100 Year Tradition Continues As Customers Pick Up Cannolis At Termini Brothers Bakery

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A sweet honor for a Philadelphia bakery.  The city is celebrating the bakery's 100th anniversary.

In honor of this milestone, Philadelphia issued a proclamation to Termini Brothers Bakery on Friday, and that also means 100 years of cannolis.

People showed up bright and early Friday morning for their Christmas Eve cannolis.

"It's what I've been doing for 30 something years," Joe Achuff said.

Traditions matter. So for hours before Termini Brothers opened Christmas Eve morning, folks waited in line for their special Christmas dessert.

"Had to get the cannoli," Jim Curcio said. "Came out for the cannoli today."

"Over 25 years of this and we do it for the tradition and for the pastry. Always look forward to this," Joe Giralo said.

The doors to the 100-year-old bakery were unlocked by Vince Termini Sr. -- he's the owner and has been at the bakery his entire life. 

"My tradition is opening that door Christmas eve at 6 o'clock," Termini Sr. said.

Once the doors finally opened at 6 a.m., lines stretched through the kitchen. Folks could watch as their Christmas dessert of ricotta cheese, chocolate chips, whipping cream, and sugar was being made by hand.

And while this tradition has been going on for 100 years, it almost didn't happen this year. A key piece of equipment ended up breaking.

Less than a month ago, the bakery's 80-year-old dough breaker broke. It's the machine that produces the cannoli shells. It was imported from Italy and a replacement would've taken months. They had to call in a few favors and eventually got the maker fixed just in time for the Christmas rush. 

"Thank god," Termini Sr. said. "God was good to us."

"Oh that was a headache," he added. "They never told me until it was fixed. They figured I'd get sick over it."

And so the traditions of the bakery, the pastry, and the wait live on.

"Tradition," Suzanne Sauder said. "My grandmother, just family time and of course the pastries."

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