Postcards
Postcard from the Spalding Hotel: “Duluth’s Popular Rendezvous”
This undated postcard, printed by Brown & Bigelow of St. Paul, depicts the Spalding Hotel in Downtown Duluth. The back of the card notes the Spalding was “Duluth’s Popular Rendezvous” and offered a coffee shop, cocktail lounge and bar.
The Spalding opened at 428 W. Superior St. on June 6, 1889 and was demolished on Sept. 25, 1963.
Bird’s-eye View of Duluth-Superior, 1908
This postcard features a drawing of Duluth, Superior and the St. Louis River, and was copyrighted by Thomas W. Wahl of Wahl Realty Co. in 1908. (more…)
Postcard from the Aerial Bridge in 1909
This postcard was mailed 110 years ago today — Dec. 9, 1909. It shows the Aerial Transfer Bridge during the days when a ferry car transported people, automobiles and goods across the Duluth Shipping Canal. (more…)
Postcard of Foreign Ships in Duluth Harbor
Foreign Trade Zone #51 was approved by the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 40 years ago today — Nov. 27, 1979. The first shipment arrived on April 12, 1983. This undated postcard from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography shows ships in the Duluth Harbor near the Foreign Trade Terminal. (more…)
Postcard from a parade on Superior Street in 1909
This postcard was mailed 110 years ago today — Nov. 23, 1909. It depicts a scene on the 300 block of West Superior Street in Downtown Duluth that appears to be a Fourth of July parade. (more…)
Postcards from the Buena Vista Motel
This postcard of the Buena Vista Motel was published by Gallagher’s Studio of Photography and appears to be circa the early 1970s. (more…)
Postcard from the Publicity Bureau of Edwin H. Lee
For a little background on what the deal is with Edwin H. Lee, we turn to a supplement of the Nov. 1, 1913 issue of Skillings Mining and Market Letter. (more…)
Postcards from Duluth Normal School (UMD Old Main)
The postmark on the card above is difficult to read, but it appears to have been mailed in March of 1916. It depicts the State Normal School at Duluth, which later became the State Teachers College and then the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Old Main building. (more…)
Postcard from the SS America “Booth Line”
This postcard of the passenger and delivery ship America is from some point between 1902, when the Booth Steamship Line acquired the vessel, and 1928, when it sunk near Isle Royale.
More info about the vessel can be found in two other Perfect Duluth Day posts — “SS America, 1925” and “Remembering America and her life on the water.”
Postcard from Lyceum Theatre and Spalding Hotel
It’s not known who scrawled a date on this postcard, when it was scrawled, or what the date is supposed to represent. But the date is one century ago today — Oct. 5, 1919.
It could represent the date the photo was shot, but that seems unlikely. The date was probably written by someone who bought the postcard and wanted to remember the date of a visit to that spot.
Postcard from the Pier in Rough Weather
This postcard of the Duluth Shipping Canal was mailed 110 years ago today — Sept. 19, 1909. The postmark fades out a bit, but other details on the card indicate it was mailed from Orr, Minn. to a resident in Duluth’s Friendly West End. (more…)
Postcards from the Sunrise Motel
The undated postcard above, published by Elton H. Gujer Company of Duluth, depicts the Sunrise Motel in Hermantown. (more…)
Postcards from Duluth’s West End … not West Duluth
A recent post on Perfect Duluth Day featured a “Postcard from the West End of Duluth” that was properly captioned by the postcard company. The postcard shown above, however, shows a similar scene and is captioned as “West Duluth, Minn.” (more…)
Postcard from the West End of Duluth
This postcard was mailed Sept. 2, 1939, to Donna Buhler of Toledo, Ohio. Her parents had just arrived in Duluth. (more…)
Postcards from the Clarkson Coal & Dock Co.
This undated postcard, published by the Duluth Photo and Engraving Company, shows the Clarkson Coal & Dock Company on Duluth’s waterfront. (more…)
Postcard from Two Harbors, where the trout bite
Sure, it’s a cute little piece of art, but the verse on the backside of this undated postcard puts it over the top. (more…)
Postcard from West Superior Street
This undated postcard from Zenith Interstate News Company has a very 1960s look to it. The image shows businesses and traffic on the 400 block of West Superior Street in Downtown Duluth, looking northeast. (more…)
Postcard from Paul Bunyan Bar & Grill
This undated postcard, published by Kaeser & Blair of Cincinnati, Ohio, depicts interior and exterior scenes at the Paul Bunyan Bar & Grill in Downtown Duluth. (more…)
Mystery Photo #95: Mr. Earl Askew
A recurring source of confusion in the Mystery Photo series is whether particular images that share the stamp of the Post Card Shop in Minneapolis and the Penny Arcade in Duluth were shot in Minneapolis or Duluth. Here is another such image. (more…)
Postcards from Lincoln Park
A random collection of postcards depicting Lincoln Park in Duluth’s friendly West End neighborhood. (more…)
Postcards from Arrowhead Cafeteria & Grill
This undated postcard, published by F.H. Lounsberry & Co. of Duluth, shows the exterior of the Arrowhead Cafeteria & Grill. It opened in 1925, but its owners — S. T. Huie and Stephen G. Wong — were rebranding their prior operation, the Congress Cafe. (more…)
Postcard from Gooseberry Falls State Park
This undated postcard from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography offers a scene at Gooseberry Falls State Park. (more…)
Mystery Photo #94: Postcard of Bizarro Duluth
So … what we’ve got here is … um … an image that seems completely unrelated to Duluth, labeled upside down as Duluth. Can anyone speculate on what the folks at V.O. Hammon Publishing Company were thinking? What is this image actually depicting?
While it’s not technically a photo, it needs to be categorized as a PDD Mystery Photo nonetheless.
Postcards from Duluth’s Shipping Canal
There are a bazillion postcards of the Aerial Lift Bridge and various ships, but in this post the aim is to steer attention more to the shipping canal. (more…)