History
1929 Ford Happy Time Mini Eatery
The Happy Time concession wagon purportedly was “the first mail truck in Duluth.” It’s a 1929 Model A Ford truck that obviously was converted to a popcorn wagon. It’s shown here parked in the former Super One parking lot on the 2200 block of East Fifth Street in Superior’s East End neighborhood. It was marked for sale the day these photos were shot, Dec. 2. (more…)
Mystery Photo #59: Duluth Wau-Pse-Ke Club Cabin
What’s the deal with the Wau-Pse-Ke Club and its cabin? Though the stamp, and presumably the postmark with it, were torn off this old postcard, we know the cabin dates back at least to 1911 and was on the Lester River. (more…)
Mystery Photo #58: Steamer Perry G. Walker
Although the date Dec. 11 is recorded on this image, it’s not clear what year it was when the steamer Perry G. Walker arrived in Duluth covered in ice. It’s also not clear if this is a photo or an illustration … or an illustrated photo. (more…)
Minnesota Point
Year unknown, photographer unknown. Appears to have been shot in the late 1800s.
Postcard from Steinle Nursuries
This postcard offers a view of Steinle Nursuries on Miller Trunk Highway. Not much is known about the business or the location. The back of the postcard offers no details, other than that it was published by Duluth Photo Engraving Company and could be mailed domestically for a penny. (more…)
Dorothy Arnold Photo Gallery
In tribute to actress Dorothy Arnold — born Dorothy Arnoldine Olson on Nov. 21, 1917 — a gallery or glamorous promotional and press photos. Click any image to see it full size instead of as a thumbnail. (more…)
Postcards from Duluth’s Lincoln Hotel
The Lincoln Hotel stood at 317 W. Second St. from 1926 to 2004. The location is now a parking lot for St. Louis County’s Government Services Center. (more…)
Mystery Photo #57: Duluth Swimmers
Here’s what is known about this photo: It was shot prior to 1997 and was part of the Budgeteer Press photo collection that was disposed of just before the name of the weekly paper changed to Budgeteer News. (more…)
WEBC radio clip from Nov. 18, 1967
WEBC 560 AM is the oldest radio station in the Duluth-Superior market, dating back to 1924. These days it feeds the 106.5 FM translator branded as “Sasquatch 106.5.”
The audio clip above includes commercials broadcast between songs on Nov 18, 1967. In addition to station promos, the clip includes spots for Ski Hut, WEBC / Jeno’s Pizza Battle of the Bands, and the Big Bash with Dave Gordon and the Expressmen.
The Fisk Rubber Company, 1920
Fisk Rubber Company had retail stores in 40 states during the 1920s. The Duluth sales and service station was at 749 E. Superior St. The photo above was shot by Hugh McKenzie and dated Oct. 23, 1920. Below, the same location at Eighth Avenue East and Superior St., shot Nov. 7, 2017. (more…)
PDD Quiz: Gales of November
November is a treacherous time on the Great Lakes. This past month, the “gales of November came early,” devastating the Lake Superior shoreline. This quiz looks back at Lake Superior storms and shipwrecks (as well as some marginally-related local singers and songwriters).
The next PDD Quiz, reviewing stuff that happened in November, will be published on Sunday, Nov. 26. Send question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Nov. 23. (more…)
World’s only Frank Lloyd Wright service station
The R. W. Lindholm Service Station at 202 Cloquet Ave. in Cloquet, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1956 and opened in 1958, is still in use. These photos are from late 1950s and early 1960s. (more…)
Video Archive: Don Ness elected mayor in 2007
For your Election Day amusement Perfect Duluth Day flashes back one decade to 2007, when Don Ness was elected mayor of Duluth. Above is WDIO-TV Eyewitness News footage from the primary on Sept. 11, and below is coverage by Fox 21 and WDIO from the general on Nov. 6. (more…)
Mystery Photo: Duluth Ice Sculpture
There’s not a lot to go on in the featured photo, but hold on … (more…)
Kelley-How-Thomson Company of Duluth
Shown above are workers from the Kelley-How-Thompson Co. at Duluth’s Winter Frolic, circa 1926-1928. The tool and hardware wholesale business was headquartered at 231-237 S. Fifth Ave. W. — which would put it roughly where I-35 intersects the avenue between the DECC and Duluth Depot today. It produced a variety of hardware products, including a line marked with the trade name Hickory. (more…)
Postcards from Duluth’s Statue of Leif Erikson
The bronze Leif Erikson statue in Duluth was placed in 1956. It was designed by John Carl Daniels and sponsored by the Norwegian-American League. Erikson was a Norse explorer from Iceland and is considered the first known European to discover continental North America. (more…)
Duluth: Birthplace of pie à la mode?
According to Wikipedia, pie à la mode was “invented and named by John Gieriet in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1885.” And there seems to be a preponderance of evidence backing up that claim. Yet it’s not a historical tidbit people in Duluth seem to know about.
Is it true? Well, let’s look at the facts and claims involved.
The March 26, 1885 issue of the Duluth Daily Tribune featured a grand opening advertisement for the Hotel la Perl which showed a menu that included vanilla ice cream and blueberry pie. And that, so the story goes, is the oldest known reference to pie à la mode.
Though the Wikipedia entry provides numerous references, none of that support material seems to be available on the internet … until now. This Perfect Duluth Day post is serving as a collecting ground for items helping to prove or debunk the unheralded legend. The first thing we need is a copy of the 1885 newspaper ad. (Update: It has been found and can be seen below in the second comment to this post. (more…)
Duluth Ferry by Francis Chapin
Lithograph published by the Walker Galleries of New York, circa 1938.
Mystery Photo #55: Duluth Miniature Farm
Thanks to the labeling we know this miniature farm was located at a Conrad Service Station in Duluth. But where specifically in Duluth? And when?
The Great Target Parking Lot Flood of 2007
Five years before Duluth’s most famous flood came Duluth’s least famous flood. Ten years ago today — Oct. 18, 2007 — heavy rainfall caused Miller Creek to swell and parking lot runoff to form a pool on the outer edge of Duluth’s Miller Hill Target store property. One driver managed to land in a sink hole; two Perfect Duluth Day contributors snapped photos. (Top photo by yours truly Paul Lundgren; bottom photos by Barrett Chase.)
Lost and Found Duluth Relics from Morgan Park and WDSM
Above are the letters that adorned the exterior wall near the entrance to Morgan Park School. They are for sale at Bauer Brothers salvage in Minneapolis. Below is an old WDSM-TV camera discovered at Axman Surplus in St. Paul. (more…)
Girls Wanted, Duluth, Minn.
This postcard was sent Oct. 6, 1912, to Miss Bell Hays in Plattsburgh, N.Y. (more…)
Video Archive: Wally the Beer Man
Here’s a look back to 1987 — when the Minnesota Twins won their first World Series and Wally the Beer Man was in the limelight. (more…)
PDD Video Lab: Another Day
In this edition of PDD Video Lab we present 41 seconds of Duluthiness cut out of a 17-minute-long set of old movie clips that for the most part don’t seem to be shot in Duluth. (more…)