Hand-Pulled Original Candy Cane

Lots of stories swirl around about the candy cane: the white base color of the candy cane symbolizes Jesus’ purity; the red stripes symbolize Jesus’ blood
when he died on the cross; and the J shape was chosen to represent the J in Jesus. Then there’s the thinking that Christians passed the candy cane as a secret handshake acknowledging they were Christian to avert prosecution. Actually, most candy sticks and canes were white up until the early 1900s. The red stripe came later, a common late-19th century color; and the J had more to do with a hook necessary to hang it from the tree. As for the secret handshake: the candy cane is thought to have originated in Germany, which, in fact, was Christian, so why be secretive?

One thing we do know is that Bob McCormack put candy canes in households everywhere. McCormack started making candy canes in the 1920s and by the late
1950s would become one of the world’s largest peppermint candy cane producers, selling about a half a million candy canes per day at their peak.

And, to sweeten the story, a priest was involved in McCormack’s success. That priest was Father
Gregory Keller and he invented the Keller Machine that automatically put the crook in the candy cane.  Before this, confectioners had to bend the cane manually
when it was still warm and soft, using a wooden mold or the like. The work was difficult, time-consuming and probably tedious.

It also happens that Father Keller was the brother-in-law of the aforementioned Bob McCormack.  Not only did McCormack have to deal with the pain stacking production process of candy cane making, but 22% of the candy canes broke during the bending process and were headed for the trash. Keller’s machine automated this process and shortly thereafter was perfected by Dick
Driskell and Jimmy Spratling, both of whom worked for Bob. 

So, while we at True Treats love our original candy canes, we thank Bob and his family for bringing candy canes to everyone.