Peeps

   Peeps are a marshmallow candy that you can find during the most exciting times of the year like Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and  Valentine's day.  People either like peeps or they don't, but if you do you usually love them. That delicious first bite into the soft, fluffy, and sweet marshmallow treat with the little tiny bit of crunch from the sugar outside is so memorable and makes you crave more.  That box of peeps is probably gone pretty fast.  I decided to do some research and find out the history of this marshmallow treat.
   In 1953 the Just Born Candy Company bought the Rhodda Candy Company and acquired their marshmallow chick line.  These treats were each hand made and Bob Born loved the little chicks.  In 1954 Bob Born created machines that could make multiple candy chicks at a time and during this year the Just Born Candy Company became the biggest marshmallow candy company in the world. This is also when the candy obtained the name of peeps.  The original peeps only came in the shapes of chicks but in 1958 that all began to change when the pumpkin peep was introduced for Halloween. Soon to follow were snowmen and Christmas trees for the Christmas season in 1960. In 1975 peeps entered the sports zone and produced football shaped peeps.  In 1977 the teddy bear peep was introduced and in 1980 the giant peep marshmallow bunny was born. In 1995 the lavender chick peep was introduced and in 1998 the blue chick peep was introduced, before this they were only sold in the colors of white, pink, or yellow. In 1999 peeps reached the digital world and http://www.marshmallowpeeps.com/ was launched. Also during this year vanilla peeps were introduced and these were the first flavored peeps on the market. 1999 really was a big year for the company because they also launched their first peep commercial on national TV. In 2002 peeps became musical and released a CD, the Marshmallow Peeps Sing Along which included 14 different songs. In 2002 peeps also introduced the marshmallow star for the summer season. In 2003 the successful candy celebrated their 50th anniversary.  In 2007 they introduced the sugar free peep and in 2008 they introduced peeps in the shape of the word "joy"-the first peeps to be word-shaped. In 2009 peeps had a huge achievement when they opened the peeps and company store.  In 2010 peeps introduced chocolate covered peeps.
    Peeps have been around for quite some time and although they started only as a marshmallow chick, which is still very popular and a classic, they have grown and added many new shapes and flavors.  Whether you like the flavor of these marshmallow treats or not, peeps are very cute and really do brighten up many holiday treat plates.

Information from:
http://inventors.about.com/od/foodrelatedinventions/a/marshmallows_2.htm
http://www.marshmallowpeeps.com/about/history
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peeps

Picture from:
http://puppybunnyguineapretty.wordpress.com/tag/peeps/