Candy canes might be the iconic American sweet, but like most Western Christmas traditions, they originated in Germany. There is an almost ridiculous amount of myth surrounding their origin and meaning: turn them upside down and the J is meant to stand for Jesus; the three red stripes mimic soldiers’ stripes; no, they stand for the Holy Trinity. The truth seems to be that the canes were originally straight white sticks of sugar candy until a German choirmaster bent them into the shape of a shepherd’s crook sometime in the late 17th century and passed them out to children at a Christmas church service to kept them quiet. The custom took off, and the stripes and peppermint flavoring were added in about 1900.
Yeap. They DO NOT stand for Jesus. Here is a link from snopes.
snopes.com: Origin of the Candy Cane
A little better history is available at ???
google wiki.