Editing Peeps (section)

===R. E. Rodda Candy Company===
The R.E. Rodda Candy Company (347 Church Street, Lancaster, Pennsylvania) was founded in 1908, capitalized at $300,000 by financiers from Baltimore, New York, Cincinnati and several Pennsylvania cities.<ref>"A New Industry: The R. E. Rodda Company Will Begin with 100 Employees". ''Lancaster Intelligencer Journal'', 22 August 1908, 1.</ref> Roscoe E. Rodda (1862-1941), a Board of Directors member and its first president, had previously managed candy manufacture in Detroit and Cincinnati. By 1915 the firm was shipping high-quality products nationwide and to South America and Europe.<ref>"Rodda Secures the Controlling Interest in Headley Company". ''Lancaster (PA) Examiner'', 22 December 1915, 8.</ref>

By the 1930s-40s, its products included chocolates, hard candies, jelly beans and "jelly eggs". It is uncertain when manufacture of marshmallow items began, but by 1948—and previous to any association of the product with Sam Born or [[Just Born]]—Pennsylvania retailers were selling "Rodda marshmallow peeps" <ref>"Shuman's Cut Rate Store—With Everything For Easter". ''Gettysburg Times'', 12 March 1948, 2 ("Rodda Marshmallow Peeps")</ref> or "Rodda Easter peeps".<ref>"Grand Union is Tops at Keeping Prices Low" (advertisement). ''The Times-Leader'' (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania), 3 April 1952, 18 ("Rodda Easter Peeps").</ref><ref>"A&P Super Markets" (advertisement). ''The Express'' (Lock Haven, Pennsylvania), 10 April 1952, 15 ("Rodda Peeps—sugar coated marshmallow 'peeps'").</ref>

Though [[Just Born]] took over manufacture in 1953 and developed speedy, mechanized production, the product was retailed nationally for decades in the U.S. as "Rodda Marshmallow Peeps" or "Rodda Easter Peeps", retaining the Rodda name into the mid-1990s.<ref>"Tinker's Bigg and Little" (advertisement, ''Stockton (CA) Record'', 8 April 1963, 24 ("Rodda Easter Peeps—Candy Bunnies and Chicks").</ref><ref>"Gibson's Discount Center" (advertisement). ''The Sunday News and Tribune'' (Jefferson City, Missouri),  22 March 1970, 12 ("Rodda Marshmallow Peeps and Rabbits").</ref><ref>"Eckerd Easter Savings" (advertisement). ''Galveston Daily News'', 15 April 1981, 10 ("Rodda Peeps or Bunnies").</ref><ref>"Bargains in Bloom" (Valu-Rite Pharmacy advertisement). ''Indiana (PA) Gazette'', 27 March 1996, 11 ("Rodda© Marshmallow Peeps and Bunnies").</ref>