Paul Lundgren
Goats in Trees – “Midnight Road to Duluth”
East Coast band Goats in Trees took the “Midnight Road to Duluth” on track five of the 2002 album Smoke and Mirrors. (more…)
Mystery Photo: Duluth Grocers
This old photo shows two men standing in a grocery store. The back of the photo indicates it’s in Duluth, Minn. and gives the names of the men. Unfortunately, the photo of the back side of this photo is blurry and difficult to read, but it looks like Gust Hjelm is one of the names. (more…)
North Country Trail in Wisconsin: Crossing the Border
This is the third chapter in my quest to hike the North Country Trail across Wisconsin, but logistically it probably should be the first. As I’ve explained in previous chapters, the Superior Hiking Trail in Minnesota and the North Country Trail in Wisconsin aren’t properly connected yet at the border. The best thing a purist can do to fill the gap is hike on Minnesota State Highway 23 and a pair of county roads to get to a trailhead. So that’s what I did. Because I’m an annoying purist. Sort of.
It’s not so much that I’m determined to be annoying and pure. There are basically three reasons I wanted to hike on the roadways. 1) I know from experience that having a somewhat methodical goal inspires me to stay active. 2) If the pieces don’t all connect, it’s easy to lose track of where I’m at in the process, thereby thwarting reason #1. 3) Hiking on a trail in May is less fun anyway because of mud and ticks, so roads might be the best option anyway. (And if I were a true purist I’d strap on a backpack and hike across the whole state in a few days instead of breaking it up into numerous easy hikes.)
With all that in mind I parked my car on the side of Highway 23 near the Wild Valley Road sign and set out to connect my Superior Hiking Trail adventures to my fall 2018 North Country Trail hike at Nemadji River Valley. (more…)
Duluth Boat Club circa 1906
This photo from the Detroit Publishing Company shows the Duluth Boat Club on the bay side of Minnesota Point at South Tenth Street. A previous clubhouse existed where Bayfront Park is today, but the facility shown in the photo above was built in 1903 and was destroyed by fire in 1951. (more…)
Postcard from Thompson Hill Information Center and Rest Area
This undated postcard has the following text on the back:
The Thompson Hill Information Center and Rest Area is located at the junction of I-35 and US 2 on a 28 acre site overlooking the St. Louis River Valley and the Duluth-Superior metropolitan area. The Information Center is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with tourist and travel information and road condition reports available during the day as a service of the Minnesota Highway Department.
A Nice Catch of Trout from Northern Minnesota
The text on the back of this undated postcard from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography reads simply: “A nice catch of trout from northern Minnesota.”
The 2019 lake and stream trout seasons open on May 11.
Thunder Bay loves Duluth
One thing this discounted T-shirt makes fairly clear: Duluth will not automatically reciprocate your love.
Thanks to Tomasz Majewski for finding it.
The Stonemans – “Two Kids from Duluth Minnesota”
“Two Kids From Duluth Minnesota” by the Stonemans first appeared as a 45rpm single on RCA Records in 1969. The following year it was included on the band’s album Dawn of the Stonemans’ Age, which was later remastered and combined with the 1970 album In All Honesty and released under the title of the latter. (more…)
Frisco or Dust Shields?
What that scribbled message on the front of this postcard is all about will have to be left to speculation in the comments. The card was mailed 110 years ago — May 4, 1909. (more…)
Postcard from Thomson Dam Hydro Station
This card is postmarked May 3, 1909 — 110 years ago today. Edis Johnson sent it from Duluth to Mr. H.T. West of Toronto, Canada. (more…)
Monthly Grovel: So many events, so little time
In the past year — from May 2018 through April 2019 — the PDD Calendar published 7,925 Duluth-area events. Each one was edited by a human being before the “publish” button was pushed. We intend to keep up the good work, but (believe it or not) we could do better. There are still events we are missing. And we have a few assistants standing by who jump into action when donations roll in to pay for their future carpal tunnel surgeries.
So that’s why once a month we set our dignity aside and remind readers how much we appreciate their financial support. (more…)
Duluth Broadcast Television Station Guide for 2019
Changes to broadcast television channel offerings used to be rare. From 1966 to 1999, Duluth had four channels. From 1999 to 2009, there were five. In the ten years since the switch from analog to digital channels, the total has climbed to 18. (more…)
Homegrown Music Festival 2019 Primer
Duluth’s 21st annual Homegrown Music Festival is upon us, spanning April 28 to May 5. There is a 100-page Homegrown Field Guide available at locations all over town with the details. Updates and peripheral tidbits can be found below. (more…)
National Bank Notes of Duluth
There are still a few national currency bank notes with Duluth bank names floating around, mostly held by collectors. This type of currency was eliminated in the 1930s. The note above is from Northern National Bank of Duluth and was issued in 1908. In the portrait is U.S. Treasury Secretary Hugh McCulloch, who also named the streets in Duluth’s Lakeside neighborhood, including one after himself. (More on McCulloch in the comments.) (more…)
Mystery Photo #90: Duluth Photo Engraving Company
This old photo is from the Duluth Photo Engraving Company. Is that stage recognizable? Is this the cast of a play? What’s the deal with this image?
