How are you supposed to eat ribbon candy? This seems a bit of a silly question to ask, but I'm a bit confused, so I'll ask for help.  I was gifted a box of Hammond's assorted classic ribbon candy for the holidays.  I've never been much of a fan of hard candy of any sort, but I was curious to at least try some of this gift.  (I also don't think I've seen it in decades; my only vague recollection is of an elderly relative having some when I was a small child.)

I understand that ribbon candy is partly made the way it is for its appearance.  But how is one supposed to eat it?  The candy I have comes it rather large pieces: about 3.5 inches long and about an inch wide in the other dimensions.  It's rather thick too.  (A quick search online mentions that some of this type of candy can be thinner and more fragile.)

As the pieces were so huge, my first thought was to break off a curve or two of the ribbon, but it tends to shatter into lots of shards and makes a mess.  Which led me to wonder whether one is just supposed to stick the end of a piece into your mouth and suck on it like a candy cane or something as it dissolves.  Except, again, it's rather large and awkward to eat, and from its composition, it tends to get really sticky when held in the hand.

In the end, I took some of the shards I broke off and ate them, but some edges were sharp, so it wasn't really pleasant to leave it in my mouth as it dissolved.

I know this sounds silly, but is there a method people usually use to eat ribbon candy?  If I were offered a piece at someone's house as a guest, what would I be expected to do with it when I consumed it?

As I said, I'm not a hard candy lover anyway, but at least most such candies I have consumed are small enough to place in your mouth as a single piece or are at least smooth and pleasant to eat more slowly (like a candy cane).  This candy seems huge, but breaking it up seems to make a mess and sharp shards.  (While keeping it whole both requires one to eat a huge piece and makes it very sticky to hold.)  

Am I doing something wrong?  Or is this candy really just made this way for appearance, not for a practical pleasant eating experience?
The ribbon candy that I've had (and made) is an inch wide but only maybe 1/4 inch thick. It is very easy to break off just half a bend that fits in the mouth. There might be some errant shards but not full-scale shattering.

The appeal of ribbon candy over other hard candy is the appearance. Even when it is meant to be eaten it is made to be looked at first. I find it conceivable, if a bit unfortunate, that your ribbon candy was not intended to be consumed.

Another possibility is that it might be old. Hard candy can be still somewhat pliable when it is fresh. Depending on the climate, candy can dry and become more brittle over time.