Look for ‘Peeps’ wherever Halloween candy is sold

Marshmallow-soft “Peeps” aren’t just for Easter anymore. We can now enjoy sugary Peeps treats that align with other holidays, especially Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s Day.

 

Manufacturing is a year-round operation at the Just Born Quality Confections’ candy factory in Bethlehem, Pa. The 102-year-old family business complements its iconic Peeps brand with “Mike and Ike” fruit chewies and “Hot Tamales” cinnamon-flavored candies.

 

The Halloween line of Peeps products has traditionally included ghosts, monsters, skulls and jack-o-lanterns. Christmas ordinarily brings out holiday chicks that taste like candy canes, gingerbread men, snowmen, Christmas trees and Christmas stockings. Red and white hearts have led the way for Valentine’s Day.

 

Even if you’re not inclined to eat Peeps, “there are so many fun ways to include them in your holiday celebrations,” Caitlin Servian, brand manager for Peeps, told the Associated Press.

The Peeps story in America begins with Samuel Bernstein, a 19-year-old Jewish immigrant from Vinnitsa (part of the Russian Empire now in Ukraine). In response to the looming clouds of revolution that preceded the outbreak of World War I, the Bernstein family opted to flee their European homeland.

Samuel Bernstein arrived in New York City in 1910, having been schooled in the confectionary arts, including chocolate-making. He changed his surname to Born.

In 1916, Sam Born (shown below) invented a machine that put sticks into lollipops (called the Born sucker machine), invented a new process for the creation of chocolate sprinkles (or “jimmies” as they were called) and developed the hardened chocolate shell used on the outside of Eskimo ice cream pies.

Sam Born opened his own candy shop in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1923. When he put a freshly baked batch of candy on sale, he would post a sign in his store window: “Just Born.” It stuck…as the name of his business.

In 1953, Just Born acquired Rodda Candy Co., which was started in 1908 by Roscoe E. Rodda. Known primarily as a jellybean maker, Rodda had a side business producing marshmallow candies in the shape of baby chicks.

 Just Born moved its operations into the Rodda factory in Bethlehem, located about 80 miles west of New York City. 

By now, Sam Born’s son, Ira “Bob” Born (shown below), was fully entrenched in the Just Born business. Bob Born held a college degree in engineering physics, so “he was very much into the equipment,” enjoying the math, science and technology associated with candy making, a company spokesperson said.

The marshmallow chicks once took a crew of confectioners up to 27 hours to make a tray, because they required so much handwork. Bob Born designed and built a machine to make a tray in less than six minutes. In recognition of this achievement, Bob Born earned the moniker “Father of Peeps.”

Sadly, missing from the Just Born archives is any documentation about who came up with the name “Peeps”…and when.

Just Born currently cranks out about 2 billion Peeps per year, and the product has developed a loyal following – people who can’t get enough of the simple concoction made from sugar, corn syrup, gelatin and a pinch of salt.

 

One of the big annual events that occurs in Bethlehem is a two-day, end-of-the-year celebration called “PeepsFest.” The highlight is the “Chick Drop,” when a massive, 400-pound, 4-foot-9 chick will countdown to the New Year…amid a dazzling display of fireworks.

 The site is SteelStacks, a 10-acre campus dedicated to arts, culture, family events, community celebrations, education and fun. The property was once the home plant of Bethlehem Steel, the second largest steel manufacturer in the nation, with five blast furnaces that have been preserved.