof is absent,

The ideas are enchanting

So, the next time you hold a candy cane

Dream of Christmas wonders

Lick its sweet flavor

And remember—

Thanks to Gregory Keller,

A Catholic priest,

Who invented a machine

To make candy canes aplenty

We can savor this delightful treat

And keep its story alive