Gibby

Hard candy had its beginnings in ancient India where sugarcane was abundant. Originally the stalks were chewed for their sweetness, but soon it was discovered that the juice could be boiled down into solid pieces that were called khanda, the origin of the word “candy.”

Unsurprisingly, sugar grew in popularity over the centuries, and by the 1500’s the candy industry was born. Fast forward to 1670, where legend has it that a choirmaster in Germany handed out sugar sticks to his young singers, to keep them quiet during the Christmas service. He shaped them into shepherd’s crooks in honor of the occasion - and so invented the first candy canes.

Soon associated with the Yuletide season, the treats were originally made only in solid white. No one knows who first gave candy canes their familiar red stripes and peppermint flavoring, but in 1900 they appeared and have remained a sweet holiday tradition ever since.