NEWBERRY — Every now and then, we all cave in to having a piece or two of candy, especially during the holidays.
Dec. 19 is known as National Hard Candy Day, where these candies, which were known as boiled sweets are celebrated.
Hard candy first became popular in the 17th century after sugar prices fell. Before it became widely popular, hard candy was something that only the well-to-do could afford.
By the mid-1800s, over 400 countries were manufacturing hard candy, writes nationaldaycalendar.com. It is unknown who the creator of National Hard Candy Day was.
According to dailytwocents.com, hard candy is made by boiling a sugar syrup, which can be made from a variety of sugars including fructose, glucose and sucrose. It is boiled at 320 degrees Fahrenheit and is set to cool. As the candy begins to reach room temperature, it becomes stiff and brittle.
Flavorings and colorings would be added later after it is boiled. Before the candy has cooled, it can be molded and folded into whatever kind of shape you want.
But hard candy isn’t just made to satisfy a sweet tooth. In its early days, hard candies were popular for their medicinal use, especially for sore throats.
Throat lozenges are still to this day, made into a hard candy although most lozenges are sugar free and use a sugar substitute along with artificial sweeteners such as aspartame.
These days, hard candy is no longer used in a medicinal nature and come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Lemon drops and peppermints were some of the first hard candies and they were often used to treat stomach ailments. Some popular hard candies include Jolly Ranchers, Dum Dum Pops, Life Savers and Charms Blow Pops.
One candy that is especially popular during the holidays are candy canes. Altogetherchristmas.com writes that many books and websites have suggested that candy canes have a religious purpose behind them.
The candy cane was supposedly created by an Indiana candy maker who was trying to tell the story of Christmas by using the white strip representing Christ’s purity and the red stripe representing the blood he shed.
In some cases, many thought that candy canes represented the letter “J” for Jesus or that candy canes were used to identify Christians in the 17th century when religious symbols were banned.