Earlier this week, I was in a Dollar Tree Store.

Okay, everything in the store is now $1.25, but I don’t think they want to go through re-branding, through new signage and everything that entails.

Towards the front of the store, they’ll often display seasonal items like skeleton mugs in October or shamrock adorned headbands at the beginning of March.

Sure enough, only two steps into the store, I was greeted with what was left of a giant Peeps display.  I say, “what was left” because at bargain prices, the large yellow boxes that contained individual packages had largely been emptied.

That marshmallow candy known for its juvenile colors (bright yellow, neon pink, screaming baby blue) and shapes (chicks, bunnies, bears, and hearts) are sold all year but are most popular as items in an Easter basket.

Some people can wax on about Peeps, about their favorite colors and flavors, about whether they prefer to eat them fresh or, as many people do, prefer to ingest them after they’ve become a bit hardened.

Some people think they’re the most charming and playful of sweet treats.  Others think they’re the most terrifying food in the world.

All you need do to get the story behind Peeps is to check out Wikipedia, although Google can direct you to other articles that can provide insights on the fascination and controversy.

It is unclear when the first Peep was consumed. In 1953, their manufacturer, Just Born, adapted mass production and started adding different shapes. Initially, the marshmallows were hand-formed into the shape of baby chicks and made fresh every day, as if they were “just born.”

And their popularity grew. More than a candy, they became a sort of cultural phenomenon.

Peeps were associated with creativity.

The Racine Art Museum holds an annual International Peeps Art Exhibition in the spring. Open to anyone, they invite contributions that highlight “Peep-powered art.”

There are all sorts of Peep contests. Peep jousting involves placing two Peep chicks in a microwave and seeing which one puffs up the most.

There is an annual Peep-eating contest held in front of the Peeps & Company store.  The winner in 2017 consumed 255 Peeps in five minutes.  (And I thought Nathan’s 4th of July hot dog eating contest was extreme. The record for outlandish consumption there is seventy-six dogs in ten minutes.)

I found a wonderful article and audio clip from 2002 featuring NPR interviews with passersby, asking the question “How do you eat your Peeps?”

At the time, twenty years ago, Americans purchased 600 million Peeps a year. The article was clear that this amount probably did not equal “consumption.” As the article notes,  “Some become art, some become pets, and some are tortured by mad scientists trying to discover what a Peep’s breaking point is.”

They’re fun and silly and unnecessary and not nourishing … Maybe they’re bad (I prefer not use the term “terrifying”) if you make a steady diet of them.

They can be stretched, frozen, or microwaved.  Some people like to eat them head-first. Others prefer to lead with their butts when dropping them down their throats.

Engaging with Peeps, figuring out what your favorite one is, whether you like eating your sugar-coated marshmallow treats fresh or stale, imagining life around a barnyard populated by Peep animals, all talking with each other…imagining they had their own lives…

Giving yourself the privilege of playing is no small thing.