Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet here: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/Roscoe Rodda was in the fight of his life. His candy factory was right down the road from Milton Hershey’s—yes, THAT Hershey’s—and he needed to set himself apart. So Roscoe embraced a single holiday to get the competitive confectionery edge: Easter. Chocolate eggs, jellybeans… and a secret treat painstakingly sculpted behind closed doors: a marshmallow chick with inquisitive waxy black eyes. These chicks circulated in obscurity until a Navy engineer-turned- candymaker molded them into a squishy, sugary phenomenon. (Today, 1.5 billion Peeps are eaten worldwide, just during Easter alone.) Find out how Peeps went from secretive snack to Easter GOAT—and why some people love ‘em, some hate ‘em, but everyone loves exploding them in the microwave. Here’s why Peeps are the best idea yet.Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet for the untold origin stories of the products you’re obsessed with — and the bold risk takers who made them go viral.Episodes drop every Tuesday, listen here: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/—-----------------------------------------------------GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts FOR MORE NICK & JACK: Newsletter: https://tboypod.com/newsletter Connect with Nick: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/ Connect with Jack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/ SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Full Episode
Yeah, it is Nick and Jack here coming at you from the T-Boys studio. On our weekly show, The Best Idea Yet, we go deep on the most popular products of all time. And we recently did a whole story on the most important product of this moment, pizza. Because odds are, statistically speaking, this is the one weekend of the year you're indulging in Peeps yellow marshmallow candies.
We're looking at you. Now, since stock markets are closed today for Good Friday, Jack and I whipped up a treat for you. Literally. We're dropping the entire episode that we just did on Peeps. And then, after you listen to this episode, make sure to go to the show page of The Best Idea Yet to get new episodes every week. So follow The Best Idea Yet. In the meantime, here is the untold wild origin.
If you were a holiday, Jack, the holiday I think you would most identify with is Labor Day. Going with Labor Day. I'm intrigued. Why do you say this, Nick? Jack, I know you appreciate a short bathing suit to wear. I know you're proud of your thighs. I know you want to show those things off. You can do that. On a Labor Day beach. So you're just thinking about like the seasonality of Labor Day.
Yeah, yeah, kind of. Not the meaning of like valuing work. No, I'm talking superficially, Jack. You appreciate Tommy Bahamas. I think you have like three of the umbrellas. I have four of the chairs. Right. You like to bring people together at the beach. You're handing out coladas to everyone. I actually bring sliced limes for the Coronas to make the beach experience that much better.
Jack, as a holiday, you are joy, you are summer, you are happiness, you are Labor Day. I am so flattered with that labeling. I gotta say, I didn't put a ton of thought into your holiday. That's very Labor Day of you because, you know, it's kind of like you're taking a vacation from doing too much thinking over Labor Day. Yeah. All right. What holiday do you identify with? Thanksgiving Eve.
I really like to associate with Thanksgiving Eve. Does that mean you like going out to the bars until midnight with all your high school buddies? Well, you know, anticipation is often more fun than the event. And with Thanksgiving, it really is about getting people together before you have to do the real Thanksgiving, right? So, Jack, I identify most with Thanksgiving Eve.
You identify most with Labor Day. But it's not just people who associate with holidays. If you think about it, there are products associated with very particular holiday events. I'm thinking of one product in particular because... We're talking in this episode about a candy most often associated with Easter. Yes. Or the microwave. We're talking about Peeps. Wow.
Thank you, Destiny's Child, for that one. Nick, tell the people, are you pro-peep or anti-peep? Well, Jack, as a podcast host, you know we've got to drive strong opinions on this show, right? Yeah, you either love it or you hate it. So for the sake of the comment section, I am pro-peep. Nick, I'll be honest, I've never eaten one. Like, they are that intimidating to me.
Peeps are a surprisingly polarizing product. Not just around the way they taste, but around who invented them in the first place. There is a mystery at the heart of this squishy marshmallow story. Because the heart of this whodunit lies in the secret back room of a candy company in Pennsylvania, Dutch country. Secret back room?
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