Paul Lundgren
Abandoned Scrapbooks from circa 1939 to 1947
“Someone dropped a dozen scrapbooks with Duluth newspaper clippings on my front porch,” began the email from Tony Dierckins. “Would you like them?”
“No,” I said out loud to myself before replying to Tony with questions about what the scrapbooks might contain. (more…)
Big League Manager Baseball Game from West Duluth
To mark the start of the 2024 baseball season we take a look back at the Big League Manager Baseball Game, which was made in Duluth beginning, as near as can be determined, 70 years ago in 1954. (more…)
Selective Focus: When the winter that wasn’t, suddenly was
Instagram
1,739 likes, 6 comments - umnduluth on March 25, 2024: "UMD Bulldogs made the most of today’s snow day☃️
#UMDProud #UMDBulldogs #UMNDuluth".
instagram.com
Select images from Instagram showing scenes of what might normally be considered a very typical late-season snowstorm … if there had been a winter in winter. (more…)
Postcards from the Fish Fry Lodge
The undated postcard above, published by W. A. Fisher Company, shows the Fish Fry Lodge on Highway 61 near Duluth. (more…)
Duluth Book Releases in 2024
Every year a gob of books by Duluth-area writers and/or about Duluth-area topics hit the shelves of local bookstores and warehouses of e-commerce corporations. Here’s a look at what’s new and coming soon in 2024. (more…)
Fred W. Erickson, Duluth Grocer
This postcard image shows the Fred W. Erickson grocery store at 2029 and 2031 W. Third St. in Duluth. (more…)
Postcard from a Rest Point Overlooking the St. Louis River
The text on the front of this undated postcard, found listed for sale on eBay, reads: “St. Louis River from Beautiful Rest Point 1/2 mile from Kum Bak Tourist Camp, Duluth, Minn.”
Anyone who has ever heard of Kum Bak Tourist camp, please enlighten in the comments.
PDD Shop Talk: Help Perfect the Perfection
For more than 20 years, Perfect Duluth Day has remained committed to serving up its content with no paywalls and without overly obtrusive advertising. That doesn’t make paying the bills easy, but with modest income from sidebar advertising and the generous contributions of readers we continue to get it done.
So if you appreciate the thorough listings of hoopla on the PDD Calendar and/or the features on the PDD Blog, kindly drop a few bucks in the PayPal account. (more…)
Postcard from the Duluth Boat Club
This undated postcard, published by E.C. Kropp Company, depicts a sailboat race on Duluth’s waterfront with the Duluth Boat Club in the background. This version of the club building was on the bay side of Minnesota Point at South Tenth Street. It was built in 1903 and destroyed by fire in 1951.
Selective Focus: When Winter Was
Apostle Island Ice Caves, 2014, photo by Chris Plys
There is still time for the winter of 2023/24 to show its stuff. For now, all we have is the past.
Destination Duluth, a nonprofit that shares images and stories on social media in an effort to promote the city and region, recently declared “We want winter back!” A group of photographers have contributed photos from “when we had real winters,” posted with the hashtag whenwinterwas. (more…)
Mystery Photo: Western Duluth and God’s Favorite Band
Twin/Tone Records, a Minneapolis-based record label active from 1977 to 1994, has an artist page for God’s Favorite Band that features the image above. (more…)
Mystery Photo: Boy behind the wheel circa 1924
The postcard photo above is dated 1924, making it 100 years old. It shows a boy driving a car with a sign on the grill that reads “Western Steel Products Company, New Duluth, Minn.” That doesn’t technically mean the photo was shot in the New Duluth neighborhood, however, so the primary mystery of the photo’s location perhaps hinges on whether the houses in the background match any present-day Duluth homes. The identity of the people in the car is the longshot mystery to solve. (more…)
Mystery Logo from Duluth Shirt
This sweatshirt logo is clearly connected to some sort of Duluth organization, but what? Does that symbol represent some combination of letters or some concept? Does anyone recognize this logo? (more…)
Postcard from Boulevard Lake
This postcard was sent from Scanlon by someone whose name looks something like “Alianine.” It was mailed on Jan. 21, but the year is not visible on the postmark. Clearly it’s about a century old. It shows what must be what is called Twin Ponds today, but is dubbed Boulevard Lake on the postcard. (more…)
Mystery Photo: Nye’s Studio Couple
