Peeps
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Pink_peeps.jpg
Peeps are small marshmallow candies which are shaped into baby chickens, rabbits, and other animals. Peeps are primarily used to fill Easter baskets. They are made from marshmallow, sugar, gelatin, and carnauba.
Peeps are usually eaten in one of five ways:
- plain, out of the box
- dried and hardened (sometimes for years).
- microwaved (which makes the marshmallows softball-sized)
- frozen
- roasted over a flame, like a regular mashmallow.
Peeps are made by Just Born, a candy manufacturer based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Just Born claims peeps were introduced in 1953, but most aficionados say that Peeps were originally manufactured by Rodda Candy Company starting in the 1920s. When Just Born acquired Rodda Candy Company in 1953, they automated the process and mass-marketed them. Peeps were first advertised on television in February 1999.
The term "peep" comes from the phrase "A hen and her peeps".
Many lovers of Peeps refer to the period between February 15 and the Sunday after Easter as "Peep Season". In recent years, Just Born has expanded its line to include bats, cats and ghosts for Halloween; hearts for Valentine's Day; trees and gingerbread men for Christmas; and red, white, and blue chicks and stars for the 4th of July.
External links
- Peeps Official Website (http://www.marshmallowpeeps.com/)
- Just Born Official Website (http://www.justborn.com/)
- Tour of Peeps Factory (http://www.marshmallowpeeps.org/pcn.html)
- "Peeps Links" fan website (http://geekbabe.com/peeps/)
- Peep FAQ (http://geekbabe.com/peeps/peepfaq.html)
- Peep Research (http://www.peepresearch.org/index.html)
- Marshmallow Peeps: Harbingers of Doom for the Human Race? (http://www.geocities.com/nodotus/peeps.html) A treatise by Hermester Barrington