Postcard from the Ski Scaffold in Duluth
The ski scaffold in this postcard should not be confused with “Big Chester,” the jump that stood in Chester Park from 1924 to 2014. The postmark on this card is March 8, 1912. (more…)
Harbor View, 1973
Artwork by Patsy Reed High titled “Harbor View,” dated 1973.
Winter of Discontent: Lake Superior Wild Ice Report 2021-22
The Wildest Wild Ice
This winter I operated as a lake observer from my hillside fortress of solitude. I dug my binoculars out and pegged them by the window to study the lake’s changes. Obsessed with the wildest wild ice — skating the big lake — I track everything to do with Lake Superior freezing. I track wind speed, wind direction, temperature, and preciptiation daily. In summer this helps me predict local water temps and clarity related to underwater video. In winter this relates to skateable ice on the biggest lake in the world.
Lindula Brothers – “A Cold Day in Duluth”
From the Lindula Brothers‘ 2020 self-titled album, a little song about coming home.
Safe Passage
For as long as I’ve been writing, and that’s been for about twenty years or so, reader, I’ve made my contact information available for people to reach out to me with questions and comments about what I write.
A couple of months ago someone sent me a message through Instagram saying that I have privilege because I can pass as a cisgender woman and also asked why I haven’t used that privilege by being more visible in the trans community. I take every question seriously—well, all the serious ones, at least, so I’ll take my time here to answer.
Passing is complicated. Even the word is complicated. I don’t use it. I blend. And there was, of course, a time when I didn’t. Being misgendered hurts. And there are trans women who are routinely misgendered throughout their transition and I’m acutely aware of that because of my own experiences early in my own transition. Is there privilege in blending? I suppose there is. Does it make my life easier? Undeniably. When I’m out in public, my identity as a woman is not questioned or rebutted at a restaurant or at a grocery store, at the clinic or anywhere I go. It gives me access. It gives me peace of mind. (more…)
The Institute for the Study of Light and Water
The Institute
I am the founder and only member of the Institute for the Study of Light and Water. In truth its membership includes all who live. Data-gathering continues from my top-floor hillside apartment, the observatory. Generous windows on every side provide views of the lake and the sky. I must complete the Institute’s studies.
Mystery Photo: The Girls
This postcard photo was taken at Arcade studio, 110 W. Superior St. in Downtown Duluth. Based on a few other Arcade photos, the prevailing theory is that the studio was called Penny Arcade until about 1915 and then became simply Arcade, or Arcade Camera Shop/Studio or Arcade Photo Supply Company. Thomas W. Furniss was the proprietor.
Who are “the girls”? Well, that detail might be lost to history. (more…)
Monthly Grovel: March 2022
This month marks two years of the pandemic messing up all the fun. The PDD Calendar has stayed on track throughout all the cancelations, online events and even the rescheduled events that were canceled again. Now, we look forward to better days.
Each month we reach out with one beggarly blog post to remind everyone that human beings and not machines are at work editing and publishing calendar events. So if you appreciate it, drop a few bucks in the PayPal account. (more…)
Duluth Album Releases in 2022
Abe Curran
Self titled
(Jan. 11)
Available on Spotify
Bigbabyjay
Latto World
(Feb. 4)
Available on Spotify and Apple Music
The Christopher David Hanson Band
Whippoorwill
(Feb. 10)
Available on Bandcamp
Postcard from the Palladio Building
This undated postcard shows the original Palladio Building at 401 W. Superior St. in Downtown Duluth. The eight-story office building was designed by Chicago architect Henry Raeder and built in 1889. It was demolished in 1937 and replaced by the headquarters of WEBC Radio.
The new building later became known as the Palladio and housed the Chinese Lantern until the restaurant moved up the block in 1976. The second Palladio was demolished in 2015 to make room for the new Maurice’s headquarters, which opened in 2016.
Video: Grouse Showdown in Northern Minnesota
While traveling a county highway in northern Minnesota in search of a big buck to photograph, Seth Trobec came upon two grouse staking claim to the northbound lane. As cars pass by, the birds do a dance of sorts, as the more aggressive grouse struts around, sizing up the other bird, before going on the attack.
PDD Quiz: February 2022
Test your memory of February 2022 headlines with this week’s PDD quiz!
