Paul Lundgren
T Bone Burnett – “Every Time I Feel the Shift”
Grammy-winning musician T Bone Burnett referenced Duluth on the track “Every Time I Feel the Shift” from his 2006 album The True False Identity.
At the 1:12 mark he sings:
It all comes down to a moment of truth
Clock ticking in a soundproof booth
From Corpus Christi to Duluth
From Genghis Kahn to Babe Ruth
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…)
Two versions of “Love My Lips”
The Christian children’s television series VeggieTales referenced Duluth in the 1996 episode “Dave and the Giant Pickle.” A regular feature on the show is a segment called “Silly Songs with Larry,” in which Larry the Cucumber and other Veggie characters sing a silly song. (more…)
Class Photos from Duluth’s Bryant Elementary School
Bryant School was built in 1894 at 3102 W. Third St. in Duluth’s friendly West End neighborhood, the present-day location of Cummins Sales and Service. Hugh McKenzie shot the photo above, which is loosely dated by UMD’s Kathryn A. Martin Library Archives & Special Collections as “1914?”
Assembled below is a small collection of class photos from the school, which closed in the 1970s. (more…)
List of Old Bars in Superior
Photo by Jennifer Moore
Back in May, a collection of Superior bar memorabilia was briefly displayed at the Spirit Room. On a sheet of white paper, a list of old Superior bars was created, and folks passing through added to it. (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…)
Gallery of Defunct Duluth-area News ’Zines and Random Publications
From muckraking journalism to neighborhood fluff, sports and hobby content to political and spiritual propaganda, Duluth has seen its share of short-lived, themed newspapers and magazines. Previous posts on Perfect Duluth Day have delved into music ’zines and literary/arts ’zines; this post features the less (or bizarrely more) artsy publications. (more…)
“The Begat” from the musical Finian’s Rainbow
The 1947 Broadway musical Finian’s Rainbow featured the song “The Begat,” which included a reference to Duluth. It’s at the 1:24 mark in the clip above from the original Broadway cast album, featuring Jerry Laws, Lorenzo Fuller and Louis Sharp. (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…)
Monthly Grovel: July 2019 Edition
In the past year — from July 2018 through June 2019 — the PDD Calendar published 8,045 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, seminars and cornhole tournaments. That’s why once a month we set our dignity aside and remind readers how much we appreciate their financial support. (more…)
Duluth View from Cascade Park in 1899
This photo from Detroit Publishing Company shows the view looking out from Duluth’s hillside at Cascade Park toward the Downtown area and Minnesota Point. William Henry Jackson is credited as the photographer.
The Library of Congress dates the image as circa 1902, but research by Mark Ryan for the story “W. H. Jackson’s Photographs of Duluth” for Zenith City Press puts the time of Jackson’s visit to Duluth as the summer of 1899.
The Felice Brothers – “Aerosol Ball”
The Felice Brothers note that “every tooth in Duluth is Baby Ruth-proof,” in this track from their 2016 album Life in the Dark.
Perfect Duluth Day NE IPA
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen had a toothpaste. The World Wrestling Federation had ice cream bars. Now Perfect Duluth Day has a beer. (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…)
Gallery of Defunct Duluth Music ’Zines
As a companion to Perfect Duluth Day’s “Gallery of Defunct Duluth Literary and Arts ’Zines” we now present the local underground music news publications that once spread the gospel of local rawk and/or roll. (more…)
Trampled by Turtles – “Duluth”
The fourth studio album from Duluth band Trampled by Turtles featured this title track. Duluth was released on Oct. 30, 2008.
TBT plays Bayfront Park in Duluth on July 6. (more…)
Mystery Photo #93: A Hard Day
With some Mystery Photos, we know a lot going in. With this one, we know very little. Who is this little girl and why was this photo shot on such a hard day? (more…)
Dickson’s Lake Park Tourist Home
Dickson’s Lake Park Tourist Home is listed in Duluth city directories from 1951 to 1967 and Frank G. Dickson is listed as a resident going back at least to 1930.
The address was 1127 London Road, today the location of a vacant lot across the street from the Leif Erikson statue near the Rose Garden.
Spalding Hotel circa 1908
This photo from Detroit Publishing Company shows Duluth’s Spalding Hotel at 428 W. Superior St. The elegant 200-room hotel opened on June 6, 1889 and was demolished on Sept. 25, 1963. (more…)
Postcards from Universal Atlas Cement Company
The postcard above was published by Arrowhead Trading Post of Duluth. It depicts part of the U.S. Steel Duluth Works campus, with Universal Atlas Cement Company in the foreground. (more…)
Duluth Book Releases in 2019
Grasshopper Girl
Written by Teresa Peterson
llustrated by Jordan Rodgers
Black Bears and Blueberries Publishing
Rez Dog
Story by Heather Brink
Illustrations by Jordan Rodgers
Black Bears and Blueberries Publishing
(March)
Movin’ On: Using Moments of Challenge as a Springboard to Becoming More
Rod Raymond
Ramjet Events
(March 6)
Available at rodraymond.com
Dividing Duluth: The Abandoned Car Test
I’ve lived in West Duluth for the vast majority of my life. The most significant exceptions are the year I lived in the Endion neighborhood near the Duluth Armory and the three-and-a-half years I lived in the Central Hillside at Washington Studios Artist Cooperative.
Though my experiences are largely seen through western Duluth eyes, I like to think of myself as a somewhat impartial observer. I bleed the maroon and gold of a Denfeld Hunter, but I have empathy for Trojans, Cakes, Hilltoppers and those funny little home-schoolers and international magnet arsty-fartsies or whatever they are. We’re all Duluthians, Americans and humans. But we’re also part of many tribes, and our neighborhoods can define us in ways we don’t often think about.
Around the time I graduated from high school, a popular pastime among my friends was to pile into a car and simply drive around with no purpose. We were young, full of enthusiasm, and generally unfamiliar with the world outside of West Duluth. Simply driving east of Lake Avenue at that time seemed like a minor adventure, and if we were creative or lucky enough we could turn it into a significant adventure. At the time, the young women of Duluth had very different hairstyles on each side of town, so there was a visible sense of exploring a new culture in just an eight-minute drive. (more…)
The Times of Lincoln Park Junior High School 1969
As another school year ends, Perfect Duluth Day once again looks back through the pages of an old Duluth school yearbook. In this edition we present a gallery of select images from the 1969 edition of The Times, the Lincoln Park Junior High School annual. (more…)