Curio Cabinet

Germany? England? Ohio? Indiana? Which nation and/or state actually invented the most festive candy of the holiday season: the candy cane? The truth is, no one is quite sure when candy canes first appeared in their current form. However, the history of peppermint candy, including peppermint sticks, is long.
 
Candy canes are hard candy sticks, traditionally flavored with peppermint. They feature red and white stripes and are bent at one end, so that they resemble canes. For much of human history, peppermint wasn’t used in candy, but as medicine. An ancient hybrid of watermint and spearmint plants, peppermint has been cultivated since at least 1500 B.C.E. For centuries, it was brewed in hot water or chewed by itself as a remedy for stomach aches and other digestive problems. It took a while for it to make its way into candy, though.
 
As for how candy canes got their shape, one tale purports that, in 1670, a German choirmaster handed out sugar sticks to children in his choir, to get them to stop fidgeting during practice. However, parents complained that candy wasn’t appropriate for a solemn place like church. To appease them, the choirmaster bent the sticks so that they resembled shepherds’ canes, thus relating them to Jesus and other shepherds in the Bible. However, there are no written records of candy canes from Germany at this time, so we’ll never know for certain if this story is true.
 
Despite disagreement on whether they originated in Germany or England, most historians do agree that sugar-stick candies first appeared in 17th century Europe. As for how peppermint got added to the mix, that likely happened in the 18th century, when candy and medicine were figuratively and literally mixed together. Back then, apothecaries, or pharmacists, would mix sugar with medicinal ingredients to make them more palatable. Peppermint was often added longside sugar to mask the taste of less-pleasant-tasting herbs. It was especially good at this since menthol, the chemical that gives peppermint its “cooling” effect, also makes other flavors harder to detect. Over time, candy making and drug making became separate professions, but sugar sticks with peppermint flavoring endured.
 
It’s only natural that Americans have also tried to take credit for inventing candy canes. Some say that an Indiana candymaker was the first to invent the “cane” shape while trying to bend candy into a “J” for “Jesus.” The tale also states that he added a red stripe to the candy to represent Christ’s blood. It’s much more likely, though, that the cane shape actually debuted in 1847, in Wooster, Ohio, when candymaker August Imgard decorated his storefront Christmas tree with the candies. They were bent simply so that they could be hung on the tree’s branches. As for the red stripe…it was probably added just to make the candies more attractive. Red-and-white striped candy canes didn’t become popular until the 20th century, when automation made it easy for companies to make and sell them en masse. That’s a bit less fun than the stories, though!

 
[Image description: A red-and-white candy cane sticking out of a glass jar.] Credit & copyright: TanteTati, Pixabay

Time to raise a glass… of water for that aspirin. Most people can enjoy a nice glass of red wine without issues, but others are susceptible to getting headaches from it. For them, a single glass—or even as little as a sip in some cases—can cause nasty headaches within half an hour. Now, scientists have found the culprit: a chemical compound specific to red wine. Researchers at the UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology identified it as quercetin, which is normally a harmless antioxidant that’s even available as a natural supplement. It’s found in a variety of fruits and vegetables, including grapes, which is how it ends up in red wine. When consumed, it becomes quercetin glucuronide in the bloodstream, which normally has anti-inflammatory properties. But it also happens to inhibit the metabolism of alcohol, and that, in turn, leads to a build up of acetaldehyde, the toxin responsible for hangovers. So, when someone who is sensitive to red wine has a sip, they’re essentially getting hungover immediately. It’s still not entirely clear why the compound affects some drinkers more than others. However, people who are already prone to getting headaches or migraines do tend to be sensitive to quercetin. Unfortunately, quercetin is one of the many flavanols that gives red wine its distinct taste, so its unlikely that any variety of red will ever be made without it. Grapes produce the compound in abundance when they get plenty of sun, so wine made from grapes that have had lots of sunlight are more likely to cause headaches in those who are sensitive. But quercetin is only found in the skin of the grape, which is removed when making white wine, making it less likely to cause the same issues. Of course, if you drink enough, you’ll get headaches regardless.

 
[Image description: Red wine is poured from a bottle to a glass.] Credit & copyright: Vinotecarium, Pixabay

There was light at the end of this tunnel—they just had to dig at it. After being trapped for 17 days, 41 workers buried in a tunnel were freed in India at the end of November. But there was a lot more to their rescue than just moving some dirt around. Like many underground rescues, this ordeal was one in which every second counted. Back on November 12, construction workers were digging through a Himalayan mountain in the state of Uttarakhand when they were caught in a tunnel collapse. Rescuers immediately began trying to extract the buried workers, but they had to hurry. Even though none of the workers had been seriously injured or killed, they were already being poisoned by their own breath. Being buried under rubble meant that the men weren’t getting fresh air, and carbon dioxide from their exhaled breath was building up. Rescuers managed to reach them with a literal life line to pipe in fresh air, food and water, but the men were still growing sicker by the day.
 
The symptoms of carbon dioxide poisoning are very similar to those of carbon monoxide poisoning. They include headaches, dizziness, nausea, and confusion that get progressively worse. At very low concentrations (10,000 ppm, or one percent of the atmosphere), carbon dioxide can cause drowsiness. But even at mildly higher concentrations (30,000 ppm, or three percent), it can lead to elevated heart rates and arrhythmia. Even with oxygen present, excess carbon dioxide can still cause these symptoms, and as the concentration gets higher (around 80,000 ppm or eight percent), it can lead to suffocation. Thankfully, the workers were trapped in a fairly large section of the tunnel with enough room to walk around. To help keep the CO2 levels low, they were advised not to perform any physically strenuous activity. At the same time, they were advised to do yoga and other light exercises to help keep them calm, which probably kept CO2 levels lower by reducing their heart rates. Eventually, the workers were pulled to safety through a tunnel that rescuers made from welded pipes. Seeing sunlight after 17 days was probably a lot more calming than underground yoga!

 
[Image description: A digital illustration depicting a pickaxe and three stones.] Credit & copyright: Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Pixabay