Paul Lundgren
Monthly Grovel: April 2020 COVID-19 Edition
Typically Perfect Duluth Day’s monthly pitch for donations brags about how many events we publish on the PDD Calendar and notes all the labor required to do it. In the past three weeks, however, most of that work has shifted to marking events “cancelled” or “postponed.” We are still publishing new events, but most of them are either “virtual” events happening online, or concerts and neighborhood celebrations planned several months into the future. So our mission continues, but it’s a much lamer mission, at least for the short term.
Why do we need your help now more than ever? Because when life gets cancelled the advertising revenue that keeps Perfect Duluth Day in business slowly disappears. Nearly every enterprise in town is struggling in these challenging times. (more…)
Masonic Temple, Duluth, Minn.
The Duluth Masonic Temple at 4 W. Second St. opened 115 years ago — March 24, 1905, and continues to operate today as the Duluth Masonic Center. (more…)
The Value of Duluth Telephone Service in 1920
This advertisement in the March 9, 1920 issue of the Duluth Herald notes Duluth had 20,706 telephones. (more…)
Duluth Album Releases in 2020
Big Into
Cold Fortunes and Warriors Obscura
(Jan. 2)
Available on Bandcamp
Glitteratti
Among the Wild
(March 6)
Available at glitterattiduluth.com
Social Animals
Best Years 7-inch
Rise Records (April 3)
Available on riserecords.com
Superintendents of Duluth Public Schools, 1870 to 2020
Minnesota’s Independent School District #709 was led by 29 individuals during its first 150 years. For the historical record we list here the superintendents of Duluth Public Schools from 1870 to 2020. (more…)
Unnecessary Quotation Marks: COVID-19 Edition
Another one for the collection of unnecessary quotation marks in Duluth.
So, are we limited to 2 or “2”?
Do you know? Facts about Duluth from 1920
From Feb. 23 to March 25 of 1920 the Duluth Herald newspaper published a daily fact about Duluth on its front page. Some are pretty interesting, some are kind of silly. All in all, it’s a fun snapshot of what Duluth was bragging about a century ago. (more…)
Postcard from Astor Trading Post
This undated postcard depicts a replica of the American Fur Company trading post at Fond du Lac, which opened in 1935 at Chambers Grove Park in Duluth’s Fond du Lac neighborhood and was demolished in the late 1960s.
The original fur post operated from 1817 to 1847 at the present-day site of Historical Park, just a bit downstream from Chambers Grove Park along the St. Louis River. (more…)
Mystery Photo #103: Girl with Curls
What’s the deal with this curly haired lass? Was she a Duluthian? (more…)
Monthly Grovel: March 2020 Edition
In the past year — from March 2019 through February 2020 — the PDD Calendar published 8,064 Duluth-area events. Each one was edited by a human being before the “publish” button was pushed.
It’s a tremendous amount of work to keep up with all the submissions from the more than 1,000 organizations that have sent us info about their concerts, plays, improv classes and lutefisk dinners. That’s why once a month we set our dignity aside and remind readers how much we appreciate their financial support. (more…)
Postcard from Divers at Work Through the Ice in Duluth
There’s no explanation here as to what these “divers at work” were up to. The year of the postmark on this V.O. Hammon Publishing Company postcard is not legible and there is no caption on the back. All we know is M. B. Edwards sent the card from Duluth to William Begg of St. Paul. (more…)
List of U.S. Presidents who have visited Duluth
General Dwight D. Eisenhower campaigning for president in 1952 at the Duluth Civic Center.
How many U.S. presidents have been to Duluth? Well, we don’t know for sure, but the best answer available seems to be “at least a dozen.” As far as we know at Perfect Duluth Day, no one has ever compiled a list before. There was, however, a fairly detailed exchange of info in the 2011 post “How many U.S. presidents visited Duluth?”
