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…)
Rich Mattson and the Northstars – “In Flight”
Rich Mattson and the Northstars have a new album set for release on Feb. 5. This homespun video, produced by Reggie Pype, is for the first single, “In Flight.”
The upcoming album, Skylights, can be preordered at spartasound.bandcamp.com.
Selective Focus: Kitties
From household pets to wildcats, a look at Duluth-area kitty cats via Instagram. (more…)
Video: Bobcats on the St. Louis River
Duluth’s Mike Mayou captured video of three bobcats on the ice along the St. Louis River on Wednesday. “I happened to spot them from afar,” he wrote on the YouTube description. “After flying a drone over to investigate, I discovered that the three cats were very comfortable being up close and personal with the camera, thus this footage. Enjoy!”
Meteorite Video via Pine County Sheriff’s Office
This dashcam video from the Pine County Sheriff’s Office shows a bright light streaking in the sky at about 6:50 a.m. on Dec. 16 in the vicinity of Denham, about 20 miles southwest of Duluth. (more…)
The Slice: Photographing Icicles with Michelle Hague
Duluth photographer Michelle Hague loves to capture the beauty of Minnesota, and has a special passion for icicle photography.
In its series The Slice, WDSE-TV presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.
PDD Video Lab: On the Great Lakes
In this edition of the PDD Video Lab we’ve taken mid-20th Century Duluth footage from the National Archive and set it to the title track from the 2017 Ingeborg von Agassiz album O Giver of Dreams. (more…)
Santa Clutch is coming to town!
If the door drop is good enough for Amazon it’s good enough for Santa Clutch.
Uncle Clutch’s Video Horror Shop airs on Superior Community Television at 9 p.m. on Fridays and 3 p.m. on Saturdays.
The full Video Horror Show Christmas Special is now a part of “A Perfect Duluth Christmas: PDD’s Holiday Video Showcase.”
Postcard from a Warship in the Duluth-Superior Harbor
This undated postcard, published by Zenith Interstate News Company, shows the USS Forrest Sherman Destroyer-931 docked on Rice’s Point in Duluth, with the Peavey grain elevator in the background. (more…)
Petitioning to Change Duluth in 2020
It might be no surprise that 2020 saw more Duluth action on change.org than any year before it. And it’s hardly surprising that the petition with the most virtual signatures is a plea for Duluthians to wear masks. (more…)
Duluth You & Me: Winter Fun
Use the link below for a printable PDF for your coloring and drawing pleasure.
Duluth You & Me: Winter Fun
Follow the Duluth You & Me subject tag to see additional pages. For background on the book see the original post on the topic.
Artists sought to create visuals for Highway 61 Revisited project
Duluth Waterfront Collective is seeking four artists to create visualizations of its Highway 61 Revisited project. As first reported on Perfect Duluth Day in May, the project attempts to redesign the I-35 corridor where it splits Downtown Duluth and the Canal Park Business District. (more…)
PDD Quiz: Duluth Superlatives
Some general Duluth trivia coming your way with a look at Duluth superlatives! Where can you find the shortest street? What is the tallest industrial building? What is the coldest recorded temperature? Quiz on to discover answers to all of these questions (and more)!
The next quiz will review 2020 headlines; it will be published on Dec. 27. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Dec. 22. (more…)
Into the Dad Zone: An Epic Skate in the BWCA
Like a lot of folks who love the outdoors I try as hard as possible to get my kid to love being outside as well. To create that connection is like walking the razor’s edge. You push too much and they hate it. You push too little and they get consumed by electronics, friends and all the other noise going on in their young lives.
I would say my actions fall on pushing the outdoors too much. I personally have come to the conclusion that I have one life to live and I am sure as hell going to live it as much as I can.
There is no question, I am happiest outside having an adventure. That has been one consistent theme in my life since I was a kid. That theme is a core part of my being and one aspect of my life I want to give to my child, it’s my legacy … and well, it’s all the legacy I have to give!
So when free time presents itself, outside is where I will be. If my wife is working and I have the kid for that time period, then we are going outside. It’s just a matter of how and where. Usually those two answers are dictated by weather, season and what the conditions will allow us to do. There is always something special to any time and season, if we are aware enough to recognize it. (more…)