Duluth Tooth Puller Runs Amuck in 1903
Making the rounds on Facebook is this New York Times clip from March 5, 1903, reporting events from the morning of March 4, 1903. The Times and some other sources refer to the freelance dentist as “Johnson,” but his name is John Simonson in other accounts. (more…)
Split Rock Review, Spring 2019
SPLIT ROCK REVIEW — ISSUE 12
Split Rock Review is a not-for-profit publication that features literature and art that explore place, environment, and the relationship between humans and nature.
splitrockreview.org
Issue #12 of Split Rock Review is available. My favorite piece is “Transfers” by Hava Zitlalik.
New Scenic Café celebrates 20 years
Photo by Lissa Maki
New Scenic Café will mark its 20-year anniversary on April 1. Although Chef Scott Graden has carefully refined his approach over the years, the acclaimed destination eatery on Lake Superior’s North Shore continues to emphasize quality and culinary artisanship. (more…)
Mystery Photos #85-87: Probably Skyline Parkway in the 1920s
An early 20th Century family photo album was recently unearthed in the Nicklawske archive room and I discovered some old Duluth photographs. I pulled three pictures from the book that included images of an automobile trip my grandfather and his sister made to Duluth in the 1920s. My grandfather, Jim Nicklawske, lived in St. Paul at the time and his sister Mae was visiting from her home in Great Falls, Mont. It appears they traveled to Duluth with a third, unidentified person who made pictures of the event. (more…)
Going out today to rebuild the rink
This week will be cold but relatively free of precipitation, so any rinkspace recovered will likely survive a few days. It looks like a blasted moonscape out there right now, but a couple hours of shoveling will uncover the byways of our lost civilization, that culture of pure leisure we established whose spirit survives. (more…)
Long Winter Reprieve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaJo2dOttQs
Summer scenes from several of Duluth’s many swimming locations to help shake off what seems a very long winter.
Lost in the Woods
Under cozy plush sheets and a thick comforter, I wait for heat from a newly lit fire to reach me. Chilly mornings in Lakewood Township, and by chilly I mean winter cold, have a different meaning to me than to most. I didn’t realize how accustomed I had become to this way of life until a visitor asked why I get ready for bed with a light winter hat nearby. I show my guests how to start and feed the fire. I tell them the alternative to rising from their warm cocoon is to simply yell through the blanket, “My head is cold,” and I will resolve the situation.
Mornings aren’t tough here. There are no winter boots that get put on to tend to livestock or sled dogs. I do not crawl into a chicken coop to gather breakfast. There is running water, but I don’t drink it. Instead I fetch water from the natural spring off Highway 35 and Midway Road. There is electricity, but no Wi-Fi or television. Life here is a little, alternative, I shall say. Alternative in a slightly archaic fashion, but by no means, difficult. I only notice my gradual slip into this alternativeness when I open the door to the outside world and along with it comes a want for “normalcy” that has become unfamiliar to me. (more…)
Selective Focus: Duluth
According to Instagram, here’s what’s been happening in Duluth, MN. (more…)
R.I.P. Transistor
The Transistor, a weekly arts ‘zine published by Adam Guggemos, has folded. The publication existed from Valentine’s Day 2004 to Valentine’s Day 2019. For more than 14 years the Tranny existed in print; most of the final year’s issues were published online only.
Duluth News Tribune: “Publisher declares end to Duluth’s Transistor“
PDD Video Lab: People’s Free Skate Rink 2019
Presented for your amusement, a series of videos chronicling the Feb. 19 and Feb. 23 skating parties on Lake Superior. Above are clips shot by Rich Narum, which the PDD AV Squad has assembled as an introduction to the wonder of the People’s Free Skate Rink. (more…)
Duluth Dolls: Danie Jimenez
In this video produced by Illy Killy, Danie Jimenez of Duluth Dolls Burlesque & Cabaret performs during FeMN Fest 2018.
People’s Free Skate Rink
Tomas Soderberg’s video scrapbook from the People’s Free Skate Rink on Saturday. This event was the culmination of a rolling 7-day spontaneous party on foot-thick ice over 40-foot-deep water. Featuring DJ Kevin Craig, in a set he shared with Pete Biasi / Raw Space. Footage includes the snowy owl that buzzed us in the final frames.
Postcard from Duluth Fire Department Engine House #1
This undated postcard shows Duluth Fire Department Engine House #1 at 101 E. Third St., one of the first fire houses in the city of Duluth. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975. (more…)
Video Archive: Hemlock Garage Collapse of 1979
Forty years ago the Hemlock Garage at 302 E. First St. collapsed under the weight of snow. WDIO-TV news anchor Dennis Anderson and reporter Tom Lindner had the story. (more…)
Portion of Wisconsin Point could get National Register of Historic Places designation
The Superior Telegram reports the city of Superior and Wisconsin Historical Society are working to place a portion of Wisconsin Point on the National Register of Historic Places.
