Saturday, 19 December 2020 05:33 pm
Candy Canes
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deckardcanineDid 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?
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?