# I don't like how candy canes are wrapped
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** food-cooking
**Created:** [January 4, 2023, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618 "2023-01-04T01:35:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2023, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618/1 "2023-01-04T01:35:05Z")
This evening our daughter took down the Christmas Tree, and I decided to eat a candy cane that was on it. And of course, it’s wrapped in that dreaded plastic “skin” that’s just about impossible to remove. I ended up just breaking it into smaller pieces and trying to peel away the plastic wrap in the process. Which sorta takes the joy out of eating a candy cane, if you ask me.
I thought to myself: “Why don’t they put them in easy-to-open rectangular bags? Or loose-fitting plastic wrap?” And then it dawned on me (duh): these candy canes are meant to be hung on a tree, and hence need a tight-fitting plastic wrap. Their secondary purpose is to be eaten (if at all).
I’m sure I can order good-quality candy canes online where you can just, well, lick & eat them. I’ll buy them next Christmas. I’ll still buy the cheap “plastic skin” candy canes for hanging on the tree, but will simply throw them away when we take it down.
Yea, first-world problems, I know. 🙂
[ ](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52606048390_3d6b9e1b4f.jpg)
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2023, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618/2 "2023-01-04T01:43:25Z")
Break it in the middle of the hook backwards( so you’re opening the hook). The edges will cut the plastic but still leave enough loose plastic to grab and peel.
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### Author:  [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2023, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618/3 "2023-01-04T01:49:29Z")
I light the bottom corner of the cellophane with a cigarette lighter. After a few seconds, (change your finger positioning!) and a little black smoke the wrapping is like it never happened. Mmm-mmm.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2023, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618/4 "2023-01-04T02:41:33Z")
I just tear the bottom of the wrapper (where it’s fused together) with a fingernail, and then pull it all right off. I’m not sure what the hard part is supposed to be.
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2023, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618/5 "2023-01-04T02:47:58Z")
They are ripe for a general redesign.
[https://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=816](https://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=816)
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2023, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618/6 "2023-01-04T03:28:58Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#):
>
> these candy canes are meant to be hung on a tree, and hence need a tight-fitting plastic wrap.
I have the distinct impression that when I was a child they were hung on the tree not wrapped in anything, and that we then ate them anyway.
Ah, the 1950’s. Though I’m not exactly sure what anybody’s going to catch from a candy cane hanging on a tree, unless somebody’s just sneezed on it. Which of course is possible.
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### Author:  [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2023, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618/7 "2023-01-04T05:31:41Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#):
>
> Though I’m not exactly sure what anybody’s going to catch from a candy cane hanging on a tree, unless somebody’s just sneezed on it.
Whatever pesticide the trees were sprayed with, of course.
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### Author:  [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2023, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618/8 "2023-01-04T05:36:30Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#):
>
> Ah, the 1950’s. Though I’m not exactly sure what anybody’s going to catch from a candy cane hanging on a tree, unless somebody’s just sneezed on it. Which of course is possible.
As recently as the 1980s restaurants had bowls of unwrapped mints by the cash register. That may have actually been worse; while you were supposed to use a spoon to take the mints it wouldn’t surprise me if some people put their possibly unwashed hands in the bowl.
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### Author:  [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2023, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618/9 "2023-01-04T14:05:05Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#):
>
> As recently as the 1980s restaurants had bowls of unwrapped mints by the cash register. That may have actually been worse; while you were supposed to use a spoon to take the mints it wouldn’t surprise me if some people put their possibly unwashed hands in the bowl.
After a meal? Definitely unwashed.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2023, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618/10 "2023-01-04T14:18:06Z")
Yeah, but at least they’d relieved themselves in the bathroom after eating, still without washing up. 😉
The “everything must be individually wrapped / factory sealed” craze got a _big_ boost after the Tylenol poisoning event in 1982:
> **[Chicago Tylenol murders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Tylenol_murders)**
>
> The Chicago Tylenol murders were a series of poisoning deaths resulting from drug tampering in the Chicago metropolitan area in 1982. The victims had all taken Tylenol-branded acetaminophen capsules that had been laced with potassium cyanide. Seven people died in the original poisonings, with several more deaths in subsequent copycat crimes.
> No suspect has been charged or convicted of the poisonings. New York City resident James William Lewis was convicted of extortion for sending a letter to ...
The HIV/AIDS spread before the virus was fully identified was another brick in the wall of “all strangers are scarily unclean!” germophobia.
