Paul Lundgren
Duluth Book Releases in 2025
Presenting Perfect Duluth Day’s annual rundown of books by Duluth-area writers and/or about Duluth-area topics that are new to bookstores and e-commerce sites. (more…)
Postcard from the Riverview Motel circa 1955
This postcard shows the Riverview Motel in West Duluth, which was replaced in the early 2000s by Westgate Townhomes. (more…)
Postcard from Skyline Parkway Overlooking DM&IR Ore Docks
This undated postcard shows the DM&IR ore docks, which mark the border between Duluth’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, then known as the West End, and West Duluth.
Perfect Duluth Day’s 20,000th Blog Post
After more than 21 years as “Duluth’s Duluthiest website,” Perfect Duluth Day today randomly hits the milestone of publishing its 20,000th blog post. (more…)
Plans for Arrowhead Bridge emerge in 1925
One hundred years ago plans were emerging to build what would later be called the Arrowhead Bridge, which spanned the St. Louis River from Grassy Point in West Duluth to Billings Park in Superior. Construction of the bridge was completed in 1927. It was dismantled in 1985 after the opening of the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge. (more…)
Duluth and the Solar Eclipse of 1925
Duluth was in the path of totality for a solar eclipse 100 years ago. Unfortunately, it was cloudy in the city on Jan. 24, 1925. (more…)
Postcard from Tugs Breaking Ice for Steamer Ireland
This undated postcard, circa 1903 to 1913, shows a tugboat next to the Steamer R. L. Ireland, which the caption indicates is “going to winter quarters, Duluth, Minn.” The Great Lakes bulk freighter was built and launched in 1903. According to the website Great Lakes Vessel History, it was twice renamed — Sirius in 1913 and Ontadoc in 1926 — and sold for scrap in 1970.
Duluth Salvation Army building has hit century mark
A small feature in the Jan. 10, 1925 Duluth Herald mentions the opening of the “new” Salvation Army at 118 N. Third Ave. W. The building still stands, now serving as an annex to Hostel du Nord. (more…)
Carl Holmstrom jumped 110 feet at Chester Bowl in 1925
Carl Holmstrom had the longest ski-jump at Chester Park during the opening event of the 1925 season, held on Jan. 4, 100 years ago today. The newspaper clip above is from the previous day’s edition of the Duluth Herald. Below is the report of the race from the Jan. 5 Herald. (more…)
Feodor von Luerzer’s Lake Superior oil painting
Duluthian Feodor von Luerzer presumably painted this image 125 years ago; an auction listing on invaluable.com notes it is “signed and dated 1900.” The listing, however, renders the name as “Frederick von Luerzer” and lists the artist’s year of death as 1917. Feodor von Luerzer died in 1913. The landscape painter lived in Duluth from 1889 to 1909.
For more on Von Luerzer visit the zenithcity.com archive on archive.org.
2024: The Year in Duluth Gig Posters
As we reach the end of another year of rawk and/or roll, Perfect Duluth Day once again looks back at the posters that pimped the gigs. (more…)
Postcards from Shorewood Terrace
Sherwood Terrace operated as a seasonal restaurant during the middle of the 20th century. Arthur and Ada Neeb were the proprietors. The location was either “on London Road” or “near Knife River,” depending on which old newspaper article is referenced. (more…)
The Most Read Saturday Essays of 2024
For the fourth year in a row, Jim Richardson has dominated the top of the charts. He has authored four of the five most read Saturday Essays of 2024. (more…)
Ashtrays of Duluth
In celebration of the nasty habits of smoking and advertising, collected here are various Duluth-branded ashtrays representing a variety of establishments. (more…)
Postcard from Good Shepherd Church and School in West Duluth
This undated postcard, published by Gallagher’s Studio, shows the Good Shephard Church and School at 5901 Raleigh St. in West Duluth. The building was completed in 1959 and the first mass was celebrated on Christmas Eve, 65 years ago. (more…)
Postcard from the Merchandise Docks and Passenger Terminals
This undated postcard, published by Kreiman’s Lyceum News & Bookstore, shows a portion of Duluth’s waterfront warehouse district at some point in the first half of the 20th century. The large building with “Fireproof Storage” on the side in large letters is the Northern Cold Storage & Warehouse Company. (more…)
More Duluth Show Case Company ads from the 1920s
The advertisement above is from a 1920 issue of Hardware World magazine. Apparently hardware stores were tucking a lot of merchandise into boxes and drawers back then instead of displaying as much of it as possible, so the Duluth Show Case Company emerged as an innovator in retail-store cabinet manufacturing. (more…)
Postcard from Duluth’s Carnegie Library in 1914
This postcard was mailed Dec. 2, 1914 — 110 years ago today. It shows Duluth’s Carnegie Library at 101 W. Second St. Constructed in 1902, it was Duluth’s main library until 1980. The building has since served as an office building. (more…)
Ice Spikes on Kingsbury Creek in West Duluth
From Wikipedia: “An ice spike is an ice formation, often in the shape of an inverted icicle, that projects upwards from the surface of a body of frozen water. Ice spikes created by natural processes on the surface of small bodies of frozen water have been reported for many decades, although their occurrence is quite rare. … Natural ice spikes can grow into shapes other than a classic spike shape, and have been variously reported as ice candles, ice towers or ice vases as there is no standard nomenclature for these other forms.”
Duluth Panorama Circa the Early 1960s
This Duluth Panaroma is from the Cliff’s Barber Shop Collection. It was likely shot in 1962, but might be from ’63 or ’64. At center is the Aerial Lift Bridge in the up position. (more…)
Postcard from Duluth to David Letterman
This unmailed postcard, published by Erickson Postcards & Souvenirs, shows an early 1980s (or perhaps late 1970s) scene of boats clustered outside the Duluth Harbor. The card must have been commissioned for promotional use by KDLH-TV in the 1990s or later, however, because it is preaddressed to David Letterman, courtesy of what was then the local CBS affiliate. Late Night with David Letterman ended its run on NBC-TV in June 1993 and the Late Show with David Letterman launched on CBS two months later. (more…)
Duluth suckers are skinned
Front page of the Nov. 20, 1924 Duluth Rip-saw.
If a dog farts in Duluth …
[This post originally contained an embedded video that is no longer available at its source.]
The television miniseries Category 6: Day of Destruction premiered on the CBS network on Nov. 14, 2004. Part one includes a reference to Duluth at the 21-minute mark. (more…)
Postcard from the Lighthouse at Duluth, Minn.
This 120ish-year-old postcard shows the Duluth Harbor North Pier Lighthouse on the Canal Park side of the Duluth Shipping Canal during a storm. (more…)
Did Kiss play Duluth twice in 1974?
Fifty years ago today — Nov. 3, 1974 — Kiss played the Duluth Arena in what is believed to be the band’s first of eight Duluth shows spanning five decades.
But the documentary TV series Biography released a two-part episode on Kiss in 2021 that briefly shows a handwritten 1974 tour schedule with the band slotted to play Duluth on March 27. Did Kiss play Duluth twice in 1974? Or does the documentary use a fake schedule scribbled together to create imagery for an interview cutaway shot? Or was there a canceled Kiss show before the real one seven months later? (more…)