Wherever you are in the world, you’ve probably seen the iconic peppermint candy canes in correlation to Christmas. The red and white stripes are such a fixture of the holiday as decorations or as sweet treats themselves and have become intertwined with the Christmas spirit. And it’s with these sweets that the long relationship between peppermint and Christmas begins.
As a plant, peppermint is native to the Middle East and to Europe, primarily for medicinal use for its effective anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties. It only became the basis for sweets later when ingenious creators decided to fuse their health benefits in a delicious sugary package. The candy canes themselves are thought to date back to around 1670 when a German choirmaster in the city of Cologne was in desperate need of keeping his young audience happy – and more importantly, quiet – during Nativity performances at Christmas.
He sought out the help of a local confectioner who decided the best way to keep a bunch of rowdy kids occupied was to give them sweets that would take a while to finish. In the spirit of the request, he gave the sweets a Nativity theme and made them in the shape of a shepherd’s crook. There is also speculation that rather than a cane, it was meant to be seen inverted as a ‘J’ for Jesus.
There’s also a potential religious link in the colours themselves with the red representing the blood of Christ and the white the body of Christ and the classic three stripes reflecting the holy trinity of Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Although these origin stories aren’t historically verified, they seem to be the best ones available until such time that Christmas lore becomes a matter of great historical importance to eminent scholars.
One thing everyone can agree on is that it was confectioner, Bob McCormack who popularised the modern version of the candy cane and by the mid-20th century, his company was one of the leading candy cane producers worldwide. McCormack, a Georgian native had the machine he used designed by his brother-in-law, a Catholic priest named Gregory Harding Keller, and for over 80 years they popularised mint candies around Christmas.
There is also a simpler concept behind why peppermint is a Christmas favourite and that comes back to its medicinal properties. The cooling menthol and soothing effects on the stomach make it a shoo-in for a time when overeating and indulgence are the name of the game.
Wherever it came from and whichever long-lost mind brought us the candy cane and its trajectory to mainstream Christmas fare the one thing we know for sure is that it’s here to stay and peppermint has become the unofficial flavour of Christmas.