Other forms: candy canes
The red and white striped, peppermint-flavored sticks you hang on a Christmas tree are candy canes. You can also find candy canes in less traditional colors and flavors, but usually not in July.
Candy canes get their name from their cane-like shape, curved at one end like the handle of a walking stick. Folklore tells us that these Christmas treats were invented in 17th century Germany in part to make children think of the "shepherds who visited baby Jesus," thanks to their resemblance to a shepherd's crook. The earliest print mention of candy canes being hung on Christmas trees was in the 1880s.