The chill was in the air, the sound of model T Ford cars and the distant sound of fog horns on the Rondout Creek seemed to be every where. Hard working men and woman starting their day for the large steamboat companies filled the streets. Wooden paddle wheel boats like nothing you could Imagine lined the docks all along the waterfront. You could always smell coffee going some where as the workers filled the streets on their way to perform their various duties .There was one other thing that you couldn't miss. The smell of peppermint. At the crack of dawn the workers of the Altamarie Candy Company were busy cooking the first batches of peppermint hard candy to be made into candy canes. That was 1917. Their day usually started by filling buckets of sugar to be used later and making sure that all of the weights were correct. The large 35 lb copper kettle was given its final buffing before being filled with 66 lbs of sugar, corn syrup and just the right amount of water. The corn syrup and sugar was blended together with the water and kept stirred until the 66 lbs of sweets started to boil. While boiling and on it's way to a temperature above 310 degrees the candy maker prepared a 4 foot x 8 foot cooling table coated with cooking oil and dusted with flower. This cooling table was a flat water jacket that had coils in side of it. Water circulated through the table to chill the candy faster and allow it to be worked into a giant shape somewhat like a pillow. From that pillow a Small amount was made red and stretched around the out side. A large set of wooden rollers made the batch round and kept it warm. From that a small piece of candy gets cut, curled, straightened and wrapped. Each candy cane is made by hand.

( Every time I cut a candy cane It equals a smile on someones face ). Michael Briglia