Have you noticed…
…the Peeps explosion? They’re everywhere, in a profusion of colors and shapes that will make your head spin and your mouth water—if you happen to like them, that is.
I don’t. What’s more, I never have, even as a child. They promised so much and yet delivered so little.
Although the Peeps dioramas are mighty nifty:
Would you like some Peeps history and lore? Your wish is my command:
Peeps are produced by Just Born, a candy manufacturer founded in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania by Russian immigrant Sam Born. In 1953, Just Born acquired the Rodda Candy Company and its marshmallow chick line, and replaced the painstaking process of hand-forming the chicks with mass production. The yellow chicks were the original form of the candy ”” hence their name ”” but then the company introduced other colors and, eventually, the myriad shapes in which they are now produced.
An annual “Peep Off” competition is held in Maryland on the first Saturday after Easter, when Peeps are greatly discounted, to see who can eat the most in 30 minutes.
Ugh.
The only candy I know of that is better “stale”.
Been a Marylander for 4+ decades [with time out living in Dee Cee for 7 years], and as for a “Peep Off” — nevuh hoid of it!
I used to get live baby chicks as a kid at easter in a myriad of colors thanks to the miracle of dyes . Most i raised to pretty big chickens and gave em to a good farm home as i recall.
You are absolutely correct. I thought I was the only one.
To Ed … re “stale.”
I love peeps and even have a peep stuffed animal (the only stuffed animal I have).
They’re simple and they sell. Easy to make, cheap and cute, and I suspect women predominantly buy them. Chicks for the chicks.
I don’t have to buy them any more than I have to buy Girardelli chocolate (pending the outcome at SCOTUS). Interesting success story re Born, though.
It’s great to see an old American company survive and prosper.
They will be half price tomorrow at lots of drugstores.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22P9vx3o7Y4
Peeps are great fun when you put them in the microwave. Try it and see. They’re not just for eating after all.
Taste-wise, they don’t appeal to me at all (too much sugar and unnatural color!) but they ARE adorable and practically an icon.
In Bethlehem PA (home ofthe manufacturer) they drop a giant Peep instead of a ball on New Year’s Eve:
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf/2010/12/peep_drops_in_bethlehem_to_rin.html