The story notes “the boundaries for the site would extend from the access road to the bird sanctuary on the bay side of Wisconsin Point and extend south to about Lot 15.” The site was a campsite and burial place for Ojibwe people until the 20th century.
Jenny Lewis – “Heads Gonna Roll”
Singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis mentions Duluth in the song “Heads Gonna Roll” from the new album On the Line, scheduled for release on March 22. (more…)
PDD Quiz: February 2019 in Review
Take a break from the neverending shoveling and give your brain a workout with this month-in-review quiz!
The next PDD quiz, on the history of Morgan Park, will be published on March 10. Please email question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by March 7. (more…)
Ripped at V.F.W. Post 137 in 2009
[Editor’s note: For this week’s essay we’ve once again pulled out a relic from the archive of Slim Goodbuzz, who served as Duluth’s “booze connoisseur” from 1999 to 2009. After the Fox-Sutherland V.F.W. Post 6320 in West Duluth closed, it merged with the Lincoln Park neighborhood post. The town’s infamous drunken scribbler paid a visit in February 2009 to file this report for the weekly Transistor. Historical note: One year later, V.F.W. Post 137 was renamed the McConnell-Modeen Post. It remains open at 2023 W. Michigan St.]
It seems camaraderie among Veterans of Foreign Wars is on the decline. Duluth is down to its last V.F.W. club, the Duprey-Alexander Post 137 in the friendly West End neighborhood. There’s no sign on the front of the building, or any other visible indication the club exists, but the V.F.W. is indeed still there, open every day from 3 p.m. until the volunteer bartender decides to lock up.
Tonight, the clientele consists of a young couple at the bar playing cribbage and a small group meeting in the next room. My arrival does not excite the volunteer bartender at all, and I can’t blame her. Working on tips alone, she must be pulling in $4 an hour. It’s only 8 p.m., but she clearly wants to close up shop right now. I think I’ll try ordering a margarita just to watch her reaction. (more…)
Today’s a great day to skate the biggest lake in the world
Photo by Jon Choi
The People’s Free Skate Rink on the ice sheet near Leif Erikson Park is still open and fabulous, but the weather’s turning the next couple days so take advantage today-tomorrow while you definitely still can. I think you’ll like what we’ve done with the place, an ice maze of islands and slollums. Don’t need skates, just come bask in the view of the city and the sky. After dark the snow turns pink in the city lights, a premier hangout for the adventurous. See you there!
Selective Focus: Shelley Breitzmann
Shelley Breitzmann is a landscape painter who like many artists in the area, draws inspiration from Lake Superior. From her website: “It’s hard to live near Lake Superior and not be fascinated with its weather and how it impacts the life around it. To try to get that feeling on canvas is pretty compelling.” Her paintings feel huge and vast, and while she works, she pushes and pulls things in and out of the misty, foggy atmosphere of the paintings.
SB: I’ve been working with acrylic on canvas for about 10 years, after working primarily with watercolor since high school. The change really resuscitated my connection with art and the painting process. Since acrylic dries fast, it’s probably not the best medium to achieve the soft, foggy landscapes I’m drawn to, but blending and manipulating it is a challenge I really enjoy. The change in humidity from summer to winter alters the painting process pretty drastically and is something to adjust to throughout the year. (more…)
Duluth Dolls: Miss Tallulah Creant
In this video produced by Illy Killy, Miss Tallulah Creant of Duluth Dolls Burlesque & Cabaret performs at the Red Herring Lounge during last summer’s Super Big Block Party.
R.I.P. Lew Martin
The Superior Telegram reports longtime broadcaster and public servant Lew Martin died Sunday after his 102nd birthday.
Martin began his career at WEBC Radio in the 1930s and transitioned to television in the 1950s. The Telegram reports “his first television broadcast came from the two-car garage that served as a makeshift studio beneath a transmitter. He served as an anchor at WDSM Channel 6 — later KBJR — for 16 years.”
Martin was on the Douglas County Board off and on from 1968 to 2012. (more…)
View from Top of Famous Incline Railway, Duluth, Minn.
This undated postcard, published by Gopher News Co. of Minneapolis, has the following text on the backside:
A novel attraction is the incline railway at 7th Ave. West and Superior Street. These cable cars connect the downtown section with Duluth Heights. In eight city blocks rise to an elevation 500 feet above lake level from where unusual views of Duluth, Lake Superior, Minnesota Point, and the Duluth Superior Harbor are obtainable.
The incline operated until 1939. More info and similar images can be found on the PDD post “Postcards from Duluth’s Incline Railway.”
Selective Focus: Super Snow Moon on Lake Superior
https://www.instagram.com/p/BuFds2JFtdd/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
(more…)