Urban Myths of Christmas
Candy canes were created to symbolize Jesus, their shape representing the letter "J" and their colors standing for the purity and blood of Christ... and were started in Indiana (Candy canes were most assuredly NOT created by "a candymaker in Indiana" who "stained them with red stripes to show the stripes of the scourging Jesus received." Candy canes have been in existance long before there ever was an Indiana! They initially bore neither red coloration nor striping -- the red stripes were a feature that did not appear until a few hundred years later, at the beginning of the 20th century. More elaborate Christmas coloration and decoration have been added to these candies in recent years ... for purely marketing purposes.)
Dotte, I am so disappointed in this! For generations, Hoosier children have been told candy canes were started in Indiana. It was one of our "claims to fame" and our little state doesn't have too many of those!
Well, we will always have Santa Claus, Indiana! Up until 20 years ago, many of the world's Santa Claus letters were sent to this little Indiana town for processing. These days, more and more of the Santa letters are being mailed to North Pole, Alaska; although Santa Claus still does do some processing.