Paul Lundgren
Selective Focus: Homegrown 2022 Soup Town Night
Select Instagram images from day five of the Homegrown Music Festival. (more…)
Selective Focus: Homegrown 2022 Westside Wednesday
Select Instagram images from day four of the Homegrown Music Festival. (more…)
Postcard from Duluth’s Grand Opera House
Duluth’s Grand Opera House at 333 W. Superior St. was designed by George Wirth and opened in 1883. It was destroyed by fire on Jan. 28, 1889. (more…)
Selective Focus: Homegrown 2022 Canal Park Night
Instagram
13 likes, 0 comments - ambersimpressionsphotography on May 3, 2022: "Day 3 of @dhgmf at the Decc tonight. Ambers Impressions #hgmf22 #dhgmf22 #dhgmf #duluth #onlyinmn #visitduluth #destinationduluth #minnesotaexposure #AuthenticDuluth #duluthmn #perfectduluthday You can find my most current work at https://m.facebook.com/ambersimpressions/ Prints are available upon request! Enjoy!".
instagram.com
Select Instagram images from day three of the Homegrown Music Festival. (more…)
Selective Focus: Homegrown 2022 Craft District Night
Instagram
25 likes, 1 comments - ambersimpressionsphotography on May 2, 2022: "God’s Holy Blood @caddyshackduluth for Day 2 of @dhgmf! Ambers Impressions #hgmf22 #dhgmf22 #dhgmf #duluth #onlyinmn #visitduluth #destinationduluth #minnesotaexposure #AuthenticDuluth #duluthmn #perfectduluthday You can find my most current work at https://m.facebook.com/ambersimpressions/ Prints are available upon request! Enjoy!".
instagram.com
Select Instagram images from day two of the Homegrown Music Festival. (more…)
Selective Focus: Homegrown 2022 Opening Ceremonies
Instagram
13 likes, 2 comments - ambersimpressionsphotography on May 1, 2022: "Duluth Homegrown Music Festival has started!!!! #dhgmf #dhgmf22 #hoopsbrewing #duluthminnesota #visitduluth #destinationduluth #livemusic".
instagram.com
Select Instagram images from opening day of the Homegrown Music Festival. (more…)
Homegrown Music Festival 2022 Primer
The Homegrown Music Festival is back in person, May 1-8. There’s a 100-page Field Guide available as usual, with all the specifics about the 195ish bands performing at 45 venues in the Twin Ports, but what are the hot updates? Well, that’s why PDD always kicks out a primer. (more…)
Postcard from Fifth Avenue West and Superior Street
One of the more common postcard views of Duluth in the early 1900s was the scene looking east down Superior Street from Fifth Avenue West, showing off the Spalding Hotel (right) and Lyceum Theatre (left).
The Spalding was demolished in 1963, and the Lyceum came down in 1966. The Ordean building now stands in the Spalding location; the Maurices headquarters in the Lyceum spot.
Postcard from Arch Street in Cloquet, 1912
Sidney Dahl of St. Cloud was the recipient of this postcard mailed 110 years ago today — April 23, 1912. The sender’s name was Ingga. (more…)
Postcard from the Opening of Navigation Season
This undated postcard shows a freighter entering the Duluth Shipping Canal at some point in the early 1900s. (more…)
Mystery Photos: Wide Awake and Green Dragon Studios
The three gentlemen in the photos above appear to be the same guys in different positions in front of different backgrounds with different cowboy outfits. They also are at two different Duluth photo studios, according to the ink stamps on the back. The first is from the Green Dragon Studio at 18 E. Superior St., and the second is from the Wide Awake Studio at 10 E. Superior St. (more…)
Homegrown Music Festival Field Guide 2022 has arrived
The 24th annual Homegrown Music Festival is less than a month away. The 100-page Field Guide is off the presses and will be available at Duluth-area bars, restaurants and other businesses over the course of the next few days. (more…)
Monthly Grovel: April 2022
Zlata Chochieva? 311? Trampled by Turtles? Weird Al? The only reliable tool to help weigh the upcoming concert options is the PDD Calendar.
