History of the Candy Cane
Others purport that the bent shape of the candy cane represents Jesus in addition to a shepherd’s crook. Candy canes are typically displayed with the bend on top but if you turn the cane upside down (and point the hook to the left) you get the letter “J”! Genius! There is no real account of who might have instigated using the candy cane to symbolize Jesus, but there are many theories on why the linkage fits. The first, as already stated, is because the cane forms the first letter of Jesus’ name. Secondly, the hardness of the candy is said to remind us that Jesus is “our rock of refuge”, or that Jesus comes from the rock laden landscape of Israel, or that the Church was founded on solid rock, or any other rock-Jesus correlation that might come to mind.
The third hypothesis for tying the confection to Jesus addresses the duplicity of the cane as both a crook and a letter of the alphabet. It goes like this – Jesus was the newborn “Lamb of God”, the first to hear of the birth were the shepherds, Jesus came to call himself the “Good Shepherd” for the way in which his actions were akin to searching for lost sheep to care for. So you see, the shapes are intertwined! Both can be said to represent Jesus/shepherds.
The addition of stripes to the canes is equally mysterious. Prior to 1900, candy canes where pure white in color and sugar flavored. Some time after the turn of the century candy canes began to appear with red stripes. Christmas cards after 1900 show illustrations of candy canes with stripes, while pictures before that time show them as white only. About the same time as the stripes were added, candy makers added peppermint and wintergreen flavors to the candy as well.
As with the reason for the hook shape of the candy cane, there are Christian related hypotheses as to the meaning of the strips and mint flavors. The red and white of the candy are said to respectively represent Christ’s blood and purity. Most “traditional” candy canes have three small stripes close together in addition to one large strip. Some like to refer to the three small stripes as representing the Holy Trinity, with the large strip standing for one God. And if you are looking for a Christian clue as to why the candy is mint flavored, look to the Old Testament. Here it states the herb hyssop, said to have a peppermint flavor, was used for purification and sacrifice.
