The Christmas Candy Cane is originally from Germany about two and a half centuries ago. They began as white,straight sticks of sugar.
A tale goes that in 1670, a choirmaster was afraid about the children seated quietly all through the elongated Christmas delivery service. So he provided them with something to eat to keep them mum. As he wanted to prod them of Christmas, he moulded them into a 'J' shape like a shepherd’s crook, to make them remember the shepherds that came to visit the baby Jesus at the first Christmas. However, the very early records of 'candy canes' comes from over two centuries later, so the story is probably false, despite being quite nice.
Sometime around 1900 or the 20th century, the red stripes were combined and they were flavoured with wintergreen or peppermint.
At times, many different Christian meanings are provided to the parts of the canes. The 'J' can also denote Jesus. The white of the cane can symbolize the cleanliness of Jesus Christ while the red stripes are for the blood he sacrificed when he perished on the cross. The peppermint flavor might denote the hyssop plant that was utilized for purifying, as mentioned in the Bible.
Bob McCormack, from Georgia, USA, around 1920, started manufacturing canes for his family and friends. They became increasingly famous and he started his own start-up and named it Bob's Candies. Gregory Harding Keller, Bob McCormack's brother-in-law, who was a Catholic priest, created the Keller Machine that automatically turned straight candy sticks into curved candy canes. Bob's Candies was bought by Farley and Sather’s in 2005 but they still manufacture candy canes.