by Caitlyn Madore
The most dazzling and spectacular holiday of the season is nearing, Christmas. We all know the story behind Santa Clause, but what about those special Christmas treats that we can indulge on for only a few weeks a year like gingerbread houses, sugarplums, and candy canes? Today, all are part of the American Christmas tradition, but none were actually invented in the U.S.
Gingerbread its self originated during the 11th century in Europe, being sold on the streets and at fairs. It wasn't until 19th century Germany though that gingerbread houses really started being produced. It all began with the publishing of the book "Hansel and Gretel" by the Grimm Brothers about children who were abandoned in the forest and were fortunate enough to come across a house made of only bread, cake, and candy. As a result, German's started making these delectable gingerbread houses, lebkuchenhaeusle, which became most popular during the Christmas season. When German’s started settling in North America, they brought the tradition of the gingerbread houses with them.
As seen in the book, “A Night before Christmas”, sugarplums were started as a delicacy in 16th century England during the Christmas season. They are what some call a comfit or a seed or nut that has been encrusted in sugar syrup up to twelve times. Most of the time a seed called Caraway was used because of the sweetness it left in your mouth and breath. Even though it’s debatable whether plums were ever actually apart of this treat, it is known that the name was fashioned because the sugary candy was about the same size as a plum.
As for the candy cane, there is a lot of controversy over the origin of this sweet treat. One theory is that in 1670 a choir master in Germany bent the sugary stick to represent a Shepards cane in order to keep the children occupied during a religious ceremony. The other theory is that the cane was bent to represent the letter "J" as a symbol for Jesus. No historical evidence however has been uncovered to prove either one of these hypotheses. It is a fact nonetheless that the famous stripes of red did not begin until sometime in the 19th century, although it is not known by whom. Once again, this tasteful tradition was brought over to America by Germen settlers.
