Two versions of “Love My Lips”
The Christian children’s television series VeggieTales referenced Duluth in the 1996 episode “Dave and the Giant Pickle.” A regular feature on the show is a segment called “Silly Songs with Larry,” in which Larry the Cucumber and other Veggie characters sing a silly song. (more…)
Superior Siren – Cover songs from 56 Brewing
Minnesota-based video production company Headwaters Entertainment produced three music videos of Duluth band Superior Siren performing cover songs at 56 Brewing in Minneapolis back in May. The audio mix is by Conduit Sound. Above is “Everything is Free,” written by Gillian Welch. The other two videos are below. (more…)
Class Photos from Duluth’s Bryant Elementary School
Bryant School was built in 1894 at 3102 W. Third St. in Duluth’s friendly West End neighborhood, the present-day location of Cummins Sales and Service. Hugh McKenzie shot the photo above, which is loosely dated by UMD’s Kathryn A. Martin Library Archives & Special Collections as “1914?”
Assembled below is a small collection of class photos from the school, which closed in the 1970s. (more…)
Lake Superior Aquaman in internal St. Louis County weekly news recap
Someone sent this along.
The Slice: Hull Rust Mine View
The newly redesigned mine view in Hibbing offers expansive perspectives of the old Hull–Rust–Mahoning Open Pit Iron Mine and the active Hull Rust and Hibbing Taconite Open Pit Mine. (more…)
List of Old Bars in Superior
Photo by Jennifer Moore
Back in May, a collection of Superior bar memorabilia was briefly displayed at the Spirit Room. On a sheet of white paper, a list of old Superior bars was created, and folks passing through added to it. (more…)
For Sale: Superior Entry Lighthouse
The U.S. General Services Administration is auctioning off the Superior Entry Lighthouse. So far the top bid on realestatesales.gov is $10,000. (more…)
Movies at West Theater
I wanted to see the new Spider-Man movie, and five dollar night at the Marcus downtown is always tempting … but wait. The West Theater is showing Spider-Man? (more…)
Postcards from Arrowhead Cafeteria & Grill
This undated postcard, published by F.H. Lounsberry & Co. of Duluth, shows the exterior of the Arrowhead Cafeteria & Grill. It opened in 1925, but its owners — S. T. Huie and Stephen G. Wong — were rebranding their prior operation, the Congress Cafe. (more…)
Gallery of Defunct Duluth-area News ’Zines and Random Publications
From muckraking journalism to neighborhood fluff, sports and hobby content to political and spiritual propaganda, Duluth has seen its share of short-lived, themed newspapers and magazines. Previous posts on Perfect Duluth Day have delved into music ’zines and literary/arts ’zines; this post features the less (or bizarrely more) artsy publications. (more…)
“The Begat” from the musical Finian’s Rainbow
The 1947 Broadway musical Finian’s Rainbow featured the song “The Begat,” which included a reference to Duluth. It’s at the 1:24 mark in the clip above from the original Broadway cast album, featuring Jerry Laws, Lorenzo Fuller and Louis Sharp. (more…)
PDD Quiz: Presidential Twin Ports
Courtesy of Archives and Special Collections, University of Minnesota Duluth.
Test your knowledge of local history and presidential trivia with this week’s PDD quiz, which explores presidential visits to the Twin Ports. Inspired by a 2011 PDD post, this quiz relies heavily on external sources (Zenith City Online and Minnesota Reflections in particular).
The next PDD quiz will review the month’s headlines; it will be published on July 28. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by July 25. (more…)
Duluth Rock-Skipping Contest Recap
Duluth skipped its way toward competing internationally yesterday at the inaugural People’s Free Rock-Skipping Contest. (more…)
Lakeside donut shop plan hits snag
A Dozen Excuses owner Melissa Kingren serves up fresh sweet rolls at her Tower Avenue bakery in Superior.
A Superior bakery saw its plans to open a satellite shop in Duluth derail last month but owners are still looking for a place to bring donuts back to Lakeside. (more…)
Duluth rock-skipping takes rightful place as greatest thing ever
With Duluth’s natural renewable bounty of perfect skipping rocks, the time is now to claim the mantle of one of the top rock-skipping destinations in the world. I propose a Duluth League that plays by its own rules, owing to our iconoclastic position as Outdoor Adventure Capital of the United States. Envision a day when Duluth’s rock-skipping force fans out over the globe to win championships and decimate festivals. Tomorrow (Saturday July 13, 2PM Leif Erikson Park) will usher in such an age. A Facebook comment about the contest said, “I remember a rock-skipping contest in Duluth in the 1950s.” It’s revealing of Duluth’s decades-long funk that this never blossomed into an annual contest, or festival, in the intervening 70 years. By comparison, look at what the Michiganders of Mackinac Island have going: they just had the 51st Annual Stone Skipping Competition and the Governor comes and skips the first stone. If Duluth had kept its 1950s contest going, we’d be ahead of Mackinac Island by 20 years… (more…)
Selective Focus: Susanna Gaunt
Susanna Gaunt is an artist who creates installations and draws on her background as a photographer. She works with paper, dimension, transparency and light to combine 3D structures with 2D layers and textures. She currently has work on view at the DAI until August 11.
SG: For 20 years, I worked primarily in photography, both exhibiting photographs and teaching at a private workshop school in Montana. In 2013, our family landed in Duluth and I decided to learn new mediums by enrolling in the BFA program at UMD. It was there that I began focusing on installation pieces that incorporate drawing, printmaking, collage and embroidery alongside the photography. The common denominator with all of these is paper – I love working with different types of paper textures and exploring the possibilities of creating layers of both meaning and visual interest. Experimenting with multiple finishes, such as shellac and encaustic wax, allows me to find the right amount of translucency to both conceal and reveal content. (more…)
Selective Focus: Rainbow!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BzwpFnTl5Zn/
Hey, did you see the rainbow? Instagram did. (more…)
Announcing the People’s Free Rock-Skipping Contest
This Saturday, July 13, 2PM, Leif Erikson Park beach. Prizes are gift certificates etc. donated from local businesses (Pizza Luce, Vikre Distillery, Hoops Brewing, Sir Ben’s, Global Village, Whole Foods Co-op, Duluth Coffee Company). If the weather turns on us we will reschedule, but it’s supposed to be full sun and little-to-no wind, which is critical for great rock-skipping. From the folks behind the People’s Free Skate, this is the first of what must become an ongoing rock-skipping festival, either annually or more, a lifestyle choice. Aren’t we having informal rock-skipping contests all summer anyway? All I know is, Lake Superior produces truly great skipping rocks, and Duluth deserves to be known as The Rock-Skipping Capitol of the World. Read on for contest rules!
Chris Godsey on Pressroom Podcast
Episode #186 of the Duluth News Tribune’s Pressroom Podcast features Chris Godsey, whose recent essay on Perfect Duluth Day, “Why Some Men Kill Women,” examined men’s violence against women. (more…)
Postcard from Gooseberry Falls State Park
This undated postcard from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography offers a scene at Gooseberry Falls State Park. (more…)
Lake patrol continues
Working closely with the Sheriff to keep y’all safe over the past few days.
The Slice: Gowns of Glensheen
Glensheen Mansion has 16 gowns on display at the historic estate this month. The collection includes dresses ranging from the late 1800s to the 1920s.
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.
Duluth woman asserts right to go topless on Park Point
An incident on Park Point about two weeks ago has raised the question of whether it’s legal for women to be topless on Park Point beaches. Fox 21 reported over the weekend that Duluth photographer Michelle Bennett was “approached by a Duluth officer who didn’t know if he could arrest her” for exposing her breasts in public. (more…)