11 Things You Didn’t Know About Peeps
With Easter comes the squishy goodness of Peeps, and here, some fun trivia you’ll enjoy almost as much as the chickadees themselves
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B.A.E. Inc. / Alamy
Peeps Nation
En español | Ninety-four years ago, Sam Born opened a little candy store in Brooklyn selling daily-made confections he boasted were fresh because they were “just born.” In 1953, the Just Born company began producing marshmallow chicks called Peeps, and the sugary, squishy treats now have a huge, devoted following. Here are 11 things we bet you didn’t know about the iconic Easter candy.
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Just Born Quality Confections
They Make Millions in Minutes
It used to take 27 hours to make a single Peep because each one was hand-squeezed from a pastry tube. That was in 1953. Now it takes six min.utes, thanks to owner Sam Born’s son, Bob, who mechanized the process in 1954 with a special machine still used today.
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Just Born Quality Confections
White Is Back In
Yellow and white were the original Peep chick colors, but white has been on hiatus for the past decade. Due to popular demand, white was reintroduced.
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Shutterstock
Chicks Beat Bunnies
It may be Easter, but chicks still outsell bunnies. In fact, 4 out of every 5 Peeps purchased are chicks.
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Tripplarr Kristoffer/Newscom
They Can Circle the Earth
An average 5.5 million Peeps are made every day, adding up to 2 billion Peeps a year — enough to circle the Earth three times.
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Malcolm Park/Getty Images
George Would Approve
Got some extra Peeps? You could stack 2,664 Peep bunnies in a straight line to match the height of the Washington Monument.
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They Even Have Their Own Store
Where is there a huge, cuddly Peep? At the first Peeps & Company store, which opened in 2009 just outside Washington, D.C., at the new National Harbor waterfront center.
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Shutterstock
Some Like 'Em Stale
Do you like your Peeps fresh or stale? Evidently many love them fresh and fluffy, right out of the box, while others insist they’re better if left out for a week to get firm and “mature,” as the company likes to describe it.
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David M. Goehring/Creative Commons
Foodies Love Them
Google “Peeps recipes” and you’ll find every possible Peep permutation, including Peep fondue, Peep sushi, Peep pizza, Peepsicles, even Peeps pots de crème.
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The Washington Post/Getty Images
Artists Love Them, Too
Peep fans are endlessly inventive. For 10 years, the annual Washington Post Peeps Diorama Contest drew 700-plus entries re-creating Peep versions of everything and everyone from famous politicians (“Presipeep Obama”) to famous paintings (“Nightpeeps”).
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Eric Chan/Creative Commons
No Joke, They Even Joust
Peeps jousting is unexplainably popular. Put two Peeps on a plate facing each other, each inserted with a toothpick that sticks out in front like a lance. Heat in microwave. The Peeps will expand until one’s toothpick “stabs” the other and becomes the winner.
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Courtesy of Prairie Farms Dairy
Now, You Can Drink Your Peeps
Can you believe, Peeps-flavored milk? Yup, Prairie Farms milk offers four Peeps flavors for Easter. Frankly, at a whopping 37 grams of sugar in an 8-ounce serving (about as much as in 12 ounces of Coca-Cola), this is really more like drinking Peeps with a little calcium.
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