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2023, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618/11 "2023-01-04T14:45:55Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#):
>
> Whatever pesticide the trees were sprayed with, of course.
That’s a point I hadn’t thought of. Although, considering that small children are very likely to touch Christmas trees and then put their hands in their mouths, I at least hope that whatever’s used on the trees has a required pre-harvest interval long enough that that’s not a danger.
> [@WildaBeast](#):
>
> As recently as the 1980s restaurants had bowls of unwrapped mints by the cash register. That may have actually been worse; while you were supposed to use a spoon to take the mints it wouldn’t surprise me if some people put their possibly unwashed hands in the bowl.
Oh yeah, I remember those.
And, um, I think I put my hands in the bowl – I don’t actually remember spoons with them, and wonder whether that started being done shortly before the mints in that form disappeared? You were supposed to only touch the one you were taking, of course, and not just drag your fingers through the bowl; but it was easy to accidentally touch one right next to the one you were taking.
I don’t know whether rates of infection are actually lower now that everything’s supposed to be kept wrapped up and no glasses etc.shared. As late as the early 1990’s we were routinely passing water jugs around in the field. – do people still pass joints and pipes? There used to be a really communal nature to getting stoned.
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### Author:  [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2023, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618/12 "2023-01-04T18:26:54Z")
You can find them in small cellophane bags but the only ones I have purchased have been real small canes.
The form fitting wrap is an artifact of the manufacturing process. The candy is extruded as a continuous rod and pushed through the wrapping station while it is straight. Then it is chopped into segments and finally bent around a form while it is already wrapped. It holds its shape when cooled. Very efficient. See this video at 3:40
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHHBLSSctoc)
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2023, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618/13 "2023-01-04T18:47:24Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> I just tear the bottom of the wrapper (where it’s fused together) with a fingernail, and then pull it all right off. I’m not sure what the hard part is supposed to be.
Every time I’ve every done that, it’s still been tight enough at the crook portion that it breaks.
And it seems odd to me that everyone makes them for hanging on a tree, especially since they are sold year-round.
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### Author:  [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618/14 "2023-01-04T18:49:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> I just tear the bottom of the wrapper (where it’s fused together) with a fingernail, and then pull it all right off. I’m not sure what the hard part is supposed to be.
Yeah, I tear near the seam and have never had any problems.
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### Author:  [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2023, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618/15 "2023-01-04T19:11:48Z")
I don’t remember whether I find candy-cane wrapping to be annoying or inconvenient, because the experience of removing the wrapper gets lost in the appreciation of the candy cane. Mmmmmmm nom nom nom nom peppermint.
I do also appreciate their handy hook shape for using as an ornament or tying into a package ribbon or whatever. On the whole, though I sympathize with the OP for his frustrating experiences, I’m probably on Team Leave Candycanes Alone.
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### Author:  [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2023, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618/16 "2023-01-05T00:27:11Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#):
>
> do people still pass joints and pipes?
People do.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2023, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618/17 "2023-01-05T00:44:29Z")
People still be Bogarting, as well.
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618/18 "2023-01-05T00:48:17Z")
Good to know… Thanks, both.
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### Author:  [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2023, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618/19 "2023-01-05T01:41:07Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#):
>
> I’ll still buy the cheap “plastic skin” candy canes for hanging on the tree, but will simply throw them away when we take it down
While I’m not a big candy cane person, I will eat them. However, if you are going to use them as ornaments, I have a relative who just put them away with her other ornaments each year. If they broke, then she threw them away. Don’t think she had any wrapper breaks or bugs get into them.
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2023, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-like-how-candy-canes-are-wrapped/977618/20 "2023-01-05T01:49:59Z")
Here you go.
> **[Peppermint Candy Sticks | Candy Sticks | Nuts.com](https://nuts.com/chocolatessweets/old-time-candy/candy-sticks/peppermint.html?utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Nuts_g_usa_Performance-Max_nc&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=Cj0KCQiA5NSdBhDfARIsALzs2EAoOT0dYJoE9YGuoin0887mNMiATUt7Ql4jC61pJ8gJB658Ezq9bpoaAn7REALw_wcB&utm_campaignid=17316642221&utm_adgroupid=&utm_adid=&utm_keyword=&utm_matchtype=&utm_adgroup=&utm_content=17316642221&gclid=Cj0KCQiA5NSdBhDfARIsALzs2EAoOT0dYJoE9YGuoin0887mNMiATUt7Ql4jC61pJ8gJB658Ezq9bpoaAn7REALw_wcB)**