Mystery Photos
Mystery Photo #52: The homely mugs of Ella and Dave
This postcard photo of a couple perhaps from or visiting Duluth appears to have never been mailed, though it is addressed to Mrs. F. Welch of Eau Galle, Wis. On the back of the card, in the upper left corner, are presumably the names of the photo subjects, Ella and Dave. Their last name is faded out, but clearly the final three letters are s-o-n. (more…)
Mystery Photo #51: Lakeside Reunion
Usually with the “Mystery Photos” series we know very little about the featured image at the start and learn a variety of details after publishing it. In this case we know a lot going in, but one detail is missing. (more…)
Mystery Photo #50: Children racing at Bayfront Park
The fundamentals of what’s happening in this old photo are fairly simple. It’s obviously shot at Bayfront Festival Park in the days of the old yellow canvas tarp-covered stage, prior to the 2001 construction of the 76-foot-tall steel-canopy pavilion that stands today. And clearly the image shows kids running a race.
So the mysteries are: What race is this? Can we zero in on a date or are we limited to the vague guess that it’s the mid 1990s?
Mystery Photo #49: Women and Children First
The back of this postcard credits Gust Landin, a photographer who operated out of 24 N. 21st. Ave. W. in Duluth’s friendly West End neighborhood, with shooting this image.
The main question here is, what’s going on in this century-old photo? Why have a bunch of ladies in dresses lined up with a row of children in front of them at what we can assume is some Duluth location? Who are they? We’ll probably never know for sure. (more…)
Mystery Photo #48: Superior Street and Lake Avenue circa 1998
Where are you now, Danny Tanner?
This image is from a postcard printed by the College of St. Scholastica featuring photography by student Danny Tanner. Searching the internet to determine if Danny Tanner is still involved in photography is a bit complex; it turns out Danny Tanner is the name of a character on the television sitcom Full House, which had recently wrapped up its eight-season run around the same time the real Danny Tanner was doing his thing on Superior Street.
Although the date the photo was shot and date the postcards were printed are unknown, this one is postmarked Nov. 2, 1998. In the background are the Electric Fetus store, Strand Theater and a Duluth Transit Authority bus headed to New Duluth.
Mystery Photo #47: The Science Museum
The Science Museum of Minnesota moved out of the St. Paul Auditorium and into the Merriam Mansion on Capitol Hill in 1927. It remained there until 1964, when it moved into the St. Paul-Ramsey Arts and Sciences Center. The final move came in 1999, when a new facility opened adjacent to the Mississippi River. (more…)
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.
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.
Mystery Photo: Bonnie Gardens
Specific location unknown. Photographer unknown. Everything unknown. Help if you can.
Mystery Photo: New Duluth Bus and Drivers
This photo popped up on Pinterest a while back. It’s dated 1962. Photographer unknown.
Duluth’s first diesel buses began operating in 1957 under the auspices of the Duluth-Superior Transit Company. The Duluth Transit Authority was created in 1969, so one could say the bus in the photo above is a DTA before there was a DTA.
Can anyone name any of the drivers?
Mystery Photo: Old 708
A train rolls through western Duluth. Year unknown. Photographer unknown. The number on the train is 708. Anyone have insight?
Mystery Photos #36-38: Three Women
One day you’re glamorous enough for a fancy Duluth studio portrait; one-hundred years later, no one knows who you are.
At least the photo on the left comes with half of a name: “Mrs. Mohler.” Other than that, what you see is what you get for clues. Anyone who recognizes one of these women or can provide further details will be declared winner of the internet for a day.
Mystery Photo #35: Frank Lundgren and Joe Marceau
This mystery photo was sent by Ryan Sanders, a distant relative of the man at left in the photo above, Frank Lundgren. (Yours truly, Paul Lundgren, is no relation.) Standing next to Frank Lundgren is his brother-in-law Joe Marceau. The photo was shot somewhere in Duluth around 1918. The mystery we are looking to solve is where specifically the photo was shot. (more…)
Mystery Photo: UMD Majorette June Feick
This mystery photo comes from the folks at UMD’s Kathryn A. Martin Library. The majorette featured front and center is June Feick, leading her fellow majorettes and the UMD Marching Band during the 1952 Homecoming Parade on Superior Street in Duluth.
The mystery? “June doesn’t appear to have enrolled at UMD for the 1953-54 (school year),” reads the caption on the Kathryn A. Martin Library Facebook page. “We are curious about what happened in her life after she left UMD. Can anyone help us find more information?”
Mystery Photo: Champions 1913
Who are these girls? What basketball team were they on? Why were they in a photo shot in 1911 on a postcard mailed in 1911 with “Champions 1913” written on the ball?
What we do know, based on the signature on the image, is the photo was taken by Duluth photographer Louis Dworshak, owner of the Dworshak Studio at 8 N. Second Ave. W. (more…)
Mystery Photos: UMD
The University of Minnesota Duluth’s Alumni Association sent out an email featuring eleven old photos. The organization is collecting UMD memories for the upcoming Bridge magazine and is requesting help identifying memories and people from these heritage photographs. (more…)
Mystery Photo #21: What was Cook’s Place?
For sale on a couple websites are tokens for Cook’s Place, 527 W. Michigan St., Duluth. What was Cook’s Place? The address puts it on the western end of where the Duluth Public Library stands today.
A listing on tokencatalog.com offers what appears to be a list of various names the business may have gone by over the years: “Moses S. Cook Saloon 1898-1912; Mayer J. Cook Saloon 1912-1916, Beverages & Restaurant 1920; Homer L. Cook Restaurant 1937-1942; J. Earl Cook Confectionery 1947-1958.”
That seems to raise some questions, though, like: How did so many different Cooks carry out 60 or more years of business in one spot? When was it called Cook’s Place? Is Mayer a first name? There was no “mayor” of Duluth named J. Cook, although Jay Cooke played a big part in Duluth’s history in the late 1800s.
What’s the deal with Cook’s Place?
Duluth Mystery Photo #20: Who was F. W. Miller?
He had a house on Park Point. That’s all we know.
Duluth Mystery Photo: Denfeld football players from 1951
Help name these Denfeld Hunters. The image above is one of three dated Nov. 29, 1951 that were listed for sale on eBay. The description read: “These three photos were of the football players from Denfeld High School in Duluth, Minnesota. The sign in the background says Public Schools Stadium. The photos are from 1951. Two of the boys are identified: Eli Miletich and Richard Wilson. Eli Miletich gained some local celebrity later in life on the Duluth Police force.”
So, who can name the other two gridiron greats from West Duluth?
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Mystery Photo: BlueBird Landing on Lake Superior’s North Shore
This photo from the mid-1940s raises a few questions, and the Internet provides fast answers to many of them. (more…)
Mystery Photo: Residence of Luther Mendenhall
Did those asbestos shingles last a century? Is the Luther Mendenhall residence still standing? Where is it, or where was it?
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