Sugar, once a precious — and expensive — commodity, was typically reserved for holidays like Christmas. According to folklore, the shepherd's crook-shaped candy cane originated around 1670, the invention of a German choirmaster as an enticement to keep young singers quiet during services. We don't know if there's truth to this story, but we do know that in 1847 Ohio, a German immigrant named August Imgard decorated his Christmas tree with candy canes. We also know colored stripes were added after 1900, likely to denote peppermint or wintergreen flavors.
Saveur dubbed the hand-pulled candy canes from ZoesChocolate.com the "World's Best" (from 6/$17). HammondsCandies.com sells naturally-colored canes in a range of flavors (from $2.75).