Local podcast challenging to listen to
… and I don’t mean in terms of the audio quality.
This Duluth-based podcast has international reach. What They Don’t Tell You About Being a Survivor is “a podcast that builds community amongst those affected by trauma, with the purpose to promote healing and social change.” What makes it challenging to listen to is the intensity of the topics, the intensity of the personal experiences shared. According to the website … (more…)
Thundersnow in Duluth
Duluth’s Mollie Johnson captured the sounds of thunder during this morning’s blizzard.
Globe News, landmark store in Superior, changing ownership
Globe News owner Tom Unterberger, left, has sold his store to a new ownership group led by longtime customer Jon Fritsche of Poplar. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
A landmark Superior collectible store — along with its iconic sign — has been sold to new owners who plan to maintain all its nostalgic charm.
Globe News owner Tom Unterberger announced last week that he has sold the historic building at Tower Avenue and Belknap Street along with all its contents to a partnership group headed by a longtime customer. Unterberger and his wife, Jill, purchased the building with the help of his parents in 1982 and slowly converted its corner newsstand into a retail store filled with books, music, trading cards and a wide variety of vintage gifts. (more…)
Award for global engagement goes to Duluthian
Dan Nolan recently won a statewide award for teaching about internationalization. Below is the news release for the announcement, but I thought it might be more important to remind folks of the cool work Dan has also done for internationalization for the city of Duluth. (more…)
Initiatives in telehealth, as reported by CSS students
I have a pet interest in rural health issues. So I was very interested in a presentation recently to Wilderness Health. (more…)
What was the WEBC Traffic Tower?
According to the Duluth News Tribune, this WEBC Traffic Tower was located in a glass enclosure on the roof of the building on the northwest corner of Fourth Avenue West and Superior Street. (more…)
The Embassy presents Boubville
Duluth’s finest art cult, the Embassy, is planning an unusual fundraiser. WDSE-TV‘s Julie Zenner and Dennis Anderson chat with Emily Koch and Zanta about the irreverent version of a holiday festival called Boubville in this Almanac North segment.
WDSM: Queen of the Towers
Collected here are 1950s-era advertisements for WDSM-TV, the forerunner to KBJR-TV. The ads appeared in Broadcasting and Sponsor magazines and can be found in the Media History Digital Library. (more…)
When Bobby Heenan broke Greg Gagne’s nose in Duluth
Retired professional wrestler Greg Gagne mentions a match in Duluth on the new Vice cable television series Tales from the Territories. The anecdote occurs after the 19-minute mark in episode 3, titled “AWA: Bodyslams in the Heartland.” (more…)
Comparing Little Italy to Duluth
Oddly, this ad uses Duluth as a benchmark against which a reader might understand how many Italians are in New York. For a while, Duluth was one of the 100 biggest media markets in the United States, and so among media professionals it could serve as a benchmark.
From the Media History Digital Library.
Mary Mack ribs Duluth on Tonight Show
Comedian Mary Mack performed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Friday. During the set she mentions her mother is “from that very bland Scandinavian country called Duluth, Minnesota.”
Mack’s parents are both Duluth natives and Mack herself was raised in Webster, Wis., about 50 miles south of Duluth.
PDD Quiz: Holiday Tunes
Whip up a Tom & Jerry, spin a festive record, and settle in for this week’s quiz about local(ish) holiday tunes!
The final PDD quiz of the year will look back at headlines from 2022; it will be published on Dec. 25. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by Dec. 21. (more…)
Traditional Christmas folk musical stylings of Goat Hill Quartet
On Saturday, I was at Wussow’s for coffee, and midway through the morning Goat Hill Quartet appeared. The group’s traditional Christmas folk musical stylings raised money for Loaves and Fishes.
Media Excavation: WHYZ in the Age of the Seaway
WHYZ was the ABC affiliate in Duluth — I think it would become WDIO? Or did WDIO begin after WHYZ died? (more…)
Alyson Hannigan: Duluth Streetwalker
During its nine-season run on the CBS television network, the sitcom How I Met Your Mother dropped numerous references to Minnesota, the home state of one of the show’s primary characters, Marshall Eriksen. In season 8, episode 10, titled “The Over-Correction,” Duluth finally got mentioned.
