SPECIAL FEATURE

Top 25 reasons of 2002 given for the origins of the candy cane by students eating at C-side Marketplace

Question:
Why do you think the original candy cane was made red & white and was in the shape of a candy cane?

25
Handicapped people like the barber!

3 Psi Class sisters

24
The candy is in the shape of a cane so it could be hung on a tree.

Andy Lee
Scott Sinclair

23
It was a shape of a cane because it was supposed to be a staff!

Kelly Tuite

22
Red and white are festive and pretty colors.

Dana Delucca

21
It is because the North Pole has red and white stripes!

Jennifer Booth

20
It was probably cane shaped by a barber with walking disorder!

(Dan Cielecy)

19
When they make them, they have to dry them so they make a hook to hang it!

(Sara Byers)

18
Red and white stripes are bright and make you happy and Christmas is a time to be happy!

(Chad White)

17
Santa wore red and white! He is old and fat and needed a cane to walk!

(Ryan P & Lauren Paoletti)
(Joe Lloyd)
(Dan and Rob Kornosky)

16
It was for a shepherd’s staff. Red and white are Christmas colors!

(Meghan and Kate)

15
Barbers loved candy and the majority of barbers were crippled so they made a cane that was candy and was red and white striped like the barber shop thing. You know, the thing that is striped and spins.

(Charelle C. Meyer)

14
Because a barber wanted to give his customers a treat, so he made it the same colors as the pole on the outside of his barber shop.

(Steve Zuchelli)

13
Red, white, and green are Christmas colors. They are hooked so you can put them on the tree. If they were red, white, and green, green would have blended in, so they just made it red and white.

(Karen Ricco)

12
Red and white for Santa Claus outfit! It is in the shape of a cane to pull someone off of a stage when they are terrible in a Christmas play.

(Rachel Muzika)

11
While applying a coat of paint Ducati the painter slipped and spilled the red paint on a section of the exhaust that was in the shape of a cane.

(Kate Gundlach)

10
It was because of Santa Claus. He has canes in front of His house. I was there. We had tea!

(Daniel Ra)

9
Red & White because back then there was no green dye to make the proper Christmas colors. It is in the shape of a cane to symbolize Jesus and Him being a Shepherd. The cane is like a Shepherd’s cane.

(Kevin Leary & Greg Koteen)

8
Shepherds cane and three stripes for Trinity.

(Kendra Rideout)

7
It was originally designed as a staff when turned upside for the Good Shepherd. The red stripes are for the blood of Christ shed. The white stripes are for purity of Christ!

(Adrianne Gunter)
(Jen Friedel)

6
For a Shepherd’s staff! Red is for blood spilled and for white is for the purity of God!

(Crystal Lotier)
(Eric Dutchess)

5
Candy cane was shaped as a shepherd’s staff which symbolizes Jesus Christ. The red stripes represent His blood when He died on the cross. The white stripes symbolize the purity of Jesus. It became a Christmas symbol ‘cuz  it reminds everyone of Jesus who was born that day and saved us.

(Doreen Santos)

4
The cane represented the iron rod which the Communists used to suppress their people—consequently the red and white are representative of their Marxist beliefs.

(Amanda Christian)

3
To commemorate a war that happened in the winter.
White = Snow,
Red = Blood,
Cane Shaped = For the injured in the war who had to use canes

(Jamie Harclerode & Ashley Garcasz)

2
Red is for the love that exists at this time.
Hearts are red.
White is for the beauty of the snow.
Cane is so people do not slip on ice!


(Lauren Dmitsak & Kristen Rosati)

1
There was this elderly man who owned a candy factory and loved his grandchildren so dearly that he wanted them to know about his love for the Lord Jesus Christ. Since they were children, he had to think of a way to present the Gospel to them. What better way than create candy in the shape of a cane he thought to himself. Later he decided to put red & white stripes on it with 3 tiny little stripes going through it. Now when his grandchildren came for candy, he had a way to also present the Gospel. He would tell them the shape of the candy was in the shape of a cane to represent the letter “J” to stand for Jesus and when it is turned upside down to represent a Shepherd’s staff to take care of us His sheep for Jesus is the Good Shepherd. The red stripes on the candy represent the wounded stripes of Jesus when he was bruised and beaten to rescue us and the blood that Jesus shed on the cross at Calvary to wipe away all our sins while the white stripes represent the purity of Christ cleansing us of our sins when we are covered with the cleansing blood of Jesus. The 3 tiny stripes represent the Trinity: God, the Father; God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. With just a candy cane the Gospel was presented to the children at Christmas time celebrating the birth of Jesus. Every time they ate a candy cane they could be reminded of what they mean to Jesus and how much he loves them. Amen!

(True story answer!)

Photo and compilation by Ramesh C. Reddy, Editor-in-Chief

 Express Your View