Candy Canes

[deckardcanine]

Did you ever wonder why peppermint candies
For Christmas are shaped just like canes?
We don’t have a definite answer today,
But a popular legend maintains

A 17th-century choir in Cologne
Was producing a surfeit of noise,
So the master bought sugar sticks, then all the rage,
To appease the more boisterous boys.

The board thought the sweets were unfit for a church,
So he added a hook at the end.
It looked like a staff for a shepherd as seen
In the crèche, as he’d surely intend.

It’s also been thought that the cane is a J
As in Jesus, but scholars cast doubt.
Saint Nicholas Day has the cane as the staff
Of the saint (who was not all that stout).

Whatever the reason the practice began,
There’s a simple appeal to the candy:
The shape makes it easy to hang from a tree
And remove for a snack; ain’t that handy?