virus: Christmas Candy Cane

Eric Boyd (6ceb3@qlink.queensu.ca)
Sat, 28 Nov 1998 17:29:09 -0500


Hi virians,

I've found a meme for us to track. I want to know where it
started, and when certain modifications were made.

The Christmas Candy Cane:

Here's the story that every Christian and their brother have
posted:

"A Candymaker's Gift

A candymaker in Indiana wanted to make a special candy for
Christmas, so he made a Christmas Candy "Cane". He incorporated
several symbols for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus
Christ.

He began with a stick of pure, white, hard candy. White to
symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless life of Jesus; and
hard to symbolize the "Solid Rock" foundation of the Church and
the firmness of the promises of God.

The candymaker made the candy in the form of a " J " to represent
the name of Jesus, whose birth we celebrate. It also represents
the staff of the "Good Sheperd" who reaches down into the ditches
of life and pulls us out.

Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candymaker
stained it with the red stripes. He used three small stripes to
represent the scourging that Jesus received before his death. The
large red stripe was for the bload that Jesus gave through his
death, which gives us an opportunity to receive eternal life.

Unfortunately , the candy became known as a candy cane, a
meaningless decoration seen mostly at Christmas. But the meaning
is still there to those who know it's history.

I sincerely hope that this special candy will have more
signifigance for all of you this year.

(author unknown)"

http://www.theozarks.com/CandyCane.htm

Interestingly, it is the last sentence or two which have the most
"mutations". Where the above says "But the meaning is still
there to those who know it's history.", many others end with

"But, the meaning is still there for those who "have eyes to see
and ears to hear." I pray that this symbol will again be used to
witness TO THE WONDER OF JESUS AND HIS GREAT LOVE that came down
at Christmas and remains the ultimate and dominate force in the
universe today."

http://www.ntgi.com/lonniec/candy/

Also, it seems there is a minor controversy over just how many
red stripes there are, as well as what they symbolize; some
maintain the three stripes are for the scourging, while others
think the trinity. Some mention another "large red stripe",
while other are content with just the three.

Apparently, there are several books out on the subject:

Lori Walburg, 32, of Grand Rapids has written the book "The
Legend of the Candy Cane"
--
http://www.thehollandsentinel.net/stories/121997/rel_cane.html

Could one of these books be the source?

http://nickworld.thesitefights.com/christmas/ch00004.html
Contains both the legend and a "real" history.

A simple search on an search engine yeilds thousands of copies of
this story, *word for word* in most cases.

ERiC