Photos
Mystery Photo #46: Duluth-area Bowling Alley
From the depths of my wife’s closet comes this old photo from her family collection, presumably shot at a Duluth-area bowling alley roughly 50 or 60 years ago. Since we’re talking about a West Duluth family, Stadium Lanes would be the number one contender. Whatever bowling alley it is, it’s likely to have been remodeled and then closed since this photo was taken, so this might be a tough solve.
PDD Quiz: Novembeard
[This post originally contained an embedded quiz created on the platform Qzzr. It is no longer available at its source.]
The month associated with facial hair is upon us! How well do you know Duluth denizens by their beards? Let’s find out!
Customized Alphabet Letter Wall Art
Words From Nature is a new business created for an entrepreneurship project at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Our business allows customers to customize their home decor by creating their own alphabet letter art. Our large collection of letters are pictures from the outdoors and illustrate the beauty of nature. All of our pictures were taken by us, and only offered by us. (more…)
Downtown Duluth – Looking east on Superior Street
Readable business signs: Boyce Drugs, (?)ornser Hats, Bagley Jewelers, City National Bank and Miller’s Cafeteria.
Selective Focus: Bryan French
Bryan French has been busy over the last couple of years building a photography business as well as the Duluth Folk School. This week we hear about Bryan’s artistic side.
B.F.: I’m a photographer (and director of the Duluth Folk School, an adventure guide with Day Tripper, and on-call naturalist at Hartley). My background includes an undergrad in musical theater (song and dance!) and a master’s degree in environmental education (nature!). I’ve been making photographs for about ten years. (more…)
Mystery Photo #45: Dr. Jern
Well, there he is, Dr. Jern, standing on a porch in Duluth way back in 1910. Who is Dr. Jern? Is that house still standing? These are the mysteries we hope to unravel. (more…)
Mystery Photo #44: A Handsome Home
Next to nothing is known about this photo, other than the claim it was shot in Duluth. Does this handsome home still exist? Does anyone recognize it? Who are these people and what are they doing?
Mystery Photo #43: Does anyone know which old bar this was?
This picture was originally posted on the Duluthians of Zenith Facebook page. So far, the Pickwick and Spalding Hotel have been eliminated. The photo is stamped with a Duluth photographer’s name on the back, so it is likely a bar in the Duluth area.
Mystery Photo: SS Columbia of Duluth
This postcard image bears the ink stamp of the Russell Photo Co. of Fond du Lac, Minn. on the back, along with a handwritten note: “The ‘Columbia’ of Duluth, Minn.” There have been numerous S.S. Columbia’s throughout the world, but this one seems likely to be the same as the one profiled on Zenith City Online, which was launched in 1885 as the Mascotte. There are numerous physical differences between the ship in the image shown there and the one shown here, but the article notes “in 1912 Duluth’s Clow & Nicholsen purchased the vessel, lengthened it by over thirty feet, and renamed it Columbia.” If they are the same SS Columbia, why do both images (presumably before and after the redesign of the ship) bear the name Columbia and neither Mascotte?
Mystery Photo: Family Portrait from the Zweifel Studio
Quick internet searches indicate John Rudolph Zweifel was a Duluth-based photographer from the very late 1800s to the mid 1900s. He had a few different offices on West Superior Street and was in the Phoenix Building circa 1918-’20. His home was at 4231 McCulloch St.
Who are the round-faced darlings in the photo? Well, that’s the Hail Mary pass being thrown here for the hell of it, just to see if anyone can figure it out.
Where in Duluth? #152
Time for another installment of Perfect Duluth Day’s ultra-thrilling photo-trivia sensation. Where in Duluth was this shot taken?
Call for Halloween Banners
We want to see your Halloween photos at the top of this page as banners. Keep in mind the hauntingly horizontal format, it can be tricky to work with, but a treat when it works well.
Sorry, that was terrible.
Click here for complete submission guidelines, but the basics are: 1135 pixels wide by 197 pixels high, e-mail them to banners@perfectduluthday.com. We’ll put them in rotation near the end of the month.
Selective Focus: Bill Coit via Valerie Coit
Earlier this year, my friend Val started posting photos her dad had taken to a Facebook album. They were obviously decades old, but they were pristine. These weren’t scans of tattered, faded, off-color prints found in a box in the basement, they were scanned from the slide film her dad shot. A couple years ago, my mother-in-law passed away, and my brother-in-law took on the job of scanning the best photos from a big chest of old pictures and sharing them with the family via Dropbox. All this makes me wonder what will happen as most or all of our family photos become electronic, not physical. (more…)
Fairyland Park near Marble, Minnesota
This undated postcard depicts “Alice in Wonderland,” one of more than 30 scenes from favorite fairytales at Fairyland, a roadside attraction that operated from 1948 to 1972 just west of the village of Marble, about 80 miles northwest of Duluth. Pretty much anything one might want to know about Fairyland can be found on a PDF compiled by Tim Wick, son of Melvin and Faith Wick who bought the park in 1960. (more…)
Mystery Photo: Bonnie Gardens
Specific location unknown. Photographer unknown. Everything unknown. Help if you can.
Where in Duluth? #150
Time for another installment of Perfect Duluth Day’s ultra-thrilling photo-trivia sensation. Where in Duluth was this shot taken?
Old Grand Marais Photos
A collection of old Grand Marais photos. At least some of them, if not all, are believed to be shot by Milford John Humphrey. (more…)
Then and Now: St. Louis County Courthouse
There is no date on the above postcard image, but it appears to be 1960s-ish. The photo below is a modern-day view.
Where in Duluth? #148
Time for another installment of Perfect Duluth Day’s ultra-thrilling photo-trivia sensation. Where in Duluth was this shot taken?
Duluth Tall Ships 2016 “Parade of Sail” Photos and Video Clip
Duluth’s Tall Ships Festival runs Aug. 18-21. The video above and photos below are from Liftoff Aerials (a/k/a the “PDD Drone”). The music is “Ocean Blue” by Duluth band Glen’s Neighbor from the album Behind the Door.
Mystery Photo: Old 708
A train rolls through western Duluth. Year unknown. Photographer unknown. The number on the train is 708. Anyone have insight?
Where in Superior?
For the 147th installment of Perfect Duluth Day’s ultra-thrilling photo-trivia sensation “Where in Duluth?” we cross the bridge to ask, “Where in Superior was this photo taken?”