‘Tis the season for this Christmas candy favorite. Take one look at Candy Addict, and you can see wildly different incarnations of candy canes: in Hershey’s Kisses, in Tootsie Pops, in Pop Rocks, and even as Christmas tree waterers. Even though they’re available in many other flavors, the classic, nostalgic candy cane will always be made of peppermint.
We eat these every season, but have you ever wondered where the candy came from? The Candy Cane Urban Legends Reference Page at snopes.com clears up a few myths about the candy cane. Candy canes were apparently already in existence as a Christmas treat by the late 17th century. Popular tradition holds that the shape is meant to represent a shepherd’s crook. According to an article from The Quad-City Times, candy canes started to show up in the U.S. in the early 20th century. The world’s longest handmade candy cane was made by Paul Ghinelli of Leslie, MI. His cane was 58 feet and 2 1/4 inches!
Peppermint is a special flavor, traditionally linked to the winter season. It’s cool and comforting, and a perfect compliment to hot drinks like cocoa and coffee. And one final fact: the average 5-inch candy cane contains 50 calories and no fat or cholesterol! So eat up! At least it will keep your breath nice and minty for that special meeting underneath the mistletoe.
Wow! Some great facts there. I was working on a candy-related quiz for my site when I stumbled across your blog – saved me a lot of research thanks! (just my sort of site too – everything to make me peckish!)
March 30th, 2007 at 9:59 amThis is a good website. I have a report on candy canes and I used this site a lot. It halped me understand so much mor information. I would like to thank the person who created this website. Thank you!!
October 27th, 2007 at 4:14 pmthis is very interesting. i hope rebecca did good on her essay because she has 2 errors in her comment! =)
April 27th, 2008 at 9:48 pm