Kirsten Aune puts kaleidoscopic spin on textile folk art
Kirsten Aune is preparing work for a group art show she co-organized with her sister for the Nordic Center for FinnFest. “Inspiraatioita: Finnish Art and Design in Minnesota” will be on display July 27-30. Read more about it from MPR News.
Two Harbors healthcare organization wins national attention
The Commonwealth Fund spotlights Two Harbors’ Wilderness Health in its recent feature on “How Regional Partnerships Bolster Rural Hospitals.” (more…)
Hidehiro Otake, Photographer of the Northwoods
Hidehiro Otake first passed through Duluth in 1999, following a literal had-while-sleeping dream. He had been a college student and budding photographer living in Tokyo when he dreamt one night that he was in a cabin in an evergreen forest and outside was a wolf gazing back at him. (more…)
EmbalmingEva – “RBMK”
Duluth synth act EmbalmingEva‘s debut video is directed and edited by Marcel Hones with creative direction and styling by Catherine Karakas.
MN Moder – “Love Letter”
The new video from Duluth-based hip-hop artist Zachary Moder, aka MN Moder, is a love letter to music with visuals by Montclair Media.
MN Moder performs at Wussow’s Concert Cafe on June 7 as part of the weeklong Pete Fest.
Minnesota Historia: Boomtown!
The history of Minnesota’s Iron Range is full of boomtowns. That word usually refers to any town that grows rapidly due to economic prosperity. But in the case of Eveleth, “boomtown” took on a more literal definition. Twice.
Minnesota Historia is a PBS North web series dedicated to Minnesota’s quirky past. It is hosted by Hailey Eidenschink and produced/edited/written by Mike Scholtz.
Postcard from the Passenger Station at Duluth circa 1910
This early 20th century postcard shows the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Passenger Station, which was located in Duluth’s old waterfront warehouse district — basically between Amsoil Arena and the Ordean Building where I-35 is now.
Duluth kids use miniature nuclear reactor for stickball backstop
Duluth is name-dropped in the new Netflix action/comedy series FUBAR, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, which premiered last week. In episode 4, titled “Armed & Dane-gerous,” the regional Central Intelligence Agency director informs a team of operatives that a medical glass manufacturer in Duluth went bankrupt and left a miniature nuclear reactor in the basement, where kids used it as a backstop for their stickball game.
Lake Superior Writers 2023 writing contest winners announced
Lake Superior Writers has announced the winners of its 2023 writing contest. There were nearly 200 entries focused on this year’s theme of “Connections.” First place winners in each category received $200 and their works can be read online at lakesuperiorwriters.org. (more…)
The 2023 Half-Moon Pack of Wolf Pups
The 2023 Half-Moon wolf pack has seven pups and all appear to be in good shape.
The Voyageurs Wolf Project is focused on understanding the summer ecology of wolves in Voyageurs National Park, about 100 miles north of Duluth. Donations to its annual fundraiser help study how many of these pups survive to adulthood and pays for the equipment that captures footage like this. Donations can be made via crowdfund.umn.edu.
Miller Music Company: Photos from the Estate of Ben B. Miller
One century ago the Miller Brothers opened Miller Music Company at 8 W. First St. in Duluth’s Spina Building. According to the Kathryn A. Martin Library’s Archives & Special Collections at the University of Minnesota Duluth, “Abe Miller was a violinist and the manager of the Duluth Symphony for 37 years beginning in 1932. Ben was an assistant manager of Northern Drug prior to launching the music store in 1922.” (more…)
PDD Quiz: May 2023
As the Northland shifts into summer mode, see how many May 2023 headlines you remember with this week’s current events quiz!
Hartley Park will be the subject of the next PDD quiz, which comes your way on June 11. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by June 7. (more…)
Times I Was Secretly High: An Apology Letter
Well, it looks like it’s finally going to be legal to smoke weed for funsies in Minnesota, which is terrific news for all of the people languishing in jail for smoking or dealing weed for funsies in Minnesota. Law is the ultimate example of the abject arbitrariness of reality: we have an entire system of rules and consequences established around the specious assertion that smoking weed, and all practices associated with it are, well, objectively bad. And not just rules and consequences, an elaborate — and until very recently, shared — ethos that avers a deep and persistent truth: using marijuana is dangerous and wrong. What a hoot.
