Candy canes
Today’s mug is an interesting shape and features images associated with Christmas festivities. I’m familiar with all of them, though the candy canes were not something associated with Christmas when my children were growing up. I have noticed them increasingly in recent years and they now seem to be an established part of Christmas décor in UK.
A legendary explanation for the origin of candy canes comes from Germany. It claims that in 1670 a harassed choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral was seeking a way of keeping his high-spirited choirboys quiet during Mass on Christmas Eve. He asked a local confectioner to make some sugar sticks that he could give the boys. In order for the sweets to be acceptable in a religious setting, he asked the confectioner to bend the tops of the sticks so that they resembled shepherd’s crooks, which would remind the children of the shepherds involved in the Nativity.
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
There is no way to prove the truth of this story, but references to it were not made until the middle of the twentieth century. The tradition of candy canes spread from Germany to other European countries and eventually to the United States. The first recorded use of candy canes in the States came in 1847, when a European immigrant in Ohio decorated a small tree with canes.
For two hundred years, candy canes were white. Coloured stripes were not introduced until the beginning of the twentieth century. Traditionally, candy canes are red and white, and flavoured with peppermint, but today they can be found in assorted colour combinations and tastes.
Peppermint is a natural deterrent to animals. It is thought that peppermint canes were hung on Christmas trees to discourage rodents and other small animals from damaging them.
I heard that candy canes were introduced by a headmaster at Eton who was rather too keen on caning the lads' backsides. Then he fell in love with the school matron and she softened his heart to a point where he admitted to himself that he had been a cruel tyrant. It was her idea that he should make amends by giving out sticks of rock before Christmas. Unluckily he left them by the furnace and the tops bent over creating the cane shape. It was a reminder of his past sadism and he gave out sweet canes until he reached retirement age.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I made this story up!
I love the mug! I didn't grow up with candy canes being on trees, but my husband and my children did. I think it's sort of like the chocolate coins that I grew up putting on the tree and the chocolate ornaments. They aren't really a thing here. My children grew up with that too!
ReplyDeleteI Love that mug! Before we moved here we rented a huge house in town that had a bit of an ant problem I remember sitting looking at the christmas tree one evening, thinking it was moving ...& what was happening was the candy canes my children had hung on it were crawling with ants, some inside the plastic, some trying to get in!!! Not a fun sight at all.
ReplyDelete