They Are Not My Favorites!
I really enjoy candies that have chocolate and nougat and nuts as their chief components. When marshmallows or marshmallow crème becomes part of the recipe, I am not as enthused; however, I still do not pass up one or six servings several times during the Easter and Hallowe’en seasons, and I am not loathe to finish off the extras left in the pantry after the seasons are long gone.
On the other hand, my brother-in-law Bob always lets my Mom know that they are still the favorite, or one of the favorites, on his list, and she regularly has them in her room for him when he and my sister, Ann, visit.
In 1954, BOB BORN found a way to make it possible to produce literally millions of the candies per week, and this family-owned Business is still today the tenth largest candy company in the United States.
Mechanization was and still is the secret to producing so many and inexpensive enough for young and old alike to enjoy them without “breaking the bank!” Instead of employing pastry tubes to hand-shape the bunny and chick-shaped marshmallow soft, sweet, luminously colorful candies, this “Father of Peeps” invented a way to cut production time for runs to six minutes instead of 27 hours.
The company is called “Just Born Quality Confections,” and Bob Born devoted a very large portion of his life to finding solutions to just about any mechanical question—enough so that February 15 is now known as “Bob Born Day”—and the company has a workforce of more than 600 folks in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and produces various candies (Hot Tamales, Mike and Ike, etc.) in addition to PEEPS.
They are carrying on this master’s traditions and values in the same manner that Bob would have wanted now that he has recently passed on peacefully at the young age (for him) of 98 years. And he had been continuing what his father, Sam Born (a Russian immigrant), started in 1923!
Bob joined up with the company in 1945 with a degree in engineering physics and after a stint in the U. S. Navy. He had been accepted into medical school but fell in love with candy making while waiting for classes to begin.
A Born quote: “I am amazed at the crazy artwork and games people come up with when it comes to our Peeps. I’m constantly surprised at how many contests take place all over, and I could not be more delighted.” (Rickie Report, 2013)
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