Combining that info with more recent discoveries, below is the best available information. History nerds can feel free to add more info. (more…)
Postcard from the Ski Tournament at Duluth in 1910
This postcard was mailed to Mrs. May Hagberg two years after the ski tournament shown in the image. The postmark is Feb. 15, 1912. (more…)
Postcard from Congdon Park in 1940
The message on this postcard was composed 80 years ago today — Feb. 7, 1940. The card is postmarked the next day. (more…)
Monthly Grovel: February 2020 Edition
In the past year — from February 2019 through January 2020 — the PDD Calendar published 8,040 Duluth-area events. Each one was edited by a human being before the “publish” button was pushed.
It’s a tremendous amount of work to keep up with all the submissions from the more than 1,000 organizations that have sent us info about their concerts, plays, cooking classes and snowball fights. That’s why once a month we set our dignity aside and remind readers how much we appreciate their financial support. (more…)
View of Duluth from Skyline Parkway
This undated photo of Downtown Duluth, Canal Park, the Aerial Lift Bridge, etc. is from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography. The biggest clue to when the photo was shot is the scrapyard where the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center stands today. So we know the image was captured prior to construction of the Duluth Arena in 1966. Are there any other clues in there? (more…)
LowH1Funk – “Looking for Love”
In the ongoing effort to chronicle songs that call out “Duluth,” here’s a recent one by local hip-hop act LowH1Funk from the three-track EP Ghostly. “Duluth” is referenced at the 36-second mark.
Postcard from the Rustic Bridge at Lester Park in 1910
The message on this postcard of the Rustic Bridge and Pavilion in Lester Park is dated Jan. 21, 1910, and postmarked Jan. 22. The sender’s name isn’t easy to read, but the recipient is Henry Seeam of Rice Lake, Wis. (more…)
Mason Jennings – “Duluth”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK4S3pkbaWU
In January 2000, Mason Jennings released his second album, Birds Flying Away, featuring a track titled “Duluth.” Twenty years later, on Friday, Jan. 24, he’s in town performing at Sacred Heart Music Center.
Third verse:
We’ll live in a little town
North of Duluth
Where my grandmother
Lived in her youth
Postcard from old Duluth Post Office and Incline Pavilion
This postcard was mailed Jan. 15, 1910. The image is referred to on the back of the card as depicting “Duluth about 18 years ago,” which would be 1892, the year the Beacon Hill Pavilion opened at the top of the Duluth Incline. (more…)
Dave Hudson – “Samson in Duluth”
Brooklyn, New York-based musician Dave Hudson references Duluth on this track from his 2001 album New Sickness.
Postcards from the Kitchi Gammi Club
This postcard was mailed 100 years ago today — Jan. 12, 1920. It shows the clubhouse of the Kitchi Gammi Club, which opened six years before the postcard hit the mailbag. The building still stands at 831 E. Superior St., and the organization is still active. The Kitchi Gammi Club formed in 1883, making it the oldest incorporated club in Minnesota. (more…)
Vomit Detective
When partially digested nourishment is involuntarily ejected through the mouth, one of the first reactions is to wonder what caused it to happen. Was rancid meat recently consumed? Is there a norovirus going around?
Sometimes excessive alcohol is to blame and there isn’t a lot of detective work necessary. When that isn’t the case, however, the cause of a sudden retching can be difficult to track.
I have some recent experience as a vomit detective, following an incident that preceded the Christmas holiday. After a full month on the case, I can confidently state that the evidence points toward the culprit being either a cookie, a bowl of chili, or really just about anything else I encountered around that time.
That’s right, I’m getting ready to wrap up my investigation and file it as a cold case.
What’s worse is that information gathered in my latest probe has called into question a case from 2015. I might have wrongfully convicted a local fast-food chain restaurant of food poisoning. (more…)
Duluth Schools of the 1890s
Courtesy of the New York Public Library and Google Books, detailed Duluth School Board annual reports from 125 years ago are available online to geek out on.
Links:
Report of the Board of Education of the City of Duluth, Minnesota (1891 to 1894)
Report of the Board of Education of the City of Duluth, Minnesota (1895 to 1901) (more…)