Hand-Done T-Shirts

As neighbors came and went, this location remained empty through 1924 and possibly later. 

The first known business at this location was Welsh’s Hamburger Stand. It was run by Charles M. Welsh, a Pennsylvania native who served from 1917 to 1919 as a cook during WWI.  With this to his credit, he opened his restaurant in Ely in 1930 (or earlier).  

After Mr. Welsh’s passing in 1952, Fannie Yadlosky opened the Voyageur Café at this location but quickly sold the business to Sylvia Wilmunen who was the restaurant cook.  Sylvia was an industrious Finnish immigrant with a talent for business and for home cooking. Her story follows. 

Sylvia ran the Voyageur Café from 1952 until 1968 or later. Her clientele was primarily composed of the many elderly bachelors living in Ely who rented rooms without kitchen facilities. Sylvia would sell them each an $8.00 coupon book for $5.00. There were tags in the book from $.05 to $1.00 that her customers used for meals. Many of them ate three meals a day at the Voyageur and often stopped by for coffee.  Besides a limited menu, Sylvia offered two specials every day, which provided the variety her customers appreciated. She might offer beef stew, two slices of homemade bread and a beverage, as a special. Or meatloaf or spaghetti. Everything was homemade.

But for Sylvia, who was born in 1912 and experienced the Great Depression, first in Finland and then later in America, the restaurant was more than a business. Sylvia was a caretaker who truly enjoyed feeding people. 

Her regulars were pampered by small personal attentions. She knew how they liked their burgers cooked and what they liked on them.  Additionally, she had a direct line to the local doctors. Dr. Snyker, Dr. Dobler and Dr. Grahek would call to tell her which of her customers should have less salt, for instance, or shouldn’t be eating the hot pork sandwiches. And Sylvia implemented those diet requirements.

Sylvia had a family of her own, and they had the added family of the regulars from the cafe. 

Her daughter tells that when a stranger came in and asked for credit, Sylvia would tell them she wouldn’t give them credit, but if they washed her windows, they could have a meal there. Sylvia did not want them to have to owe the money. Sometimes her windows were washed three times in one day. Sylvia did not want anyone to go hungry. And like so many from her generation who had experienced want, she was generous to a fault. No one ever left the Voyageur Café hungry.    

In 1973, the building had a short stint as L+S Electronics, a business venture started by Michael Landa and John Sever, two Ely high school friends tapping into the emerging electronics business of the 1970’s. 

The building later became overflow space for Maki Upholstery, located next door, until 1984 when the Maki’s retired. A few years later in 1989 Deborah and John Hanson bought the building for their T-shirt customization business, which has recently moved to the east end of town. The Voyageur awaits a new future.

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1906 – 1924 or later - vacant lot

1930 – Welsh’s Hamburger Stand – Charles M. Welsh

1952 – Voyageur’s Café – Fannie M. Yadlosky

1952 – Voyageur’s Café - Sylvia Wilmunen

1968 (or later) – Voyageur’s Café – Laura Shanno

1969 (or later) – Voyageur’s Café - Jean North / several other owners

1973 – L+S Electronics – Michael Landa and John Sever

1976 – Carver Bookkeeping and Accounting

1978 (or later) through 1984 – Maki Upholstery (storage space)– Helen and Sailor Maki

1989 – Hand-Done T-Shirts – Deborah and John Hanson

2021 – awaiting a new business

The Sanborn Insurance Maps 1900-1924.

1900 and 1907 Ely City Directories.

Ancestry.com. Accessed April 8th, 2022.

Ely, Since 1888 (The Blue Book). Ely, Minnesota. The Ely Echo, 1988.

Ely Phone Directories from 1949 to 2020 (available at the Ely-Winton Historical Society).

Information from Shirley Wilmunen (daughter of Sylvia Wilmunen)