Cologne Choirmaster Creates Candy Cane

In 1670, a Cologne, Germany choirmaster had trouble keeping his choir members quiet during the living creche ceremony each Christmas.  So he handed out white peppermint sticks with a crook in them called "candy canes" to keep the children silent.

In 1847, a German immigrant from Wooster, Ohio decorated his Christmas tree with candy canes.

In the late 1800's, an Indiana candy maker started to make the bent white sticks.  Some say they are shaped like a shepherd's staff to remind us of the shepherds who visited baby Jesus.  Others say that the bent shape represents the letter J for Jesus.  After 1900, Christmas cards depicted a candy cane with three small stripes to represent the blood that Jesus shed for us on the cross.  The number three represented the Holy Trinity.

Today, 1.76 billion candy canes are made each year.  December 26 is National Candy Cane day in the United States.

Image courtesy myhsj.org.