This undated postcard of Downtown Duluth shows off three buildings that were somewhat new at the time of the photo. In the foreground is the Gateway Tower apartment building at 600 W. Superior St., built in 1972. Shown most prominently at left is the Radisson Hotel at 505 W. Superior St., built in 1970. The Ordean Building, at 424 W. Superior St., was built in 1973.
The pandemic being what it is, live music has been rare in 2020 and festivals have been rarer. On Sept. 12, Earth Rider Brewery in Superior held its third anniversary event on its spacious festival grounds with limited admission, a few masks here and there, and a bit of distancing. (Originally this post featured a recap video, but it has since been removed from YouTube.)
According to an article in the Sept. 22, 1920 Duluth Herald, the combination of potatoes and molasses in a home brew can be “quite potent.” The paper notes that Anthony Fiskett, Duluth’s acting chief of police at the time, might have needed to have his headquarters fumigated after hauling in an evidential keg of the pungent concoction.
Ivy Vainio is one of the artists featured in the Tweed Museum of Art’s upcoming exhibition, “Creating Apart: Local Artists Respond to a Global Pandemic.” She’s a digital photographer who works at the American Indian Community Housing Organization. In this video by documentary filmmaker Mike Scholtz, Ivy talks about her artistic struggles during the pandemic.
In this edition of the PDD Video Lab we’ve taken three seconds of video of an invasive jumping worm, shot by Carly Ziter, and looped it a few times with the most obvious music possible.
Use the link below for a printable PDF for your drawing and coloring pleasure.
Duluth You & Me: Enger Tower
Follow the Duluth You & Me subject tag to see additional pages. For background on the book see the original post on the topic.
The Duluth Library Foundation made a video history tour available yesterday as part of its virtual “Learning & Libations” event. The video was embedded on PDD for a few hours today, but … whoopsie … it was supposed to have been password protected on Vimeo and not available for free viewing.
So, to check out the video, featuring authors Tom Peacock and Tony Dierckins telling stories of life at the western tip of Lake Superior before the city existed and how it came to be 150 years ago, visit the foundation’s website and register for the virtual event.
The light changes. A cover has opened, slit of sun beaming into the darkness, a ha-ha neiner-neiner taunt transmitted from the world of wind and spit. In the quick second between dandelion shaft blinking back to onyx, a gentle violence occurs, crinkling followed by thump.
A book has been returned.
***
With that thump, the movable floor inside the Returns bin lowers almost imperceptibly; a single book isn’t that heavy, after all. But then the flap clinks, signaling another, another, another, dark to light, light to dark, typeset words in freefall. Absorbing the weight of pages and ideas, springs stretch, and the catching floor gradually sinks.
It’s designed to protect the books, this bin is. When it’s empty, the floor rests near the top, quick purchase for incoming books slithering through the slot. As Returns accumulate, the floor gradually descends, earlier Returns nesting and bolstering newcomers so no volume sustains damage from a traumatic plummet.
The fall tradition of folks of hitting the 310+ mile Superior Hiking Trail continues. Featured here are select photos from Instagram.
Artist Carli Bruckmueller of Inver Grove Heights translates her northern experiences into sticker art.
In its series The Slice, WDSE-TV presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.
This Detroit Publishing Company photo of the bulk freighter Maricopa comes with little information. The Library of Congress dates it as “between 1900 and 1910.” There’s no photographer name and no location. It’s even filed as “S.S. Merick [sic] of Duluth,” for some reason.
The Duluth Auditorium — now known as the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center‘s Symphony Hall — opened in 1966. It has hosted an extensive variety of musicians, comedians, theatrical companies and other entertainers over the years and is the home stage of the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra and Minnesota Ballet. Seating capacity is 2,221.
This experimental music video by Duluth’s Nate J. Mattson features Shereé doing her “Original Tiger Dance.”
Yes, it’s another car-prop photo from either the Post Card Shop in Minneapolis or the Penny Arcade in Duluth.
Another monthly installment of wheeled-sneaker stunts from former Duluthian James Geisler, also known as the hip-hop artist JamesG.
