NEW ULM - The Brandl triplets - Jean, Jane and Janice - have made headlines their whole lives.
They're turning 50 years old now, and they are once again, in the spotlight.
The three women own several scrapbooks that are filled with newspaper clippings and photographs from all the times they have made the news at various milestones in their lives.
The first time the triplets took the spotlight was with their birth at the Comfrey Hospital. They were born to Joseph and Anna Brandl, a farm couple living between Springfield and Comfrey in Mulligan Township. The couple already had a dozen children before the triplets arrived.
Jean (now Regner) was born first at 10:34 p.m. on Friday, May 27, 1960 weighing about 5 pounds. Jane (now Riederer) came next at 11:21 p.m. Friday weighing 7 pounds, followed by Janice (now Haag) at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 28 weighing 5 pounds, 2 ounces.
Although the babies were not identical triplets, their mother marked their feet for a while to tell them apart.
A newspaper clipping from 1960 stated, "At the hospital, the triplets occupy three of the four cribs in the nursery ... none of the triplets required incubators. The triplets are believed to have been the first multiple birth, excluding twins, in Brown County since the Arthur Seifert quadruplets of Stark Township were born May 3, 1950 at Sleepy Eye Hospital."
The Brandl babies were the first triplets to be delivered by Dr. M. J. Rimas of Comfrey.
Jane said that as triplets they helped "put Comfrey on the map."
With the arrival of the three Brandl baby girls, the girls in the family could now outnumber the boys. Another girl was born after the triplets.
"The Brandls have a large, nine-room home and not pressed for room, said the father. They could use some cribs, however," the newspaper article stated.
Collection containers were set up in Comfrey business places for the Brandl Family.
The Comfrey Hospital board also presented the Brandl family with a $100 check.
The triplets never lacked playmates.
"You always had someone to play with," said Jane.
Their mother always dressed them in similar clothes for pictures. Older sister Patty would hand-sew some of their clothes, too, but many times the girls would wear clothing handed down from the older children or wear store-bought clothing.
"We got a lot of attention," said Janice.
When the girls went to school, they always knew someone in their classes, said Jean.
The girls attended the School of the Japanese Martyrs at Leavenworth until the sixth grade. Then in the seventh grade they went to school in Comfrey.
The triplets did their own studying and never cheated on tests, they said.
Their father farmed 160 acres in addition to milking dairy cows and raising chicken and pigs.
The boys did most of the outside work.
The Brandl triplets remembered having a big garden with lots of vegetables and flowers. The family also had a large apple orchard. The children helped pick the produce when it was mature. They canned pickles, cherries and froze strawberries, too.
Their mother made applesauce, jams and breads. She froze enough apple pies to last until the next apple harvest.
The triplets also remembered how their father would cut their hair, short like their brothers. Then they discovered their neighbor gave haircuts and preferred to go there.
Their mother would not allow them to have long hair until they were old enough to wash it themselves, said Jane.
The girls always seemed to get the same present - maybe it was so they would not fight.
Their family had a station wagon and they would have to sit on their siblings' laps when they traveled somewhere. There was always a fight over whom got to sit by the window.
The triplets remember having to sleep in between their older sisters in bed.
Meals at the Brandl home were shared over two tables pulled together with each sibling in their own special spot.
"We were only allowed one piece of dessert," said Jean.
Following their high school graduation, Jean and Janice worked at Control Data Corporation, in Redwood Falls. Jane worked at Techtronics on Front Street in New Ulm.
It was not too long when all three girls gained employment at 3M in New Ulm. A layoff in 1982 left them unemployed for a while.
Each of the Brandl triplets married and lead their own lives. Most all of the members of their family still get together at Christmas and also for family picnics each summer. Their father died, but their mother is 88 years old and lives at Divine Providence in Sleepy Eye.
Jean, who is a homemaker, married Gene Regner and they have four children and two grandchildren. They live in New Ulm. Jean was always the tallest of the three girls ... and she still is.
Jane married Patrick Riederer, of Sleepy Eye and they have two children. She is employed at Norwood in Sleepy Eye. Jane always had the darkest hair ... and she still does.
Janice, who works at Dittrich Specialities, married Kenny Haag, of New Ulm. They two children. Janice was the triplet born after midnight so she has her own birthday,
But some similarities among the women - they all married men with December birthdays. None of them have had multiple births. They also have all worked as Journal carriers in their lives.
