Today in church, each person received a candy cane with a note tied to it. The note talked about the origin of the candy cane. It told how the colors were made to represent Christ’s purity and His shed blood, and the “J” shape is for Jesus and His shepherd’s staff.

I had never heard this and wanted to see if it is true or not. According to the internet, there seems to be debate as to whether this is urban legend or truth. Below are two viewpoints, one from each side. The first is from essortment.com and the second is from snopes.com. Finally, I’ll finish with my conclusion.

Viewpoint 1

In 1670 during the Living Creche ceremony at the Cologne Cathedral, the choir director handed out these sugar sticks to keep the young singers quiet. Legend has it that he bent the sticks to appear as shepherd’s hooks. The original candy cane was white in color, no stripes! Both amateur and professionals began making canes over 350 years ago.

During the seventeenth century people began to include special decorations on their Christmas trees. These decorations would be cookies, candy, or sugar candy. At this time, Christmas trees were beginning to gain popularity. It did not take long before people were using the candy canes as an ornament on their special Christmas tree. It seemed the candy canes left the pews and became a valued ornament in many homes around the world.

Soon the red and white stripes tasted like peppermint. In Atlanta, Georgia, a man by the name of Bob McCormack got the idea of making these candy canes as special treats for his relatives, friends, and other shopkeepers. Since the process of making the canes entailed so much labor, he was only able to do this locally. And then it happened! Bob’s brother, Gregory Keller, knew there had to be an easier way to make the candy canes. Gregory invented a machine to produce the canes at a much faster pace. Therefore, Bob’s Candies has become the largest producer of candy canes in the world.

Have you pondered the shape of the candy cane? Legend states the beginnings of the candy cane are Christian. The shape resembles a shepherd’s crook. It has also been found that the candy cane was given to children who learned their prayers. The shape of the candy cane, like a ‘J’, signifies Jesus. Since the church was founded on a solid rock, this is related to the hardness of the candy. Hyssop, a cleansing plant mentioned in the Old Testament, has a peppermint flavor. Christ’s blood and His purity are represented by the red and white stripes.

If you take a good look at a candy cane, you will notice the different size of the red stripe. The blood that was shed on the cross is represented by the wide red stripe. The stripes and wounds that he received are symbolized by the smaller red stripes. The sinlessness and purity is represented by the white stripes.

Bob’s Candy of Georgia has been in business for over 80 years making candy canes. Of course, today the process of making this tasty treat has changed over time. A railcar is delivered to Bob’s Candy in which the sugar and corn syrup are already blended. This blend is put in cookers that cook the mixture at the rate of 6,000 pounds per hour. The syrup is poured out 100 pounds per hour to be worked. The next step is to pour the syrup onto a ‘rock’, which is a water-cooled table. The ‘rock’ is the same as a marble slab. Once the syrup is slightly cooled, it is put in a pulling machine. This part of the process is what makes the candy silky white. The machine puffs air into the candy, which is the reason for the silky white color. Now, here comes the fun part. A pre-measured vial of pure peppermint oil is poured into the batch.

A small batch of unsullied candy is mixed with red coloring by kneading. As you may guess, this is what forms the pinstripes. Long thin stripes are made from this mixture. These thin stripes are placed on thin strips of white candy that is six-inches wide. Two sets of pinstripes and two wide solid stripes are placed on a candy that has been formed in a bolster shape. As the candy goes through the spinner, it is waxed. Once the candy has been lifted into a batch roller, someone has to watch closely. The batch roller maintains the shape of the candy. The candy is taken to the wrap-pack room where it is twisted, cut and wrapped.

After the candy has been twisted, cut, and wrapped it resembles a candy rope. The candy rope is dropped into a blender, which makes the candy have crooks. The candy proceeds to the air-cooled convey or tunnels. Then they are ready to be packed into cradle packs. These trays are stored in climate-controlled warehouses until the Christmas season begins.

Viewpoint 2

Claim: Candy canes were created to symbolize Jesus, their shape representing the letter “J” and their colors standing for the purity and blood of Christ.
Status: False.
Example: A candymaker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness, so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols from the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ. He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church, and firmness of the promises of God. The candymaker made the candy in the form of a “J” to represent the precious
name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. It could also represent the staff of the “Good Shepherd” with which He reaches down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all sheep, have gone astray. Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candymaker stained it with red stripes. He used three small stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed. The large red stripe was for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life. Unfortunately, the candy became known as a Candy Cane — a meaningless decoration seen at Christmas time. But the meaning is still there for those who “have eyes to see and ears to hear.” Every time you see a Candy Cane, remember the Wonder of Jesus and His Great Love that came down at Christmas, and that His Love remains the ultimate and dominant force in the universe today.

