Legend Of The Candy Cane
The legend of the candy cane tells the story of a candy maker from Indiana. He incorporated symbols of Jesus in the cane. The white stands for the virgin birth of Jesus, and his purity. The red stripes recall the blood he shed for us, and his scourging at the pillar. And the candy is made in the form of a letter J for Jesus. Or, depending on what version you read, the shape was supposed to represent a shepherd's hook. Or the staff of Jesus, who is the shepherd of all Christians.
Another version of the legend of the candy cane states that it was created as a way for persecuted Christians to secretly communicate with each other. In fact, candy canes did not appear until the last part of the seventeenth century, and during that time, Europe was almost all Christian.
The legend of the candy cane has been debunked by snopes.com, as a falsehood. This is a site where you can check almost any myth, and find out whether it is true or false. Snopes.com bases its findings on the inconsistencies of the legend. For example, the candy cane in the myth was created by a man in Indiana, but candy canes existed well before there was an Indiana. And the red stripes were not added to candy canes until the beginning of the twentieth century.
Many Christian publications perpetuate the myth of the legend of the candy cane as if it was the gospel truth, even though many facts contradict the stories that they print.
A third version of the legend of the candy cane says that the candy was used on Christmas trees in churches, where the candy was handed out to children who were good in church.
The possible actual introduction of the bent end of candy canes comes from around the year 1670, when a choirmaster in the Cologne Cathedral pulled candy “canes” off their tree to help keep his young charges quiet during a long celebration.
So there are many stories about how candy canes came to be. Some are mystical, some not so much so. But these are just more stories to tell to the children this time of year, After all, Santa Claus isn't real, either, and he's an important part of the non-religious aspect of the holiday.
The legend of the candy cane appears in volumes of Christmas stories published for Christian readers. It's an enjoyable way to spin a yarn for Christian children, and it doesn't really hurt anyone, even if the stories facts cannot be verified by any of the existing history of their times. Christmas is a magical season, and this is a magical tale.