Origin of the Candy Cane

"Legend has it that in 1670, the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany handed out sugar sticks among his young singers to keep them quiet during the long Living Creche ceremony. In honor of the occasion, he had the candies bent into shepherds' crooks. The treat proved popular with the children and other choirmasters and church officials began having them on hand to keep restless children occupied during church services.


The first historical reference to the candy cane being in America goes back to 1847, when a German immigrant named August Imgard decorated the Christmas tree in his Wooster, Ohio home with candy canes.

About fifty years later the first red-and-white striped candy canes appeared. No one knows who exactly invented the stripes, but Christmas cards prior to the year 1900 showed only all-white candy canes. Christmas card s after 1900 showed illustrations of striped candy canes. Around the same time, candy-makers started to add peppermint and wintergreen flavors to their candy canes and those flavors then became the traditional favorites.

Bob McCormack of Bob s Candy began making candy canes in the 1920's as special Christmas treats for his family, friends and local shopkeepers in Albany, Georgia. It was a labor intensive process as the shaping and bending of the candy canes had to done by hand so production was limited.In the 1950's Bob's brother-in-law, Gregory Keller, a Catholic priest, invented a machine that automated the process and could make hundreds of candy canes at a time. The next generation of McCormacks developed packaging innovations that made it possible to ship the delicate candy and the popularity of the holiday treat grew worldwide."

Yum!