Mystery Photo #123: Duluth Public Library Reading Room
At one time for sale on Amazon, but now marked “currently unavailable,” is this photo labeled “Reading Room, Duluth Public Library, 1890-1930, Minnesota, MN, Chairs, People, Books.”
At one time for sale on Amazon, but now marked “currently unavailable,” is this photo labeled “Reading Room, Duluth Public Library, 1890-1930, Minnesota, MN, Chairs, People, Books.”
This undated photo shows the Zinsmaster Wholesale Bakery facilities at 2831 W. Superior St. in Duluth.
This postcard from the V.O. Hammon Publishing Company features an image copyrighted in 1904 by Crandall & Maher (presumably Robert S. Crandall and James Maher). The card was mailed out of Duluth on Sept. 29, 1905 and arrived in Ohio on Oct. 2. It was sent to Miss Emily Booher of Mt. Gilead. The sender’s name is not on the card but the message scrawled on the front reads:
“It was midnight on the ocean and a storm was on the lake.” Remember.
Get ready for some “News for the Nineties.” Courtesy of an old VHS tape in the PDD basement archive, we present the complete KDLH-TV evening newscast from 30 years ago today — Sept. 28, 1990. And yes, the commercials are included.
This undated postcard of Downtown Duluth shows off three buildings that were somewhat new at the time of the photo. In the foreground is the Gateway Tower apartment building at 600 W. Superior St., built in 1972. Shown most prominently at left is the Radisson Hotel at 505 W. Superior St., built in 1970. The Ordean Building, at 424 W. Superior St., was built in 1973.
According to an article in the Sept. 22, 1920 Duluth Herald, the combination of potatoes and molasses in a home brew can be “quite potent.” The paper notes that Anthony Fiskett, Duluth’s acting chief of police at the time, might have needed to have his headquarters fumigated after hauling in an evidential keg of the pungent concoction.
The Duluth Library Foundation has made a video history tour available as part of its virtual “Learning & Libations” event.
The video features authors Tom Peacock and Tony Dierckins telling stories of life at the western tip of Lake Superior before the city existed and how it came to be 150 years ago.
This Detroit Publishing Company photo of the bulk freighter Maricopa comes with little information. The Library of Congress dates it as “between 1900 and 1910.” There’s no photographer name and no location. It’s even filed as “S.S. Merick [sic] of Duluth,” for some reason.
The Duluth Auditorium — now known as the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center‘s Symphony Hall — opened in 1966. It has hosted an extensive variety of musicians, comedians, theatrical companies and other entertainers over the years and is the home stage of the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra and Minnesota Ballet. Seating capacity is 2,221.
Yes, it’s another car-prop photo from either the Post Card Shop in Minneapolis or the Penny Arcade in Duluth.
Photo courtesy of the Northeast Minnesota Historical Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth.
All aboard for this week’s PDD quiz! Test your knowledge of local railroads, depots, and other train-related trivia.
The next PDD quiz will review this month’s headlines; it will be published on Sept. 27. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Sept. 27.
One hundred years ago the Stewart Shoe Company was on its way out and American Bakery Company was on its way in at 324 N. Central Ave. in West Duluth. The building there was constructed in 1894 and today is occupied by Wussow’s Concert Cafe, which opened under the name Beaner’s Central in 1999.
The Tweed Museum of Art will be hosting an exhibition, “Creating Apart: Local Artists Respond to a Global Pandemic” with work by Ivy Vainio, Moira Villiard, Sarah Brokke Erickson, Karen Savage-Blue, Joe Klander and Brian Barber. Annie Dugan curated the exhibition and worked with local documentary filmmaker Mike Scholtz to create a series of short films about each of the artists involved.
The exhibition was originally scheduled to open on Aug. 31 in the Court Gallery of the Tweed. Shifting plans for colleges and gatherings have already affected the actual schedule. In the meantime, the Tweed has released the brief teaser above featuring the artists who were interviewed. Profiles of each artist will be released on a regular schedule in the coming days and weeks, and we will be posting them here on Perfect Duluth Day as they are available.
This ad appeared in the Duluth Herald newspaper on Sept. 4, 1920. The Minnesota Point Lighthouse was built in 1858, and it seems its deterioration happened largely in its first 62 years.
This postcard was mailed Sept. 2, 1935 — 85 years ago today. “Lois and Ben” sent the card from Duluth to Mr. & Mrs. Lewis Jones of Highland Park, Mich.
