Thursday, February 9, 2023

The inventor of the "Peeps machine" has left us

 

I suppose most of us had never heard of Ira Born, but it turns out he probably played quite an important role in our (younger) lives.


Ira “Bob” Born, a candy company executive known as the “Father of Peeps” for pioneering the way the chick-shaped candies are made, has died, Just Born Quality Confections announced on Monday.

He was 98.

Born, who died Sunday, was the son of Just Born’s founder, Sam Born, joining the Pennsylvania-based company after he left the Navy following World War II.

“He was an inventor whose amazing intellect allowed him to see solutions to almost any situation,” Just Born said in a press release.

“Most notable was his ability to see how Peeps, which were made by hand, could be produced in a mechanical manner. Bob designed the machine that deposits the Peeps Marshmallow Chicks, and his machine was in use for well over 50 years. Bob’s design became the basis for the current marshmallow depositing systems.”


There's more at the link.

I'd never eaten a Peep until I came to the USA, whereupon I did my best to make up for lost time.  They're fun candies for the Easter season.  I daresay many tens of millions of Americans owe him many of their childhood memories.

Of course, if you eat too many of them, you may suffer from dys-Peep-sia . . .



Peter


6 comments:

Tregonsee said...

The gentleman made it to 98 and provided many children (and adults!) with joy. He did well I'd say. I'd known that New Born was the company name but never realized Born was the family name of the owners.

One issue in my family is whether Peeps should be consumed fresh out of the box (referred to as raw by some here) or should be allowed to age (referred to as stale by the fresh faction) with the cellophane punctured for a couple days. Split in my family is 50/50 I am of the fresh faction :-) .

Michael said...

Nice story, thanks for sharing.

However, you might want to look at this Peter:

https://voxday.net/2023/02/09/russias-new-red-lines/

I'd take a hard look at prime nuclear targeting in your area and upwind.

Praying for wisdom as District of Criminals Clown World with Nukes is playing.

Old NFO said...

Snort... Peter!!!

Anonymous said...

Peeps should only be eaten after the opened package has been left in the fridge for a week or more. Yeolm!

Hamsterman said...

I'm glad they never made a version for May 1st called 'Power to the Peeps!'

Cedar said...

Toasting peeps over the fire results in gooey center marshmallow with a crisp candy coating. Yum!