Minnesota Prairie Roots

A downtown Faribault mural depicts the evolution of the Tilt-A-Whirl.

IN AN IRONIC TWIST, or something like that, today’s Faribault Daily News featured this top headline:

“Operations cease at Sellner’s

Company created the Tilt-A-Whirl; was Faribault’s longest-running family business”

I read this within 45 minutes of posting “These businesses have been in Faribault for how long.”

I’m scraping egg from my face. But I had no idea, none, nada, that one of Faribault’s oldest businesses is, according to the newspaper article, in the process of being sold to Larson International, Inc., of Plainview, Texas.

You may not be familiar with the name Sellner Manufacturing. But I bet you have ridden the firm’s Tilt-A-Whirl, which is manufactured just blocks from my Faribault home. The company has been making this American icon amusement ride since 1926.

For several years now, Sellner Manufacturing has been struggling with financial difficulties. I’ve read the foreclosure notices in the newspaper. I won’t speculate as to why this happened. I simply don’t know.

I don’t know, either, what this means for the future of the Tilt-A-Whirl. Will it be around for another 85 years?

The Mural Society of Faribault created and placed the Tilt-A-Whirl mural on the side of Jim's Auto & Tire this past fall. It is among five murals in the downtown area.

© Copyright 2010 Audrey Kletscher Helbling