Williamstown Woman Celebrates 100th BirthdayBy Melanie Rancourt
Special to iBerkshires
10:06AM / Monday, December 29, 2008
 | | Mandy Daniels |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A postage stamp cost 2 cents, a loaf of bread cost 5 cents and a new home — only $4,500.
Those prices may be unimaginable now, but when Clementina "Mandy" Daniels was born in North Adams 100 years ago, those prices were the reality.
Family and friends gathered at Sweet Brook Care on Sunday to celebrate Daniels' 100th birthday, a celebration that was pushed back one week because of snowstorm.
Born Dec. 22, 1908, Daniels grew up the only daughter in a family of seven. Her mother died when the children were very young, so Daniels helped raise her brothers.
"I had three older brothers and three younger brothers," she said. "I was quite a tomboy. I liked to climb trees and play football. We were all very close."
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Photos by Melanie Rancourt
.jpg) Family and friends gathered to mark Mandy Daniels 100 years. |
Daniels grew up on Walnut Street in North Adams. When she was 21, she married her husband, Joseph, on Labor Day in 1929. A few years later, the young couple built a home on Power Street in Adams. It was there they raised their only son, John.
Daniels worked most of her life. She was a longtime employee of the former Jarisch Box Co. in North Adams, and retired only 15 years ago when she turned 85.
"I thought it was time to quit after that," Daniels said. She's outlived the company, which was shuttered not long after she left.
When asked what she remembered the most of her younger years, Daniels described the many family parties that were held in the back yard of her Adams home.
"There was always lots of fun, food, and croquet playing," Daniels said. "My husband worked very hard when we entertained. I owe it all to him."
The Daniels family is five generations strong. Mandy Daniels has two grandchildren, a grandson, John Anthony in Texas, and a granddaughter, Pamela Jean in Iowa. She has six great-grandchildren and seven great-great-grandchildren.
Rusty Daniels made the drive from Boston to celebrate with his great–grandmother.
"I have many nice memories of my great-grandmother's house," he said. "I remember being outdoors and all the food. It is a beautiful house. Mount Greylock could be seen in the distance and, in the winter, I remember all the Christmas decorations. The house is still in the family and in years to come, I would love to live there and raise a family of my own.”
On Saturday nights for almost 40 years, Daniels' late husband would cook square pizzas for the family. Her vivid memory of him cutting the pizza with scissors made her smile.
“He was the best pizza maker,” she said.
Daniels was famous in the family for making her favorite dinner, spaghetti and meatballs. When asked why it was her favorite, she simply responded, "It was easy to make."
While she's seen a lot over the century, Daniels said it was the change in her hometown's Main Street that struck her most.
"There were so many stores on Main Street and they were always so busy," Daniels recalled. "I remember eating mochas [sundaes] at Apothecary Hall, which was a drug store on Main Street. You could buy anything you wanted at W.T Grant's store, and there was also J.J. Newberry's and Woolworth's, and they are all gone now."
As more and more family members arrived for the party, many recalled the big celebrations that Daniels had for her 90th and 95th birthdays. It was only three years ago that Daniels had to leave her home in Adams and move to Sweet Brook.
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"I have lived such a long life because of all the good food I have eaten, including my favorite, Italian cookies," Daniels laughed.
Bet Azar of Adams and Bernadette Eastman of North Adams talked fondly of their aunt as she was wheeled into the party room.
"Our aunt is an amazing woman," Azar and Eastman said. "Her sense of humor is exceptional. We will always remember the parties. She has always been there for her family for every First Communion, college graduation and holiday."
Daniels said if she had one bit of advice for young people today it would be simply, "Be good!" |
