Boats Docked at Duluth Harbor Circa 1875
Photographers William Caswell and William Henry Davy ran a studio in Duluth circa 1870-75 and were responsible for many of the stereographs circulated during the era. The image above shows boats docked somewhere in the Duluth Harbor. (more…)
Despite pandemic challenges, Duluth area sees new crop of restaurants and bars in 2020
Kai Soderberg stands outside the Jade Fountain in March, prior to remodeling the former Chinese restaurant and opening it as a tiki bar in August. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)
A surprising number of intrepid entrepreneurs opened new restaurants and bars in the Duluth area in 2020, despite the global pandemic. One notable trend is the number of new Black-owned businesses. (more…)
A look at Duluth-area food and drink spots we lost in 2020
Left: Maggie’s restaurant in Bayfield marked 40 years in business in August and announced its closure in October. Right: The Crooked Spoon Cafe in Grand Marais was destroyed by fire in April. (Photos via Facebook)
The scourge of COVID-19 has challenged restaurant and bar owners at every level. The temporary closures during the pandemic are too long to list, and the industry outlook for 2021 is filled with uncertainty, but surprisingly few businesses announced they were calling it quits in 2020.
Two of the region’s most notable restaurant losses occurred in small towns away from Duluth, and COVID-19 was perhaps only loosely to blame. (more…)
Mystery Photo: Duluth Residence in 1910
Based on the postmark and the last line of the scrawled message on the back, we might presume this image is of a Duluth house in 1910. What is the address? Is it still standing? Let the mystery solving begin. (more…)
Duluth You & Me: Northwest Passage
Use the link below for a printable PDF for your coloring and drawing pleasure.
Duluth You & Me: Northwest Passage
Follow the Duluth You & Me subject tag to see additional pages. For background on the book see the original post on the topic.
PDD Quiz: 2020 in Review
We bid a fond farewell good riddance to 2020 in this year-in-review quiz!
The PDD quiz will return on Jan. 17 with a winter-related quiz. Send question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Jan. 14. (more…)
Saturday Essay: Select Gems from 2020
Last week we highlighted the five most-read pieces from the fifth year of Perfect Duluth Day’s “Saturday Essay” series. This week we ignore the numbers and look back at a few select essays of similar quality that might have been missed by non-compulsive followers.
In the past five years PDD has published 224 essays showcasing the work of 38 different writers, and we’re always looking to expand that roster. Anyone who has an original piece of literary excellence that seems to fit (or appropriately defy) the established format should email paul @ perfectduluthday.com to get involved.
And now, links to a few select gems from season five … (more…)
Enjoying the Glorious Climb-it of Duluth
Oh, those wacky puns. This postcards was mailed from Duluth 115 years ago today — Dec. 26, 1905. It arrived in Newark, N.J. three days later, and eventually at the home of Mr. L. Volland. (more…)
Selective Focus: A Very COVID Christmas
Select photos from Instagram of people from the Duluth area doing their best to keep spirits high and the COVID-19 infection rate low. (more…)
Merry Christmas from the archives …
On a cold Duluth evening back in 2013, a small crew gathered for a video shoot. Mark Lindquist wanted to give his children a Christmas video. Time got away. The footage wasn’t awesome. I set it aside.
It’s always bugged me that I never made that video for Mark and his children. Last night, I went searching through virtual piles and piles of material until I found what I was looking for. (more…)
Consider the Stars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTqcRrilLTw
Celestial photography by Duluth’s Dennis O’Hara, with a song performed by Deb O’Hara.
Denfeld Jazz Band – “Up on the Housetop”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKZ0M8uzZC4
This video of the Denfeld Jazz Band’s arrangement of “Up on the Housetop” was created for the televised version of the Christmas City of the North Virtual Parade.
A Secret Garden: Demo tracks from northern Minnesota
Students and staff from Central Lakes College in Brainerd have put together a compilation album of regional musicians that features a bevvy of Duluth favorites, including Jerree Small, Low and Greg Cougar Conley. (more…)
Postcard from Drill’s Arena Marina
This undated postcard from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography appears to be circa 1971. (more…)
Dance Attic “At Christmas Time” Special
Jimi and Suzi of the guitar/accordion duo Dance Attic partake in holiday hijinks with music from their 2020 Christmas song collection (featured in the PDD Gift Guide).
Video produced by Andrew Stern. (more…)
Aerial Transfer Bridge circa 1905
This image of Duluth’s Aerial Bridge, from Detroit Publishing Company, appears to have been shot during one of the first ferry-car transfers across the canal. The Library of Congress dates the images as 1905 … with a question mark. (more…)
Tanner Zahn – “Little Things”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sobf_qfQLF4
Hermantown native Tanner Zahn, now of the Los Angeles group FuturePop, has released this Christmas music video. Locals will remember him as Tanner Zahn Hagen, performer in Duluth Playhouse productions and son of Jennifer Madill Hagen and Dusty Hagen, former owners of Madill Performing Arts Center in Duluth. (more…)
What’s the deal with the stairway at Birchwood Park that leads down into a ravine?
On the edge of Birchwood Park, a small playground park at 222 W. Heard St. in the New Duluth neighborhood, is an old stairway down to a ravine that I’m guessing runs into Sargent Creek. The existence of this stairway is probably common knowledge in New Duluth, but it is kind of tucked away so that others visiting the park are unlikely to notice. And it raises the question of what used to be down there. (more…)
Duluth You & Me: Famous Places Crossword Puzzle
Use the link below for a printable PDF for your coloring and drawing pleasure.
Duluth You & Me: Famous Places
Follow the Duluth You & Me subject tag to see additional pages. For background on the book see the original post on the topic.
More of My Indie Rock Guitar Goddess She-roes
There is a vein of singer-songwriters I refer to jokingly as “weepy folk.”
Video Archive: Gap ad with Low’s “Little Drummer Boy”
Mystery Photo #127: Miss Victoria Benson
Often we don’t know who is the subject of these old studio photos, but this time it’s written on the back. So we know this is Marie Victoria Benson of 2801 W. Second St. in Duluth’s friendly West End. (Or is it 2301?) She later became Mrs. Edward Cluett. (more…)
Gaelynn Lea – “In the Bleak Midwinter”
Duluth’s Gaelynn Lea performs the Christmas carol “In the Bleak Midwinter” in this video shot live in her home. The song is on Gaelynn’s 2016 Christmas album Deepest Darkness Brightest Dawn, which features live-looped versions of traditional Christmas carols.
The Most Read Saturday Essays of 2020
We thought we were so artsy and sophisticated with our little essay series on Perfect Duluth Day. But we all know sensationalism sells. Which essays were the most read in 2020 according to Google Analytics? Well, the topics included a wet T-shirt contest, reckless behavior involving musical watercraft, flat-out fake news, a cult taking over a Lincoln Park church and a murderous dog. Readers, we hope you’re proud of yourselves.
PDD’s annual tradition of wrapping up each year of the “Saturday Essay” series with lazy top-five lists instead of arduously prepared compositions continues next week when the samplings will be less of a popularity contest and more about one person’s snobby opinion of what you should have been reading if you weren’t all heathens. (more…)