One of the most iconic Easter candies comes from Christmas City.
Living among this holiday dissonance is quirky, fun, delightful and strange.
My sweet town of Bethlehem looks like a Hallmark movie set. People here really love Christmas. So. Much. Some businesses keep Christmas trees up year round.
That’s why it floored me when I moved here and learned that Peeps are made right down the street.
What tipped me off was my first Peeps Mobile sighting — a yellow VW bug with giant, yellow Peep on top — tooling around town.
“That’d odd,” I thought. But it’s still Bethlehem. As in, “Oh Little Town Of …”
Peeps — the candy that made it to my Easter basket as a child, in my Alabama Methodist home — come from Christmas City, marrying the two biggest Christian holidays.
Surely Jesus would love Peeps.
A Wall Street Journal article in February talked about visiting a place not at the “best time,” and I can think of no better time to visit Bethlehem than at Easter when the normal tourist season has ebbed. At Christmas, walking down Main Street is magical and busy, yet it feels like the whole world is here. Easter is busy, yet more calm and peaceful.
You could even stay in the Peeps Suite Suite, just down the road.
I moved here from Tuscaloosa, Alabama and have lived here only a year and a half — yet that’s part of what makes me able to see how oddly delightful it is here at Easter. This year, the end of Christmas festivities in Bethlehem bump into an early Easter, which makes it even more odd.
Bethlehem has a Moravian-based tradition and was founded on Christmas Eve in 1741, in a stable while a small group of Moravians were singing a hymn with the stanza “Not Jerusalem, Lowly Bethlehem.”
You can see glimmers of Christmas here year round, even in summer.
So of course Easter trees are a thing here. (In my veterinarian’s office the staff lamented to me that the St. Patrick’s Day tree was short-lived this year because Easter is early. Yes, they also have a Valentine’s Day and Fourth of July tree.)
When Ira “Bob” Born died last year, the community mourned the loss of one of our own. It was Born’s father, Sam, who founded the Just Born candy company, home to the Peeps factory.
Sam Born also created jimmies, now known as sprinkles. This makes me wonder, “What am I even doing with my life?”
With a degree in engineering and physics from Lehigh, the University at which I teach, Bob found that he liked to build production tools for the candy, which formerly were made by hand, a grueling, 27-hour process.
What would he think of the fact that now I could buy a Peeps purse or Peeps Heely’s shoes? (Those are adorable but they would definitely put me in the hospital with a broken neck.)
When I first moved here I went in search of a tour so I could see Peeps in their raw, natural, naked state. Alas, the Peeps factory does not give tours but I have linked to a video tour below, which features naked Peeps! (I do not recommend Googling “naked Peeps”.)
The yellow, pink and blue Peeps of my youth have given way to more inventive colors and flavors. In January, Peeps announced new flavors for this year, including Rice Krispies Treats, ICEE blue raspberry, sour strawberry, and s’mores graham cracker dipped in chocolate (woah).
Earlier this month, DoorDash named Peeps one of the 10 most top-ordered candies.
Just Born got its name when Sam Born displayed an evolving line of daily-made candy in his store window, declaring them “just born,” also a play on this last name.
Today, his little chicks and bunnies are multiplying, well, like rabbits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0sNM5dTuzw&t=1s
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P.S. It is a strange and entertaining experience to be in Christmas City and celebrate Easter, as well as why it’s a great time to visit. I love it here. It is only a quick drive to the Poconos, New York and Philadelphia. Thinking of a future visit to Bethlehem? A few Easter options:
- Peeps in the village, a colorful display of hundreds of creations from Peeps, such as sculptures.
- Easter candy, such as buttercream eggs from Josh Early Candies and bunnies from Chocolate Lab
- Iron Pigs baseball
- Brunch options, such as at Hotel Bethlehem, the #1 Historic Hotel in America for two years.