Each month we reach out with one beggarly blog post to remind everyone that human beings and not machines are at work editing and publishing calendar events. So if you appreciate it, drop a few bucks in the PayPal account. (more…)
The Return of the Handshake
There was a brief minute at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic when I thought I might never shake another person’s hand again. And I was fine with that. If we could take just one positive thing out of the widespread death, illness and cultural disturbance that began in 2020, it might be ridding ourselves once and for all of the compulsion to rub our palms together.
But even when I was in the middle of a long no-handshake stretch, full of wishful thinking about the future, I knew deep down that the germ clutch would soon return. And of course it did.
My prejudicial prediction was that most people wouldn’t want to return to handshaking, but a bunch of insistent jackasses would refuse to let it die. Then it would slowly become normal again and we’d all live with it. I was wrong. Pretty much everyone started extending their hands the moment lockdowns and mandates were eased. There was no resistance. (more…)
Postcard from Lookout Point
“Lookout Point” is probably meant in a generic sense in this postcard, as in “a lookout point.” And if the illustration is based on what a specific piece of Lake Superior shoreline looked like roughly a century ago, that shoreline has obviously changed in appearance over time. (more…)
Japancakes – “Duluth 7.5”
Twenty years ago today — March 21, 2002 — the band Japancakes released its album Belmondo as volume 19 of Darla Records’ ambient Bliss Out series. The album features the track “Duluth 7.5.” Note, however, that the tune gets second-class status among music that references Duluth because the band is from Athens, Ga., and therefore is almost certainly referring to Duluth, Ga.
Chickenbone George holds court
“Chickbone George” Alan Sparhawk of the Black-eyed Snakes encouraged the crowd to “dance against tyranny” Saturday at Duluth Cider during the “Stand with Ukraine” concert. Charlie Parr opened the show.
Postcard from City Loan Company of Duluth
This 90-year-old postcard, published by Curt Teich & Co. of Chicago, promotes the City Loan Company in Duluth’s Providence Building. The card is postmarked March 16, 1932. Jesse Leach of 612 N. 57th Ave. W. was the recipient.
The Providence Building opened in 1895 at 332 W. Superior St. and remains there today. (more…)
Duluth Book Releases in 2022
Zero Waste Kids: Hands-On Projects and Activities to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
Written by Rob Greenfield
Illustrated by Alissa Imre Geis
Contributions from April Hepokoski, Zion Lights, Heidi Rose, Alyssa Binns Gunderson and Michelle Cassar
February
Quarry Books
Available at quartoknows.com
The Girl in Duluth
Sigrid Brown
Feb. 2
Available at amazon.com
Be the Change: Rob Greenfield’s Call to Kids―Making a Difference in a Messed-Up World
Rob Greenfield and Antonia Banyard
April 20
Greystone Books
Available at greystonebooks.com
Kekekabic
Eric Chandler
May 20
Finishing Line Press
Available at finishinglinepress.com
Postcard from the Ski Scaffold in Duluth
The ski scaffold in this postcard should not be confused with “Big Chester,” the jump that stood in Chester Park from 1924 to 2014. The postmark on this card is March 8, 1912. (more…)
Harbor View, 1973
Artwork by Patsy Reed High titled “Harbor View,” dated 1973.
Lindula Brothers – “A Cold Day in Duluth”
From the Lindula Brothers‘ 2020 self-titled album, a little song about coming home.
Mystery Photo: The Girls
This postcard photo was taken at Arcade studio, 110 W. Superior St. in Downtown Duluth. Based on a few other Arcade photos, the prevailing theory is that the studio was called Penny Arcade until about 1915 and then became simply Arcade, or Arcade Camera Shop/Studio or Arcade Photo Supply Company. Thomas W. Furniss was the proprietor.
Who are “the girls”? Well, that detail might be lost to history. (more…)
Monthly Grovel: March 2022
This month marks two years of the pandemic messing up all the fun. The PDD Calendar has stayed on track throughout all the cancelations, online events and even the rescheduled events that were canceled again. Now, we look forward to better days.
Each month we reach out with one beggarly blog post to remind everyone that human beings and not machines are at work editing and publishing calendar events. So if you appreciate it, drop a few bucks in the PayPal account. (more…)