The next PDD quiz will mark Women’s History Month with a quiz about notable Duluth women; it will be published on March 13. Send question suggestions to Alison Moffat at aklawite@d.umn.edu by March 10. (more…)
PDD Headshot Backstory
When joining Perfect Duluth Day’s “Saturday Essay” roster, I was asked for a headshot and I submitted this which accompanies my essays. It is a video still from an old GoPro on a stick. The camera has broken through the water, and my face is about to break the surface. Water depth @ 20-30 feet, off the sand beaches of Park Point. It was late summer and I wanted one more batch of diving photos in my Aquaman colors. (more…)
Duluth Harbor Circa 1870s
Although this old photograph is labeled “Duluth Harbor,” it’s not what we think of today as the harbor. Based on a similar photo posted to Perfect Duluth Day in 2020 and the resulting discussion surrounding it in the comments, it was determined that the tall building shown in our photo here is the Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad Grain Elevator A and was located roughly where the Northland Vietnam Veterans Memorial is today. (more…)
Lake Superior Eats Lesser Bodies of Water for Breakfast
Lake Superior is the biggest lake on Earth. And it’s the best. Want to fight about it?
If you’re like me, sometimes you mention Lake Superior in conversation, and you find yourself saying, “Lake Superior is the biggest lake in the world — by surface area! But if you’re judging by volume, the biggest lake is Lake Baikal!” But screw that. It’s time to take a stand. Now I say, “Lake Superior is the biggest lake in the world and those other janky lakes can suck it.”
What is a Lake?
The issue is nuanced, which triggers me. The definitions we use for lakes are arbitrary. I looked it up on Wikipedia and it just made me angry: “Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean.” Is it not obvious that oceans also lie on land? What is an ocean on, if not land? The ocean is not bottomless. The bottom of the ocean is land — they checked. Another irritating part of the definition is that lakes are “surrounded by land.” Now, don’t tell me oceans are not surrounded by land. There is no difference between oceans and lakes. The definition of a lake as “laying on/surrounded by the land” means oceans are, in fact, lakes. (more…)
Low – “All Night”
The seventh music video release from Duluth band Low‘s 2021 album Hey What is directed by Azalia Snail.
Low’s album was nominated for a Grammy in the category “Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical” for the work by mastering engineer BJ Burton. The Recording Academy has announced the rescheduled date for the 2022 Grammy Awards show, which was postponed due to COVID-19. It will air on April 3 at 7 p.m. on the CBS network, KBJR channel 6.2 in Duluth.
Pączki!
Every year, for a week, Super One Foods sells pączki, pronounced poonch-key, a specialty Polish donut. But they never do my favorite flavor, prune.
What does a man have to do to get a prune donut in time for Mardi Gras?
“Shrinking Winter” — Great Lakes Now episode
Great Lakes Now is a production of Detroit Public Television. Footage of Duluth @11:44-12:00.
Postcards from the Duluth Arena-Auditorium
Included in this post are four postcards, all published by Gallagher’s Studio of Photography, showing the early days of what is now known as the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. Numerous buildings have been added to the DECC campus over the years, but these postcards show only the original two, then known as the Duluth Arena and Duluth Auditorium. (more…)
Tiny Titanic
A Proctor family uncovered a surprising connection when buying a house — it had belonged to Anna Larsen, a survivor of the Titanic disaster. Jason and Kim Seguin’s son Jaxson was obsessed with the Titanic and so Jason, an experienced metalworker, decided to build his own scale model of the ship and put it in their front yard.
This feature was produced and edited by Silver Brook Township’s Mike Scholtz for the southwestern Minnesota Pioneer PBS series Postcards. It aired Feb. 17
Selective Focus: Presidents’ Day Blizzard of 2022
Instagram
17 likes, 4 comments - margaretharstad on February 22, 2022: "I love when the snow is half way up your windowsill.".
instagram.com
Somewhere in the range of 17 inches of snow fell on Duluth from Feb. 22 to 23, blowing into tall, fluffy snow dunes. Collected here are a few images from around the region, via Instagram. (more…)
Lake Superior Waves
Lake Superior photographer Christian Dalbec shot the scenes in this video on Jan. 5. The waves hitting the cliff are at Tettegouche State Park on Crystal Bay. The surfing shots are from Stoney Point. The surfers are Jake Boyce and Ben Gravy.
Duluth curler among stray Olympians in Beijing streets
Beijing Streets Overrun By Hundreds Of Stray Olympians After End Of Games
John Landsteiner of Duluth, at right in the image, was among “hundreds of stray Olympians” who “had been left behind after the 2022 Winter Games,” according to the satirical news website the Onion. With Landsteiner in the photo is his curling teammate Matt Hamilton of McFarland, Wis.