Recently, I found a candy cane Scotch-taped to a bit of religious propaganda on the front porch of my Durango home. The message suggested that candy canes are linked to Jesus Christ and that I should attend the Christmas mass of a local sector on the North end of town. I was compelled to do some research on the matter, and I learned that the origins of candy canes go back to the 1670's when European-Christians began decorating their Christmas trees with foods as part of their Christmas celebration. They mostly used sweets like cookies and hard candies. History says that the choirmaster at a Cathedral in Germany gave candy canes to the children of the congregation in order to ensure their good behavior during long-winded church services. Eventually, this custom spread throughout Europe and then to America around 1847, when the German immigrant, August Imgard, decorated his Christmas tree with candy canes in Wooster, Ohio as a form of entertainment for his nieces and nephews. Friends and neighbors thought this was a grand idea, and they began doing the same until it soon became a tradition. Candy-makers added peppermint and wintergreen flavored stripes to their candy canes around 1900, and those flavors, too, became tradition.

There are many legends surrounding the candy cane. Some suggest that the candy cane is a secret symbol for Christianity. They say that the red-and-white stripes represent Christ's blood, purity, and the Holy Trinity. However, there is no historical evidence to support these claims. While it is unclear who invented stripes on candy canes, history shows that illustrations of candy canes appearing on Christmas cards before the year 1900 were all white, and Christmas cards after 1900 began to feature stripes on the candy. This indicates that stripes came about some 230 years after the candy cane's introduction, and makes it unlikely that their presence should have any significance or purpose other than for quality of flavor and marketing.

Another belief is that the aforementioned choirmaster from Germany persuaded candy makers to bend the sticks of candy at the end to symbolize a shepherd's crook. A more logical explanation may be that candy makers designed the hooks so that the candy sticks would hang securely on the wavering branches of the evergreen, and that any resemblance to a shepherd's crook will continue to be an afterthought in the imagination of thousands of six-year-old children and for significance starved religious fanatics (alike) for years to come.

Legend continues to suggest that candy canes are "J" shaped because of some spiritual tribute to Jesus. This is charming folklore at best. I find it difficult to imagine the Christian ancestors referring to Jesus as "JC" or the "J Man". In fact, only recently did Americans begin abbreviating our language with terms such as "MGD", "KFC", or did "MJ" sell burgers for "Mickey D's". Historical accounts support that, prior to the 1900's; it was in vogue to communicate with full colorful use of language as a means to express one's self or perhaps even to secure social status or to flaunt one's social superiority. It seems likely that it may just as well have been August Imgard's niece or nephew back in Wooster, or nearly any other six-year-old learning to read since that time, that may have turned a candy cane upside-down and said, "Look Mom, "J" is for Jesus." Praise the Lord.

Claims made about religious symbolisms and candy canes have become more and more common as religious leaders continue to assure their congregations that these mythologies are true. Moreover, I agree, that while there is no law that prohibits creating and celebrating religious representation where there once was none, these stories of the candy cane's origins are still, like the common day exaggeration of Santa Claus, simply myth.