Paul Lundgren
Selective Focus: Homegrown 2022 Opening Ceremonies
Select Instagram images from opening day of the Homegrown Music Festival. (more…)
Homegrown Music Festival 2022 Primer
The Homegrown Music Festival is back in person, May 1-8. There’s a 100-page Field Guide available as usual, with all the specifics about the 195ish bands performing at 45 venues in the Twin Ports, but what are the hot updates? Well, that’s why PDD always kicks out a primer. (more…)
Postcard from Fifth Avenue West and Superior Street
One of the more common postcard views of Duluth in the early 1900s was the scene looking east down Superior Street from Fifth Avenue West, showing off the Spalding Hotel (right) and Lyceum Theatre (left).
The Spalding was demolished in 1963, and the Lyceum came down in 1966. The Ordean building now stands in the Spalding location; the Maurices headquarters in the Lyceum spot.
Postcard from Arch Street in Cloquet, 1912
Sidney Dahl of St. Cloud was the recipient of this postcard mailed 110 years ago today — April 23, 1912. The sender’s name was Ingga. (more…)
Postcard from the Opening of Navigation Season
This undated postcard shows a freighter entering the Duluth Shipping Canal at some point in the early 1900s. (more…)
Mystery Photos: Wide Awake and Green Dragon Studios
The three gentlemen in the photos above appear to be the same guys in different positions in front of different backgrounds with different cowboy outfits. They also are at two different Duluth photo studios, according to the ink stamps on the back. The first is from the Green Dragon Studio at 18 E. Superior St., and the second is from the Wide Awake Studio at 10 E. Superior St. (more…)
Homegrown Music Festival Field Guide 2022 has arrived
The 24th annual Homegrown Music Festival is less than a month away. The 100-page Field Guide is off the presses and will be available at Duluth-area bars, restaurants and other businesses over the course of the next few days. (more…)
Monthly Grovel: April 2022
Zlata Chochieva? 311? Trampled by Turtles? Weird Al? The only reliable tool to help weigh the upcoming concert options is the PDD Calendar.
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…)
The Return of the Handshake
There was a brief minute at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic when I thought I might never shake another person’s hand again. And I was fine with that. If we could take just one positive thing out of the widespread death, illness and cultural disturbance that began in 2020, it might be ridding ourselves once and for all of the compulsion to rub our palms together.
But even when I was in the middle of a long no-handshake stretch, full of wishful thinking about the future, I knew deep down that the germ clutch would soon return. And of course it did.
My prejudicial prediction was that most people wouldn’t want to return to handshaking, but a bunch of insistent jackasses would refuse to let it die. Then it would slowly become normal again and we’d all live with it. I was wrong. Pretty much everyone started extending their hands the moment lockdowns and mandates were eased. There was no resistance. (more…)
Postcard from Lookout Point
“Lookout Point” is probably meant in a generic sense in this postcard, as in “a lookout point.” And if the illustration is based on what a specific piece of Lake Superior shoreline looked like roughly a century ago, that shoreline has obviously changed in appearance over time. (more…)
Japancakes – “Duluth 7.5”
Twenty years ago today — March 21, 2002 — the band Japancakes released its album Belmondo as volume 19 of Darla Records’ ambient Bliss Out series. The album features the track “Duluth 7.5.” Note, however, that the tune gets second-class status among music that references Duluth because the band is from Athens, Ga., and therefore is almost certainly referring to Duluth, Ga.
Chickenbone George holds court
“Chickbone George” Alan Sparhawk of the Black-eyed Snakes encouraged the crowd to “dance against tyranny” Saturday at Duluth Cider during the “Stand with Ukraine” concert. Charlie Parr opened the show.
Postcard from City Loan Company of Duluth
This 90-year-old postcard, published by Curt Teich & Co. of Chicago, promotes the City Loan Company in Duluth’s Providence Building. The card is postmarked March 16, 1932. Jesse Leach of 612 N. 57th Ave. W. was the recipient.
The Providence Building opened in 1895 at 332 W. Superior St. and remains there today. (more…)
Duluth Book Releases in 2022
Zero Waste Kids: Hands-On Projects and Activities to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
Written by Rob Greenfield
Illustrated by Alissa Imre Geis
Contributions from April Hepokoski, Zion Lights, Heidi Rose, Alyssa Binns Gunderson and Michelle Cassar
February
Quarry Books
Available at quartoknows.com
The Girl in Duluth
Sigrid Brown
Feb. 2
Available at amazon.com
Be the Change: Rob Greenfield’s Call to Kids―Making a Difference in a Messed-Up World
Rob Greenfield and Antonia Banyard
April 20
Greystone Books
Available at greystonebooks.com
Kekekabic
Eric Chandler
May 20
Finishing Line Press
Available at finishinglinepress.com
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.
Lindula Brothers – “A Cold Day in Duluth”
From the Lindula Brothers‘ 2020 self-titled album, a little song about coming home.
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.
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…)
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…)
Selective Focus: Presidents’ Day Blizzard of 2022
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…)