There are no precise records that specify the origin of the candy cane, however, there is a legend that in the 17th century, a choirmaster for children gave out sugar sticks to the children he worked with shaped in a hook in order to look like a shepherd’s staff. The shape was supposedly meant to represent the shepherds and sheep who witnessed the birth of Jesus. There is another theory that the shape of candy canes was created simply to make them easy to hang on trees at Christmas as part of the festivities.