Boxed in sets of five, Peeps are marshmallow candies, created by a Russian immigrant and hatched each Easter season at a factory in Bethlehem Pennsylvania. Over the years peeps have become diverse, first expanding from the original yellow chick to an array of pastels. Next came bunnies and then in a recent campaign the candy has been touted as “Peeps – Always in Season” and they’ve started making them in other shapes, like ghosts at Halloween. They are made from marshmallow, corn syrup, gelatin, and carnauba wax.

People are obsessed by peeps. There’s even a documentary about “The Power of the Peep” that premiered in 2009 and took home an award at the NYC Food Film Fest.

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There are Peep eating contests, Peep Throwing contests and over 30,000 You Tube video’s featuring peeps- many of which concentrate on destroying Peeps. Peeps are sometimes jokingly described as “indestructible”. In 1999, scientists at Emory University performed experiments on batches of Peeps to see how easily they could be dissolved, burned or otherwise disintegrated, using such agents as cigarette smoke, boiling water and liquid nitrogem. They claimed that the eyes of the confectionery “wouldn’t dissolve in anything.” Furthermore, Peeps are insoluble in acetone, water, diluted sufuric acid and sodium hydroxcide, according to Wikipedia.

Peep shows have popped up around the country. No, not that kind of peep-get your mind out of the gutter. Peep art shows. Photo contests, peeps in doranma’s, themed events like peep-powered works of art. Peeps have been made into prom dresses, jewelry and even dipped in chocolate, for the newest Peep treat.

Well now DaytonDining is getting into the peep show business.

Post an original peep work of art on our DaytonDining Facebook page by Sunday, April 24th and we’ll award our favorite peep art a $100 gift certificate to Fleming’s Prime Steak House & Wine Bar. We’ll notify and post the winner on Monday, April 25th.