U.S. Administrator of Standards
The middle of Donald Trump’s presidency might be a strange time to make a pitch for establishing a new cabinet position. Or it might be the perfect time. Either way, I have little to lose by suggesting the new job is needed and insisting I’m the best person to fill it. A more rational and reputation-conscious president might not give my ideas serious consideration. The Trump Administration is likely the best hope I have for acquiring short-term autocratic power.
I’m not interested in any of the existing cabinet positions. Those jobs are pretty much filled anyway, although some are “acting” cabinet members — and it’s understood the door is figuratively revolving at the White House and heavily treated with WD-40.
The various secretaries, directors, ambassadors and administrators who serve at the pleasure of the president are already busy at work to make America as great as it was at some undefined point in the past, and they aren’t really clamouring for my help, but I do have a few simple ideas that could improve America and the whole planet Earth for that matter, and I feel like it would really only take me until noon on my first day at work to sort those things out. That would leave plenty of time for cleaning out my already empty desk after hearing on the news about the tweet announcing the termination of my employment. (more…)
Monthly Grovel: Bonus tip about PDD Calendar map view
Before delving into this month’s pitch for donations to keep the PDD Calendar chugging along, we’re taking a moment to offer a little tip on a different way to use it.
There are numerous ways to sort, filter, view and search events on the PDD Calendar. By default the calendar shows a list view in chronological order. That’s obviously the best way to look at what’s happening in the moment and scroll to the future. But there are three other view options — day, map and photo. We’ve never taken time to explain that before, because it’s always seemed obvious to us that list view is the best option. But our traffic statistics are starting to show more and more people using map view, so perhaps it’s time to mention it. (more…)
Postcards from Duluth Motel
According to this postcard, Duluth Motel sat in some mysterious forest, perhaps offering the only toilet available for miles and miles. In reality, “Northwest’s Most Luxurious Motel” was near Denfeld High School and surrounded by West Duluth homes and businesses. A lush, undeveloped hillside was indeed in the distance, though not very similar looking to the illustration on the postcard. (more…)
Duluth’s Lodging & Dining … circa 1979-’82
This promotional pamphlet is from roughly 1980. Within the text might be clues that narrow down a specific year. (more…)
Homegrown Music Festival Field Guide 2019 has arrived
The 21st annual Homegrown Music Festival is just a month away. The 100-page Field Guide, with all the who/what/when/where/why was trucked in from the printer this morning and will be available at local bars, restaurants and other businesses over the course of the next few days.
This year’s Homegrown will feature about 190 musical acts at more than 40 venues in Duluth and Superior. The festival runs April 28 to May 5. An updated schedule is on the Homegrown website at duluthhomegrown.org/schedule. (more…)
DM&N Railway Ore Docks in West Duluth, early 1900s
This photo of the Duluth, Missabe and Northern Railway ore docks in West Duluth is from Detroit Publishing Company. The Library of Congress dates the image as “between 1900 and 1915” and notes it shows “probably Dock No. 1 at left” and lists the three freighters in the foreground as George H. Russell, Sultan and James E. Davidson. (more…)
Frankie Yankovic and His Yanks – “Duluth Polka”
Frankie Yankovic and His Yanks released “Duluth Polka” in 1954 as a 7-inch 45-RPM single and as a 10-inch 78-RPM “promotion record” on the Columbia label (as seen in the video above). (more…)
Doughboys on Duluth: “Campaign in the Ass”
Doughboys, the podcast about chain restaurants, mentions Duluth in episode 77, “Cold Stone Creamery with Kevin T. Porter,” released Nov. 2, 2016. (more…)
Saturday Essay and Selective Focus Programming Note
Like a bunch of old timers stuck in some newspaper-era, schedule-oriented, deadline-consumed mindset, the brain trust at Perfect Duluth has been locked for several years in the notion that every Friday we need to publish our Selective Focus feature and every Saturday we need to publish our Saturday Essay. No more. It was fine for a while, but we’re done with that rigid scheduling. (more…)