Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Candy cane" in English language version.
The candy cane is said to have its origins at Christmas time in Germany circa 1670. A church choirmaster in Cologne gave sticks of hard candy with a crook at the end to the children in his choir to keep them quiet during long Christmas services.
St. Nicholas Day is celebrated on the anniversary of his death in 343 A.D. The candy cane is said to represent the crozier, or bishop's staff, of St. Nicholas.
{{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)In 1670, the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral gave sugar sticks to his young singers to keep them quiet during the long Living Crèche ceremony. In honor of the occasion, he had the candies bent into the shepherd's crooks. In 1847, a German-Swedish immigrant named August Imgard of Wooster, Ohio decorated a small pine tree with paper ornaments and candy canes.
Around 1670, a choirmaster of a cathedral in Cologne, Germany, handed out sugar sticks to his young singers. At Christmas, in honor of the birth of Jesus, the choirmaster bent the sugar sticks at one end, forming the shape of a shepherd's crook. These white candy canes helped keep the children quiet during the long Christmas Eve Nativity service. From Germany, the use of candy shepherds' staffs spread across Europe, where plays of the Christmas Nativity were accompanied by gifts of the sweet "shepherds' crooks."
Church history records that in 1670 the choirmaster at Germany's Cologne Cathedral was faced with a problem that still challenges parents, teachers, and choir In ancient Cologne, as well as in thousands of churches today, the children in the choir often grew restless and noisy during the long services. He sought out a local candy maker, and after looking over the treats in his shop, the music leader paused in front of some white sweet sticks. Yet the choirmaster wondered if the priests and parents would allow him to give the children in his choir candy to eat during a church service. The choirmaster asked the candy maker if he could bend the sticks and make a crook at the top of each one. The candy would not be just a treat; it would be a teaching tool. The choirmaster decided that the candy's pure white color would represent the purity of Christ. The crook would serve as a way for the children to remember the story of the shepherds who came to visit the baby Jesus. The shepherds carried staffs or canes, and with the hook at the top of the stick, the candy now looked like a cane.
The crosier (pastoral staff) is the symbol of the office of the Good Shepherd, who watches over and leads with care the flock entrusted to him by the Holy Spirit.
The image of Jesus as the good shepherd spoke volumes to the early Church as a metaphor for Divine care such that bishops, in time, carried a shepherd's crook (crosier) with its hooked end to symbolize "pastoral" care (pastoral meaning "of or relating to shepherds or herders")— interestingly, the hook on some crosiers ends in a snake's head.
In 1670, a choirmaster at Germany's Cologne cathedral bent the ends of some sugar sticks to represent shepherds' crooks, and distributed them to youngsters. The practice spread.[permanent dead link]