Just Born and the Foundation of Peeps: A Conversation with Ross Born in Bethlehem, New York City, 1924-2011
In 1953, Just Born acquired Rodda Candy Co., a jelly bean maker that had a side business producing shaped marshmallow candies by hand. At the time, it took about 27 hours to make the marshmallows.
Bob Born also came up with the recipe for another popular Just Born candy, Hot Tamales. Just Born makes peanut chews as well as fruit chews.
Peeps have been around since the early 1950s when Just Born bought a smaller candy company that had been making the marshmallow candy by hand. Born used his engineering skills to “mechanize the marshmallow-forming process,” reducing the time it took to make a Peeps package from 27 hours to just 6 minutes,” according to the company’s website. He earned the nickname of theFather of Peeps.
In 1924 he was born in New York City. Just Born was founded by his father, Sam. The family relocated to Bethlehem a few years later, where the company still operates.
Ross Born said his father was a true man and was generous with his talents.
Bob Born grew up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, graduating from the University with a degree in engineering physics. He was a lieutenant on a destroyer in the Pacific and worked as a radar specialist. He was sent by the Navy to the University of Arizona to do graduate work in math and physics.
Born was accepted into medical school, but while he was waiting for class to start, he went to work at Just Born. He fell in love with the candy business and decided to stay.
A Conversation with Mark H. O’Malley in his Final Years in Florida and the Posthumous Stroke in his Eighty Years of Life
He spent most of his retirement in Florida, where he led a literacy program and enjoyed hobbies including photography. He was active until a few months before he died, when he had a difficult recovery after a hard fall.