Ah, those sweet childhood Easter memories. I couldn’t wait to wear my new yellow and purple gingham dress, spring straw hat complete with daisies, white lace gloves and shiny white patent leather shoes with a matching purse. I also couldn’t wait to see what delicious treats the Easter bunny left in my basket. Nestled in the pink plastic straw, I discovered a rainbow of jelly beans, foil-covered eggs, chocolate rabbits and those neon yellow marshmallow Peeps.
This year, those same legendary Peeps are celebrating their 70th birthday. Since 1953, this whimsical candy has been made in Bethlehem, Pa., by Just Born Quality Confections. “On the average, about 5.5 million Peeps Marshmallow Candies are made daily, and a total of 2 billion in one year,” said Caitlin Servian, Peeps Brand Manager.
But Peeps aren’t just for Easter anymore: They’ve grown into a pop culture phenomenon. Not only do they come in a rainbow of colors, shapes, sizes and holiday varieties, but they have launched huge corporate collaborations and soared to artistic heights in Peep art shows across the United States.
Peeps lore
Candy maker Sam Born grew up in Russia and immigrated to the United States in 1910 when he was 19 years old. In 1923 he opened a small retail store and factory marketing his freshly made candy as “just born” in Brooklyn, N.Y. Despite the Great Depression, his company thrived and in 1932 moved into an empty printing factory in Bethlehem, Pa.
Three decades later, Just Born bought the Rodda Candy Company of Lancaster, where marshmallow chicks were originally made by hand. The time consuming process took as many as 80 people to hand squeeze the marshmallow, whipped egg whites and sugar into chick shapes and then air dry them for 27 hours.
Bob Born, Sam’s son, who died this January at the age of 98, was the great innovator of the family. He invented a machine that automatically inserted sticks into lollipops as well as a better way to make chocolate sprinkles and the solid chocolate coating that covers Eskimo Pies. But most importantly for fans of sugary marshmallow fowl, he perfected the Peep-making process by inventing a machine that simplified the marshmallow forming process down to six minutes.
Marshmallow Peeps are made with four ingredients: sugar, corn syrup, gelatin and air. The corn syrup and gelatin are combined in a kettle, and then air is pumped in to make the mixture light and fluffy. The resulting confection is then pressed into various animal shapes and coated with a colorful sugar shower. The last phase adds two candy eyes, followed by packaging into trays.
Peeps everywhere
Peeps original colors were yellow, white and pink, followed by lavender in 1995, blue in 1998 and green in 2007. Unsurprisingly, yellow is still the most popular color, with pink, blue and lavender coming next. Peeps 2023 flavors include Dr. Pepper, Kettle Corn, Wild Berry, Cotton Candy, Fruit Punch, Party Cake and Sour Watermelon, as well as mashups with other Just Born brands Mike and Ike and Hot Tamales.
Over the years, the company has also tried to break out of its association with the springtime holidays. While nothing will ever surpass Peeps’ association with Easter, Halloween Peeps (green monsters, white skulls, black cats, orange pumpkins and white ghosts), Christmas Peeps (green Christmas trees, brown gingerbread men, brown reindeer, white snowmen and red stockings) and others have been added to the roster.
In recent years, collaborations with other brands outside the Just Born family have been an important part of the company’s strategy. For instance, Peeps X Pepsi grabbed headlines this year with its sweeter-than-usual take on the classic soft drink. The idea, however, was actually first introduced as a sweepstakes prize for 3,000 winners of a 2021 social media contest. This sugary marshmallow drink was only available to 3,000 contest winners who used a Peeps-specific hashtag on social media. This year, stores nationwide will be full of bright yellow, blue and pink cans of liquid Peeps soda.
Other recent Peeps crossovers have included: Dunkin Peeps flavored coffee and donuts; Peeps Oreos by Nabisco; and Kellogg’s Peeps cereal.
Peeps have even crossed out of food entirely and into the realm of fashion. In 2020, Crocs designed a limited edition Peeps X Crocs clogs, coated with sugary yellow, pink and blue glitter. Three large chick-shaped charms fit into the top holes of the shoes.
Katy Perry, befitting her quirky campy persona, has also gotten into the Peeps game. This year, Katy Perry Collections released two styles of sandals: KPC Geli in bright pink, blue and yellow with a Peeps bunny as a toe post and a multi-color pool slide covered in Peeps Bunnies.
You can also wear Peeps on your face and fingers. Makeup brand ColourPop has introduced Peeps-colored lip sticks and eye shadows, and Sally Hansen has teamed up with Peeps to create seven glittery marshmallow shades of nail polish.
Peep shows
Perhaps the most famous non-culinary use of Peeps, however, is in arts and crafts. Many museums, art centers and community organizations across the country hold shows and contests that showcase creations made from Peeps. This phenomenon goes back twenty years, according to brand manager Caitlin Servian.
In 2004, a staff writer for the St. Paul Pioneer Press was tasked with filling space in the paper’s Easter Sunday section, and the Peeps art contest was born. Three years later, the Washington Post followed suit by creating one of the most well-known Peeps Diorama contests in the nation.
One of the oldest annual Peeps exhibitions is the Carroll County Arts Council’s PEEPshow in Westminster, Md. Gwen Asbury, who coordinates the show, said that a former Arts Council executive director entered the Washington Post’s first contest, but didn’t win a prize. But the experience inspired the idea for an exclusively Peeps themed art show in 2008.
Christian Twamley has been creating his art for the PEEPshow for 12 years, incorporating drawing, painting, airbrush, sculpture and woodworking. His art is “influenced by 70’s Saturday morning TV, Pop culture and music. The bright primary colors of Peeps translate well to cartoons,” he said.
A typical build can be as large as seven feet tall, take more than 300 hours to create and contain up to 5,000 assorted Peeps. His “reward comes from seeing the children’s reactions to the oversized sculptures and the bond created by the parents sharing their memories of beloved characters with their children.”
Angel Roberts is another PEEPshow artist who gets her inspiration “from different movies or TV shows that make me smile,” she says. “Putting the Peeps on is a lot of fun,” and her kids “are now old enough that they have started to help with the application, so that adds to the fun!” The money raised from the PEEPshow helps support local arts and other programs for families throughout the year.
So whether you find them nestled in your Easter basket, creating a new flavor combination, adding zest to your favorite soft drink, embellishing your footwear, sweetening your morning cereal, or decorating art sculptures, Peeps have proven they really do have wings.
Mary Lynn Davidek Alpino is a writer in Murrysville.
First Published: April 2, 2023, 4:00 a.m.