One thing that gets weird about photos shot with costumes, props and a fake background is that eventually the photo will become old, and then it’s more difficult to tell whether the people in the photo are dressed in their normal clothing, were being photographed to promote a play, or just having a novelty photo taken. So the image above might seem like an 1890s version of what a photo of someone in 2024 wearing disco clothes might convey in the year 2156. (more…)
Another Postcard from the Duluth-Superior Hi Bridge
This early 1960s postcard, published by Gallagher’s Studio of Photography, shows the Blatnik Bridge before it was called the Blatnik Bridge. From 1961 to 1971 the bridge was called the Duluth-Superior Bridge and known colloquially as the “High Bridge,” though the name was often rendered as “Hi Bridge.” It was later named for Congressman John A. Blatnik. (more…)
Postcard from the Soldiers and Sailors Monument
This undated postcard, published by Duluth Photo Engraving Company, shows the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Priley Circle at the Duluth Civic Center. The monument honors soldiers who served during the American Civil War. Designed by architect Cass Gilbert, it was completed and dedicated on Memorial Day in 1919.
The Lark of Duluth in Flight
It was 110 years ago today that the first commercial air-ship line took its inaugural flight. The Lark of Duluth didn’t lift off from Duluth that day, however. Tony and Roger Jannus brought the small hydro-aeroplane to St. Petersburg, Fla. by rail with the mission to develop the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line. The Lark arrived there on Dec. 31, 1913, and the inaugural flight was on Jan. 1, 1914.
The photo accompanying this post is presumably not from that historic flight in St. Petersburg, but rather from the previous summer in Duluth. (more…)
2023: The Year in Duluth Gig Posters
Behold another year of Duluth rawk and/or roll as visually displayed via Perfect Duluth Day’s traditional year-ending gallery of gig posters. (more…)
The Most Read Saturday Essays of 2023
Season eight of Perfect Duluth Day’s “Saturday Essay” series has drawn to close, and it’s time to look back with the usual popularity contest. For the second year in a row, Jim Richardson authored three out of five works deemed by Google Analytics to be your favorites. In 2021, he swept the whole top five. It makes sense, because he’s Lake Superior Aquaman. Superheroes get all the clicks. (more…)
Mystery Photo: Westberg
The identity of the woman in this photo is likely lost to history, but the photographer’s last name is right there in print — Westberg. The Minnesota Historical Society’s Directory of Minnesota Photographers lists two Westbergs who operated in Duluth more than 100 years ago. (more…)
PDD Shop Talk: Last Call for 2023 Donations
You know the spiel. All of the content on Perfect Duluth Day can be read for free. It is produced by people who are paid either poorly or not at all. Advertising revenue keeps the operation going; donations help us do more and do it better. (more…)
Postcard from the Aerial Life Bridge (Basgen Photography)
This undated postcard, published by Northern Minnesota Novelties, shows the Aerial Lift Bridge and parts of Canal Park and Park Point circa maybe 1960. The back of the card credits the aerial photo to maritime photographer Jean Basgen. (more…)
Postcard from Three Ore Carriers at DM&IR Docks
This undated postcard from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography shows the ore carriers Wm. B. Schilier, Peter A. B. Widener and Henry Phipps at the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range docks in West Duluth.
All three vessels were built for the Pittsburgh Steamship Company. The Schilier was sold for scrapping in 1978 in Duluth. The Widener was sold for scrapping in 1986 and towed to Lisbon, Portugal in 1987. The Phipps was sold for scrapping in 1976 in Duluth.
List of Duluth-area Podcasts No Longer in Production
They might be on hiatus or they might be done. Some lasted a handful of episodes, others lasted a decade. Some were never meant to keep going. There are no recent episodes of the audio productions listed below, but the archives are still available … or, at least they were the last time we checked.
Perfect Duluth Day’s look at archived podcasts no longer in production is a companion piece to the “Guide to Duluth-area Podcasts,” which features shows currently, or at least recently, in production. (more…)