Eddie and Selma Holberg House / Selma’s Ice Cream Parlor
Tour Site #4
3419 St Croix Trl S | Google Maps
City of Afton Designated Historic Site
Built around 1880 by the Holberg family, Selma’s is an Afton landmark. Ed Holberg and his brother used the home as an ice cream and confectionary shop with a pool table and piano in the living room. In 1913, Ed married Selma Swanson. The couple lived in the rear of the building. After Ed died in 1936, Selma managed the business alone. She changed the business to a café (serving sandwiches only), then to a tavern serving beer with casino slot machines. The store has been extensively remodeled over the years. Read a story from Selma’s godchild below. See artifacts and photographs from Selma’s on display in the museum.
Selma Holberg in White Dress
Selma’s as a Tavern Selling Beer
Afton resident Phyllis Rosenquist Frederickson was interviewed in 1976. When asked about Selma’s, Phyllis said “They sold beer at one time. Where the little ice cream is now that was sort of walled off and you went up the stairs and you could buy beer” (“Oral History Project, 1976, Phyllis Rosenquist Frederickson,” IF Box 65, 2017.01.340, Afton Historical Museum).
Cynthia Blomquist Gustavson Describes her Godmother Selma in the 1950s
“Selma always seemed ancient to me, older than my grandparents. Her hair wasn’t gray, it was wispy and white. I don’t know how tall Selma was in her middle years, but by the time I knew her, she had shrunk to the size of a ten-year-old. Her voice wasn’t really a voice at all. … She tried to whisper really loudly, but it came from the back of her throat, and it sounded scary. Once Winky [Cynthia’s brother] asked her how much a certain candy cost. ‘Two for a penny,” she replied in her scratchy whisper. … ‘Well, if it’s two for penny, then can I have one for nothin’?’ It took awhile for her to stop laughing, but she answered, ‘You bet’cha. Have a stick of licorice,’ and she handed the jar around for all of us. … Selma was my godmother, friend of my grandpa’s …, the kind person who rewarded me with candy for attending church, a family friend who comforted us in hard times” (Cynthia Blomquist Gustavson, A Mischief of Mice: Secrets, Lies, and Love in the Sand Hills of Minnesota, NY: Blooming Twig, 2023, pp. 77-78, 86).
1965 St. Croix “Flood of the Century” and Destruction of Selma’s
Cynthia Blomquist Gustavson recalls – “I volunteered like many, upriver in Stillwater, filling sandbags alongside Stillwater State Prison inmates, in their striped uniforms. Later in the week, I served food at a Red Cross station …. The river devoured downtown Afton, and everyone evacuated. … Winky found an empty rowboat and maneuvered it around the flooded waters of Main Street. When he reached the ice cream parlor, he found water licking the top of the door. … Selma [previously hospitalized] closed the ice cream parlor for good. … Elmer Smith … personally paid for complete restoration, and made sure Selma’s would survive any future bouts with the St. Croix” (Cynthia Blomquist Gustavson, A Mischief of Mice: Secrets, Lies, and Love in the Sand Hills of Minnesota, NY: Blooming Twig, 2023, pp. 84-85).
See the photo of Cynthia’s brother Winky in a rowboat in the middle of the flooded village of Afton on display in the museum.