Is the Candy Cane a Religious Symbol?

Q: Last year I went into a restaurant during Christmastime, and on a wall next to the Christmas tree was a story written about the candy cane's red and white stripes. To the best of my memory, I think I read something about the red signifying the blood of Christ and the white signifying the tears of Mary. Can you provide a story about the candy cane and its colors?

A: In "surfing the Net," the Wise Man's assistant found two versions of the candy cane's origin.

According to one legend, the choirmaster of the Cologne Cathedral gave his young singers sugar sticks in 1670 to keep them quiet during a long creche ceremony. He bent them in the shape of shepherds' crooks.

The same source says that in 1847 a German-Swedish immigrant named August Imgard decorated a small tree in Wooster, Ohio, with candy canes.

Another Web site explains that an Indiana candymaker wanted to make a Christmas witness. He began with a stick of pure white hard candy to symbolize the virgin birth and sinless character of Jesus. Hard candy symbolized the Church's rock foundation. Upright, the staff-like shape represented Jesus the Good Shepherd. Upside down, the cane became the letter J for "Jesus."

The candymaker added one broad red stripe and three narrow ones. The broad stripe calls to mind the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross. The narrow ones represent the stripes of his scourging.

Peppermint, like hyssop, belongs to the mint family. It reminds us of the hyssop used in the Old Testament for purification and sacrifice.

Still another Web site attributes the present-day candy cane to one Bob McCormick in the 1920's.