Bob Born

Ira Brahm "Bob" Born (September 29, 1924 – January 29, 2023) was an American businessperson and inventor in the confectionery industry. For more than thirty years, he was president of Just Born, a family-owned candy manufacturer founded by his father Sam Born. Bob became known as the "Father of Peeps" for automating the production of an Easter marshmallow treat, and also developed the candy Hot Tamales. He graduated from Lehigh University in 1944 with a degree in Engineering Physics. During World War II, he served on a destroyer in the United States Navy. After the war, Born studied graduate-level math and physics at the University of Arizona and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was accepted into medical school but did not start classes, instead started work in his father's company.

Career

In 1945, Born joined his father's company, Just Born. In 1950, he developed a process to turn unused Mike and Ike candies into a new product, Hot Tamales, by remelting them and adding hot cinnamon flavor. In 1953, the company acquired the Rodda Candy Company, known for its jelly beans. Rodda also made novelty marshmallow chicks, Peeps, as early as 1925. The manual process took 27 hours to produce one. By studying the process and designing a simpler Peep, Born, along with another engineer, created an automated system that took only 6 minutes to produce one.

Born became president of the company in 1959.

Personal life Born was married three times. He was first married to Maxine Appell, a healthcare professional. They had a son, born in 1953, and a daughter. He next married Elaine Selwyn; they were together until her death in 2008. At the time of his death, he was married to Patricia Guggenheim. He died at his home in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, on January 29, 2023.