J&L Annex Building

During Ely’s early history, this location remained an empty lot as businesses grew up to the west of it and houses to the east. In 1941, the building you see today was built on this location by sisters Christina (Tina) and Alice Seliskar. The sisters had been running their beauty salon across the street at 141 East Chapman for more than a decade when they decided to construct a building to specifically meet the needs of a beauty shop business.  Their grand opening was held on October 9, 1941. The sisters ran their business here for over 30 years and lived in the apartment upstairs even longer. For more information on these early businesswomen and the history of their building, read further.

These two industrious businesswomen were born in Ely in the early 1900’s to the family of Francis and Anton Seliskar. The family was large and while many of the children were still young and living at home, Anton returned to Yugoslavia, ostensibly to visit relatives. However, he does not appear to have ever returned. By 1930 Anton’s wife, Francis, lists herself as divorced and she is living with Tina and Alice on Chapman Street. The daughters have become beauty operators and support themselves and their mother through the Great Depression.

In 1941, the sisters built the Deco structure at 130 East Chapman.  

Tina appears to have married in 1945, but few remember it anymore, or even ever knew about it. After a short-lived honeymoon period her husband moved to Alaska, and little was said after that.

The ladies were serious about their profession. They stood by the belief (common at the time) that a woman needed to ‘suffer to be beautiful’. Consequently, there was no hesitation to use smelly toxic chemicals or frightening metal torture devices to achieve the desired results.  And quality was assured. A permanent given by the Seliskar Sisters could last a year.

Over time, the Seliskar sisters maintained a repertoire of hair styles that covered their history. As late as the mid-1970s a patron could still get a 1920s marcel wave, a 1930s shingle bob, a 1940s victory curl, or a 1950s pixie cut. And as the salon’s clientele aged, the sisters became experts in ‘bluing’, a popular technique to brighten graying coiffures. 

The women closed their business in the mid-1970s, but continued to live upstairs until retiring to the nursing home in the 1990s.

In 1995, Mailbox Etc opened here, followed in 1999 by Range Lock and Alarm, then Radio Shack and Erik Ludvigs Lock and Gun Shop.   The building rested for a time until 2015, when Jay Poshak bought the building to expand his hardware, rental and general merchandise business located next door.

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1900 – empty lot

1941 – The Seliskar Sisters built the building for their beauty shop business

1995 – Mailbox ETC

1999 – Range Lock and Alarm

2000 - Radio Shack

20?? – Erik Ludvigs Lock and Gun Shop

2015 – J&L Hardware and Ben Franklin Store, Jay Poshak proprietor

The Sanborn Insurance Maps 1900-1924.

1900 AND 1907 Ely City Directories

Ancestry.com. Accessed April 8th, 2022.

Ely Miner Newspaper (1941)

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