Being a human is such absurdity, most of the time — how does anyone keep a straight face? Like so many of you, I have struggled with some of the more frittersome or idiosyncratic morae introduced as inalienable verities: men do this, women are that, and you’re either one or the other; these are the ways we cover our bodies with cloth, but these ways are terrible and wrong; these animals are great to eat, but these ones are friends … Sometimes, the whole world seems like a very elaborate game of make believe we’re all playing together. Through the right lens, even the houses we live in, with two sinks in the bathrooms, secret refrigerators, walk-in closets — it’s all like some fantastical fever dream. (more…)
Advertisements from the Duluth Public Library Nostalgic Newsstand Sale: Frigidaire
The Duluth Public Library’s Nostalgic Newsstand Sale was a source of many things to write about. Here is another advert from my collection of now-recycled magazines. (more…)
Matchbooks from Duluth Hotels and Motels
Modern and fireproof, featuring the finest food and liquors, located at the center of everything and on the shore of beautiful Lake Superior, containing all possible comforts and conveniences, with lodging available for the whole family, they are the classic hotels and motels of Duluth.
This is the fourth in Perfect Duluth Day’s series of matchbook collection posts. As always, we remind everyone to please close the cover before striking. (more…)
Minnesota Historia: The Magic of Smelting
Explore Minnesota’s love affair with smelt, the shimmering silver fish that’s easy to catch and fun to eat. Now that Lake Superior’s smelt population is in decline, an annual parade in downtown Duluth keeps that love alive.
Minnesota Historia is a PBS North web series dedicated to Minnesota’s quirky past. It is hosted by Hailey Eidenschink and produced/edited/written by Mike Scholtz.
Mystery Photo: Perhaps a Duluth Fraternal Group from 1908
This image is from a postcard mailed 115 years ago today — May 23, 1908 — available for sale on ebay. It’s been touched up a bit here for easier viewing. The obvious mystery is what organization the people in the photo belong to.
The item is listed on eBay as “1908 RPPC Duluth Minnesota College Club Vintage Postcard MN Land Point Idaho ID.” The “college club” part of that is clearly speculative. Many of the men have sashes and badges that suggest perhaps they are part of a fraternal club like the Odd Fellows. (more…)
Advertisements from the Duluth Public Library Nostalgic Newsstand Sale: The Sportsman Magazine
Sportsman Magazine Ad
The Duluth Public Library’s Nostalgic Newsstand Sale was a source of many things to write about. (more…)
100 Giant Colossal Statues of Bob Dylan
The Committee for Giant Colossal Statues of Bob Dylan, Duluth’s premier Bob Dylan monuments organization, remains hard at work designing giant colossal statues of Bob Dylan.
Video Archive: Trinity Lutheran Church circa 1943
This roughly 80-year-old film features scenes at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1108 E. Eighth St. in Duluth’s East Hillside neighborhood. Also in the film are a nearby market, the Kenwood Community Club and a building under construction. (more…)
Advertisements from the Duluth Public Library Nostalgic Newsstand Sale: To the Orient on Canadian Pacific
One of the cooler things about the adverts from the Duluth Public Library Nostalgic Newsstand Sale are the ads for travel on the train. Before planes, before interstates, the train was ubiquitous for travel. I love this ad for “To the Orient on Canadian Pacific.” (more…)
Selective Focus: Surfy, Smelty, Swirly PDDs
https://www.instagram.com/p/CsJuSYYLtG9/
Select photos from Instagram spanning mid-April to mid-May 2023, all hashtagged with the name of a certain website. #perfectduluthday (more…)
UMD Bulldog Hockey: Amsoil Arena Fly-through
Take a tour of Amsoil Arena, home of UMD Bulldogs hockey, via drone footage by Ethan Schultz of ShotxSchultz.
Minnesota Historia: Mr. Magoo the Mongoose
In 1962, a mongoose at the Duluth Zoo was sentenced to death by the federal government, but he’s not the only animal in Minnesota who finds himself at the wrong place at the wrong time.
Minnesota Historia is a PBS North web series dedicated to Minnesota’s quirky past. It is hosted by Hailey Eidenschink and produced/edited/written by Mike Scholtz.