You would like it in the Northern Plains: Duluth, Minnesota

Paul Lundgren Sep 17, 2010 7 Comments

This ad for Northern Natural Gas Company ran in Time magazine on Sept. 17, 1965. Hats off to Susie LeGarde Menz for the find.

Here’s the fine print:

There is music in Duluth. Good music. There is the majestic, the tragic and the comic music of grand opera … sung by the world’s greatest artists … supported by Duluth’s own wealth of talent. There is the symphony. The full and glorious sounds of Beethoven … the powerful and challenging sounds of Wagner … the beautiful sounds of all the world’s good music … performed by the Duluth Symphony Orchestra which continues to build its fame as it starts its thirty-third season. Duluth offers you music. It offers all that a great city should. As one of America’s busiest ports, it’s a thriving market with productive labor and outstanding transportation facilities. And it has abundant natural gas, piped in by the Northern Natural Gas Company and distributed by the City of Duluth Gas Department. For information about plant location opportunities, write to Area Development Department, Northern Natural Gas Company, Omaha, Nebraska.

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7 Comments

Tomasz

about 14 years ago 

That looks like it's the Denfeld Auditorium.

JPersch

about 14 years ago 

Isn't that Denfeld's Auditorium? I haven't been there in a while but it sure looks familiar.

Paul Lundgren

about 14 years ago 

Good eyes, Tomasz and Jeff!



This photo is of the opposite wall of the Denfeld Auditorium, but it's the only one I have on hand that adequately illustrates it's the same auditorium.

JPersch

about 14 years ago 

Wow. They did a good job on the reno. It looks so much brighter.

Jim Heffernan

about 14 years ago 

Yup, that's Denfeld auditorium. It's a scene from, I think, "La Traviata," one of many grand operas presented at Denfeld by the Duluth (before it became Duluth-Superior) Symphony association and before the DECC Auditorium opened in 1966, after which the operas were presented there until around the mid-70s, then discontinued. The operas featured the Duluth orchestra, local soloists in minor roles, and leads sung by prominent opera singers of the day, mostly from New York. Northern Natural Gas, which paid for the ad, morphed into Enbridge Energy, now with offices in Superior, which has been in a bit of trouble lately over a major pipeline leak near Lake Michigan. 

Great spotting, Paul and Susie. I'm linking this to my blog: 
Looking back: When opera was a "gas" in Duluth

Paul Lundgren

about 14 years ago 

Here's a photo from the late 1930s that shows a part of the auditorium that appears in the illustrated ad.

Claire

about 14 years ago 

I'd rather see a performance of La Traviata at Denfeld's auditorium than at the DECC, that's for sure.

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