Variations: Candy canes are also said to have been created: As a sweet treat for children who behaved well in church. As a form of identification among Christians during a time of persecution.
Origins: The red-and-white-striped, sugary candy cane can be found everywhere at Christmas time. It’s as much an ornament as it is a confection, and people munch these treats and decorate with them, scarcely giving a thought to just where candy canes came from in the first place. It has become fashionable of late to claim that the candy cane was not only designed to be fraught with Christian religious symbolism, but that it was created as a means by which
persecuted Christians could furtively identify each other.

Like the apocryphal tale of the “true” meaning of the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” these claims are fiction — latter day attempts to infuse secular holiday traditions with specifically religious origins and meanings. First off, the notion that candy canes could have been used as a secret means of identification by persecuted European Christians is directly contradicted by history. Candy canes didn’t appear until at least the latter part of the 17th century, by which time Europe was almost entirely Christian. By then, people who were not Christians would have been the ones in need of this form of “secret handshake”!

Next, candy canes were most assuredly not created by “a candymaker in Indiana” who “stained them with red stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received.” Candy
canes were around long before there was an Indiana, and they initially bore neither red coloration nor striping — the red stripes were a feature that did not appear until a few
hundred years later, at the beginning of the 20th century:

“About 1847, August Imgard of Ohio managed to decorate his Christmas tree with candy canes to entertain his nephews and nieces. Many who saw his canes went home to boil sugar and experiment with canes of their own. It took nearly another half century before someone added stripes to the canes . . . Christmas cards produced before 1900 show plain white canes, while striped ones appear on many cards printed early in the 20th century.”

In fact, the strongest connection one can make between the origins of the candy cane and intentional Christian symbolism is to note that legend says someone took an existing form of candy which was already being used as a Christmas decoration (i.e., straight white sticks of sugar candy) and produced bent versions which represented a shepherd’s crook and were handed out to children at church to ensure their good behavior:

“Soon after Europeans adopted the use of Christmas trees, they began making special decorations for them. Food items predominated, with cookies and candy heavily represented. That is when straight, white sticks of sugar candy came into use at Christmas, probably during the seventeenth century.
Tradition has it that some of these candies were put to use in Cologne Cathedral about 1670 while restless youngsters were attending ceremonies around the living creche. To
keep them quiet, the choirmaster persuaded craftsmen to make sticks of candy bent at the end to represent shepherds’ crooks, then he passed them out to boys and girls who came to the cathedral.”

Claims made about the candy’s religious symbolism have become increasingly widespread as religious leaders have assured their congregations that these mythologies are factual, the press have published these claims as authoritative answers to readers’ inquiries about the
confection’s meaning, and several lavishly illustrated books purport to tell the “true story” of the candy cane’s origins. This is charming folklore at best, and though there’s nothing
wrong with finding (and celebrating) symbolism where there wasn’t any before, the story of the candy cane’s origins is, like Santa Claus, a myth and not a “true story.”

Least important: My conclusion

I think the last paragraph of viewpoint two hits the nail on the head. The origins of the candy cane may be different depending on who you talk to. No one may be all correct on their candy cane history. I’m sure there is some truth to all sides of the issue. Ultimately, does it really matter? Yes, and no.

If Christians want to remember Christ’s sacrifice and purity when they look at a candy cane, then great! If we want to see his staff when we look at the “J” of a cane, then that is a good thing. We as Christ followers always need reminders of God in our lives.

I think we only invite trouble on ourselves from outsiders and “preChristians” looking in on us from the outside if we push too hard for the origin of the candy cane to fit in our “mold.” I want to be a true follower of Jesus and I want to honor Him, but only in Truth. I lose credibility with others if I stretch a story to fit an agenda.

When talking to someone about the candy cane, maybe what I’ll say is that the colors remind me of His sacrifice for me and His staff as He guides me. To go farther to say that the design of the cane was made because of Jesus, may not be fully truthful. What do you think?

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