At 104, NYC Woman Credits Hot Dogs and Chicken Fingers for Surviving 2 Pandemics

Are healthy living and exercise the tickets to a long life? Maybe, but for one New York City woman, she says the key is much simpler — and much more enjoyable.

Elaine Terry celebrated her 104th birthday on Wednesday, complete with a party surrounded by family, friends and caregivers from her assisted living facility. The group sang happy birthday to her, and the centenarian blow out the candles on her lovely pink cake out without any help.

The party comes after Terry contracted and overcame COVID — at the tender age of 102.

Elaine Terry was born in Ohio, but moved to New York to break into show business. She went on to sing commercial jingles and sang on the radio.

But this wasn’t the first pandemic that Terry lived through. Born in 1918, she grew up during and lived through the Spanish Flu that ravaged the world at that time.

Terry was born in Ohio, but moved to the Big Apple at the age of 16 to try and make it in show business, said Wendy Steinberg of RiverSpring Living, which operates the facility where Terry lives. She sang on the radio in those early days, doing commercial jingles. She even crossed paths with Joan Rivers and the Rat Pack, back in the day.

And while her radio days are behind her, Steinberg said that Terry attributes her longevity to two things: hot dogs and chicken fingers.