Identical Twins Celebrate 100 Years of Friendship, Family and Red Hair Dye

Dec. 22, 2009— -- Feisty and determined, Ann Primack and Charlotte Eisgrou say they know the secret to longevity:

Good genes, good food, lots of milk and no alcohol.

"I mean, they can drink a little bit if they want to," Primack quickly corrected herself. "But don't overdo it."

Born prematurely at 3.5 pounds each in an east Chicago apartment in 1909, the identical twins will turn 100 years old this week.

"We lived a good life," Eisgrou told ABCNews.com from her Daytona Beach, Fla., home, where she lives independently in a condo.

"I'm here. I might as well be happy," Primack said of turning 100. "I can't go back, can I?"

They've lived through two world wars, the Great Depression and have outlived both of their husbands. They admit to a steady string of minor squabbles over the years, but spoke of decades of love, friendship and practical jokes.

"We love each other and we always will," Primack said.

Their favorite identical twin prank as adults? Switching husbands at temple to fool their fellow congregants.

"Nobody ever knew the difference. And by the time they found out, they were hysterical," Eisgrou said. "We had so much fun."

For all the similarities they share, there are some contrasts. While they both used to dye their hair red, Primack let hers grow out to a natural gray when the dye began to bother her scalp.

But Eisgrou keeps the color on.

"I didn't want to go all gray," she said. "Everybody tells me 'you look younger.'"

"They are very funny," Jerry Primack, Ann's son, told ABCNews.com. "They bicker constantly."

Primack, who lives with a caregiver in Tamarac, Fla., described herself as the flashier twin who was once a flapper in the 1920s, and liked the short dresses that were the uniform of that era. She likes fast music, she said, while Eisgrou had more classic tastes.

"Charlotte was not far behind me, but she didn't like dresses if they were too short," she told ABCNews.com.

"I was just as flashy as she was," Eisgrou shot back when she heard her sister's description of the two, pointing out that it was she who owned a car while Primack never learned to drive.

Eisgrou drove her own vehicle until a little more than a year ago when, at age 99, her son finally took away the keys, arguing that Eisgrou was too old to be behind the wheel and that the streets of Daytona Beach had gotten too dangerous for her.

"She didn't like that," Primack said. "She cried and cried and cried."