In this Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013, photo Peeps move through the manufacturing process, at the Just Born factory in Bethlehem, Pa. The innovator of the Peeps dynasty has died.
Matt Rourke, Associated Press
Peeps have become the unofficial official candy of Easter. Just like candy canes are closely associated with Christmas, the highlighter yellow marshmallow chicks and bunnies known as Peeps have become synonymous with Easter treats.
Bob Born, also known was the “Father of Peeps” and the creator of Hot Tamales, died on Sunday. According to NPR, he was in charge of the century-old Just Born Quality Confections. Born graduated from Leigh University with an engineering degree and he enlisted in the U.S. Navy.
Born debated whether or not to go to medical school and instead, he decided to enter the candy business. Per NPR, he and another engineer designed the machine to create marshmallows. Just Born Quality Confections under Born’s tutelage, the company has produced Peeps, Hot Tamales, Mike and Ikes and Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews.
NBC News reported, “Born and an engineer built a machine to make the marshmallows quicker, churning out the candies in under six minutes. While there were some modifications over the years, the company continued to use one resembling the one Born developed.” Born died at 98 and is remembered as an innovator in the candy making sphere.
How Peeps were made
Bob Born is the founder of Peeps.
In 1953, Just Born Quality Confections bought out Rodda Candy Company to buy its jelly bean making devices, according to NBC Boston. After acquiring the company, Born discovered workers in the factory who were hand-piping Peeps and so he decided to automate the process and create Peeps as we know them today.
Each year, two billion Peeps are made, per NBC Boston. They are made at the factory in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The factory has become so famous that “the city of Bethlehem proclaimed the first day of the Easter season as ‘Bob Born Day,’” per NPR.