The episode aired 10 years ago today — Dec. 10, 2012. (more…)
Boots: A Love Story
“A hoarder is someone with an unusual ability to see beauty in the ordinary.” I heard Malcolm Gladwell say that during a harvest, and had to pause and write it down (the Dragon Psychology 101 episode, which aired at the midpoint of 2020).
Exactly two years and twenty days ago, I rescued these ancient Red Wing boots from the trash. The sound of the garbage truck trundling down the alley produced a pang of regret, so I pulled them from atop a frozen bag of excrement at the last possible moment:
Reunion with these works of art wrought rhapsodic joy. A rabbit hole opened. I dove way down, even though I knew it didn’t make much sense. Every drop of value had been squeezed from them already, or so I thought.
I set them in the sun, and admired them. My adoration, combined with the angling sun’s illumination, bordered on the beatific. I shot several photos. Perhaps that would be enough to say goodbye. Sensing more, however, I kept going. (more…)
KDAL sells the Duluth-Superior-Iron Range market
KDAL 610 AM is a commercial talk radio station in Duluth, owned and operated by Midwest Communications. There was also a KDAL-TV, which later became KDLH and then merged with KBJR. (more…)
Selective Focus: Mana Bear Bolton’s Paintings and Murals
Mana Bear Bolton live painting on Tower Avenue in Superior in August 2021. (Photo by Jess Morgan)
Between colorful murals, acrylic paintings of beloved pets, playful watercolors and flow arts, Mana Bear has been making the Twin Ports region and beyond more beautiful for nearly a decade. Learn more about Mana’s work in the interview below. (more…)
Media Excavations: Ojibway Publications
Well, I’m not sure how to feel about posting this advert pulled from the Media History Digital Library, because the name of the company bears no connection to the people, that I can tell …
… but Ojibway Publications was a nationally significant trade-magazine publisher located in Duluth. (more…)
Chief Buffalo Memorial Mural: Art in This Present Moment
The Chief Buffalo Memorial Mural in Duluth, led by artist Moira Villiard, visually tells the story of a community and the descendants of Chief Buffalo, remembered as a prominent figure that led the Anishinaabe to permanent resettlement in northern Minnesota. Started in 2019, this project also features work from other artists such as Michelle Defoe (Red Cliff Ojibwe), Awanigiizhik Bruce (Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe) and Sylvia Houle (Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe).
Video via the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, a community foundation that serves all of Minnesota with nearly $2 billion in charitable assets for community good.
Duluth, a Cosmopolitan City
Advertising campaigns for Duluth’s KDAL radio in the trade press were intent on revealing the cosmopolitan dimensions of Duluth. These ads both reveal Duluth’s unique industries and reveal that some of Duluth’s retail, especially, can stand shoulder to shoulder with other major urban areas. (more…)
Trampled by Turtles with Alan Sparhawk – “When I Go Deaf”
Alan Sparhawk joined Trampled by Turtles for a performance of the Low song “When I Go Deaf” two weeks ago at the Armory in Minneapolis. Gina Nagler Smith captured the performance in this video. (more…)
Media Excavations: Duluth-Superior Television Revolution
This ad campaign, luring businesses to advertise on TV in Duluth/Superior uses a picture of supporters of the Revolutionary government of Cuba manning a machine gun post overlooking one of the main streets, Zapata Avenue, into the heart of Havana, Jan. 4, 1959. (more…)
Loiselle Liquor ends 88-year run; new owners plan name change
Loiselle Liquor Store, 413 E. Fourth St., was owned and operated by the Loiselle family for 88 years. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske).
The oldest liquor store in Duluth has changed hands and will take on a new name for the first time in nearly nine decades.
Loiselle Liquor Store, 413 E. Fourth St., was sold by the Loiselle family this spring to Matthew Krueger and Katherine Eagle of Cloquet. St. Louis County property tax records showed the sale price at $360,000 for the two-story building — which was constructed in 1893 as the Goering Block. (more…)
“They Want Culture but Won’t Watch It”
Radio and television audiences in Duluth were surveyed in 1961. While the general demographics could be useful for media historians, it might surprise the readers of Perfect Duluth Day that, in 1961, the category of “first generation Scandinavian immigrants” was statistically significant in a survey like this. We are not so far away from the days when Duluth was a rich community built from immigrants, with all the magic and tension that follows from immigration.
Information from Media History Digital Library. (more…)