Waynesboro landmark closes its doors




Waynesboro’s only dry cleaning business is closing its doors.

Waynesboro’s only dry cleaning business is closing its doors.

Waynesboro’s only remaining dry cleaning business will close at the end of the month, taking with it memories that stem from 1939.

Victoria Broome Daniel (Miss Vic) was born in McBean, but she lived in Waynesboro her entire married life. She received a teaching degree from the Junior college of Augusta in 1930 and taught school before becoming a local businesswoman in 1939 when she opened up Daniel’s Cleaners.

“It was just something that she wanted to do,” said her son Joe Daniel.

Back in 1939, there was a row of buildings that made up a lot of downtown Waynesboro. The original Daniel’s Cleaners sat where there is a parking lot today. The parking lot is next to the dry cleaner’s current location on Shadrack Street. Joe’s childhood memories include getting up early to accompany his mother to the Shadrack location before he went to school.

“I slept under the bags while she worked until I walked to school just down the street,” he said. As a teenager, he delivered pressed clothes to the customers’ homes. As the years moved on, Joe would assist his mother as needed.

Susan and Joe Daniel will continue taking in clothes until January 31.

Susan and Joe Daniel will continue taking in clothes until January 31.

“She was kind of hard-headed and liked to do it all herself,” he said. However around 1985, he left his position with the Forestry Commission to help his mother full time as her health began to decline.

A May 4, 2012 article in The True Citizen stated that after 65 years in the dry cleaning business, Miss Vic had been asked time and time again when she was going to retire. But she was determined as ever to continue working. She continued to put in 12-hour shifts on most days during the week, up until she slipped and fell outside one morning and cracked a vertebra in the process, the article states. Several days passed before she even sought medical help, thus proving her dedication to her job. She continued working until the pain became unbearable.

“She’s got to be about dead for her not to come out here,” her daughter Nancy Randolph said at the time.

Joe stands next to an operable machine still used today, that his mother used to take the wrinkles out of cuffs, collars and sleeves.

Joe stands next to an operable machine still used today, that his mother used to take the wrinkles out of cuffs, collars and sleeves.

Miss Vic was also an avid golfer. She was a member of the Waynesboro Country Club Ladies’ Golf Association. She and Mrs. Emily Cox were honored by the Waynesboro Ladies Golf Association for their long-time membership, dating back to 1954. An April 21, 2010, notice in The True Citizen marked Miss Vic’s 100th birthday.

“I believe she has given up golf, but still goes into her business often, with the help of her daughter and son, Nancy and Joe. I don’t think she goes in at 5 a.m. like she used to. Vic was raised on a farm and she grew up working hard that is all she has ever known … maybe hard work is the secret to living to be 100 years old,” the article states.

“She was up here (at the dry cleaners) even when she was 100 years old,” Joe’s wife, Susan, said recently “She would come and sit in the corner. She wanted to help; this is all she ever did.”

However, sitting still wasn’t one of Miss Vic’s strongest attributes. Even in her senior years, she would get up and start looking through the rack of clothes, checking the quality of the work. Miss Vic knew nearly everyone who walked through the door. Even more astonishing is that she recognized garments and could say what article of clothing belonged to what customer. Miss Vic died in 2011.

Nearly 12 years later, Joe and Susan, a retired teacher, have decided to close the doors. Susan is looking forward to spending more time with their grandchildren. Like his mother, Joe is enthusiastic about having more time to play golf.

Astonishingly, the racks inside are lined with customers’ clothes and benches contain pants waiting to be pressed. The business has no shortage of loyal customers as it prepares to close. Joe and Susan will take in garments until January 31 and will work until the last garment is pressed and returned. The decision to shut down was not an easy one and Joe and Susan hate to leave the community without a dry cleaning business.

“We have some great, loyal customers that have been with us forever,” Susan said and mentioned the couple is not against someone purchasing the established business. The building hosts many machines, including some of the original equipment used by Miss Vic. Over the years, Joe learned how to keep the machines in good repair. However, the dry cleaning business is not a venture in which most anyone would be interested.

“It’s a hard business,” Susan said. “It’s hard work. You have to care about what you are doing. It’s a precise trade; you have to know how to do it.”

Christy Ervin was the first customer to hear that the dry cleaner was shutting down. She has been utilizing the Daniels’ service as an adult for about 20 years. However as a child, she accompanied her mom when she dropped off clothing. She is just one of many customers that Joe has seen grow up during his time of running the business.

“I don’t like it,” Ervin said about the prospect of finding another place to do business. “This is the only dry cleaner’s I have ever been to.”

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