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A visit to CVM's Ice Cream Parlor

Playing soda jerk the day Agri-View visited the Chippewa Valley Museum's parlor was Amy Benson, Eau Claire. Amy is particularly fond of the parlor -- not just because of its scrumptious treats -- but because she grew up on a dairy farm at Gilbert, Iowa. Milk from her folks' herd used to be processed in Iowa State University's dairy building. Though the farm remains in her family, the cows have given way to corn and hogs.

She says the museum's working soda fountain used to be on Barstow Street in Eau Claire. Amy produces an old photo of the parlor, which interestingly, was also a cigar shop. Amy says ice cream parlor flourished during Prohibition, as a "socially acceptable" gathering place. The fountain was moved to the drugstore in Fall Creek, where it was used until the late 1970s, when it was donated to the Chippewa Valley Museum.

The parlor's tin ceiling is indicative of the time, Amy points out, also mentioning the Coca-Cola glasses and pewter holders behind the foundation -- authentic reproductions of those used in soda fountains from about 1890 to 1920. Coca-Cola syrup was squirted in a glass, which was then filled with carbonated water.

The chairs, with heart-designed backs, were used in a restaurant in northern Wisconsin in the early 1920s. The stained glass window above the entrance is one of a pair made in Czechoslovakia and brought to Eau Claire in the 187Os. They were the first installed in a commercial establishment on Barstow Street, and later in a carriage house.

Amy -- mentioning that the National Association of Soda Jerks are holding their first national convention next month in Omaha, Nebraska -- says the public's favorite ice cream treat in this turn-of-the-century parlor is none other than the old-fashioned ice cream soda. "It's nostalgia for people," she explains.

For a soda the way they used to be made, Amy explains that a little soda water covers the bottom of the glass, followed by a squirt of chocolate syrup and a third-scoop of vanilla ice cream. These three ingredients are then quickly blended with a spoon. Amy suspects that's so when the straw goes to the bottom of the soda, the treat is good to the very last taste. Then the glass is filled two-thirds of the way with carbonated water. Two scoops of vanilla ice cream are added. Next it's carefully topped off with more soda water, whipped cream and, of course, a cherry.

The ice cream parlor is open for business 1-5 p.m. any day the museum is open.

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