TULSA, OK—George P. Prior was honored today at his home, Glory Glen Assisted Living, on having lived for one hundred years. All the residents of the home (all younger than he—he calls them "those youngsters") gathered for cake and punch in the dining room and sang the traditional "Happy Birthday." The Colon was there, and interviewed the newest centenarian. Of course we asked the traditional question on such occasions: "To what do you owe your longevity, Mr. Prior?" Prior's answer came immediately, without any need to think: "Ice cream cones!" He explained that since he had been in elementary school, he had faithfully eaten an ice cream cone every day of his life. It started when his father started him on an allowance. "I got twenty-five cents a week, every Saturday." He quickly added, "I know that don't sound like much, but back then it was a lot of money. That was when a sandwich cost a dime and you could buy a nice dinner at a restaurant for sixty-nine cents. My folks had just bought a nice house in town for under six hundred dollars." Asked what that had to do with ice cream cones, he explained that he could buy an ice cream cone for just a nickel. Five cents. "Every day after school I would walk home, and the drug store with the soda fountain was right on the way. And every day, I would stop and spend a nickel for a cone." We pointed out that a quarter would only buy five cones. "What about the other two days of the week?" "Well, I would do little jobs for the neighbors, like taking out their trash or sweeping their walk. I had to have my cones!" After a few years, Prior's dad increased his allowance to fifty cents. "You know what that meant, of course! Double-dips!" A sad look came over the old man's face. "The war was awful," he said, referring to the Second World War. "I was in the army during the war, in the Italian campaign. No ice cream! Oh, once in a while we could get an Italian 'gelato,' but that stuff is a pitiful excuse for real ice cream. I really think my longing for a real ice cream cone kept up my fighting spirit. I wanted that damn war to end, and quick!" Asked what flavors he prefers, Prior insisted: "It's got to be vanilla! Any other flavor is an abomination and bad for the health. They oughta hang whoever started putting things like coffee and peanut butter in something so good." What kind of cone is best? "Old-fashioned waffle cone, of course. And a real cone, please, with a tip at the bottom, not these new-fangled cup things. How can they call that a 'cone'? But it ain't easy to get those any more. With all the changes they're making, I don't know how much longer I can last!"