As Christmas season is upon us, flurries of snowmen, Christmas trees, and Santa Claus float around our minds. One of the most noticeable Christmas traditions is the popular peppermint candy, candy canes.

Believe it or not, something as simple as candy canes actually have a huge and significant story behind them that is not widely known. It began on a dark, rainy night, when a man was in search of a place to rest.

He came across an empty store, which was perfect for him.

During his time there, he worked to fix it up. Nobody in the small town had a clue what was going on behind the wooden doors.

One day, a curious little girl wandered upon the mysterious store and decided to knock. The man gladly greeted her in his new shop. As she walked in, she saw hundreds and hundreds of boxes waiting to be unpacked. 

She offered her help, and as she opened the first box, she saw a bunch of glass jars.

As she opened the next box, she feasted her eyes on the billions of bags of gumdrops, lollipops, chocolate, and taffy.

Upon seeing the joy in her eyes, the man told her the magical place would soon become a candy shop, and swore her to secrecy.

Over the next few weeks, she and the man fixed up the shop, until it looked as good as new. 

But one day, the little girl stumbled upon something she had never seen before; a strangely shaped red and white candy.

Wonder sparking in her eyes, she asked the man what the peculiar candy was. 

Joy in his heart, he told the girl, “Oh, this is a very special Christmas candy, called a candy cane.”

He flipped it over. “See how it looks like the letter J? That’s for Jesus, who was born on Christmas Day. Turning it the other way makes a staff, for the shepherds in the field, who were the first people to find out that Jesus was born.”

Curious, the girl asked, “Why does the candy cane have red and white stripes?”

“Well,” said the man. “Did you know that Jesus died on the cross for us? The red stripes are there to remind us of the forgiveness Jesus gave us when died.”

With wonder sparkling in the girl’s eyes, the man joyfully told her, “And the white stripes remind us that Jesus rose from the dead, and that our hearts are clean from sin when we join him in heaven.”

The girl and the man spent their afternoon spreading candy canes throughout the village and telling the townsfolk to come to the grand opening of the candy store.

On the opening night, the man shared the special story of the candy cane, and it was spread all around the world to remind us of the true meaning of Christmas.