By no means is this a comprehensive collection, nor is it a carefully curated archive of the best. It’s just a bunch of 2016 concert posters the PDD crew was alert enough to toss in a folder for use in this feature. Enjoy.
Duluth Curling & Skating Club was organized in 1891, with the first stone thrown Christmas Day on the ice of Lake Superior. The club moved from rink to rink until its first building opened in 1913.
This 16mm film documentary was produced by Detroit Public Schools and the Ford Motor Company. It chronicles a trip aboard the Ford Motor Company freighter as it voyages from the River Rouge Factory Complex to Duluth and back with a load of iron ore.
The program is sexy throughout, but since it’s an educational film you might want the cheat sheet or Cliff Notes. The Duluth segment of the adventure starts at the 13-minute mark and ends at the 17-minute mark.
Much appreciation to the Detroit Historical Society for making this gem available to the masses.
This page from the Dec. 16, 1915 issue of The Breeder’s Gazette is not easy to read in this format, but there’s a funny tidbit in there. Apparently someone at the farm named a cow after J. Proctor Knott, the U.S. Representative from Kentucky who in 1871 ridiculed a bill to subsidize westward expansion of railroads by lampooning Duluth in a famous speech that was later published under the title “The Untold Delights of Duluth.”
From the list of stats in the right column:
14 of Proctor Knott’s first daughters in milk average 428 lbs. fat, official. Half of these are heifer records.
Knott and his speech were the theme of a PDD Quiz back in January.
This ceramic ashtray raises a few questions, the primary one being: Who was Sam Hanson?
This undated postcard must be showing one of what Duluthians call the “Twin Ponds” these days. Skyline Parkway was commonly referred to as “The Boulevard,” short for Rogers Boulevard, before taking its modern name in 1929.
“Your home when you’re in Duluth” is the Cascade, “the friendly hotel.” Located on the corner of First Avenue West and Third Street, it features “kitchenette apartments – hotel rooms” that are “transient – residential.”
You’ve been hearing it. You’ve been humming it. You probably know it by heart. Or do you? How much do you know about Duluth’s official Christmas song? Let’s find out!
This old plastic grocery bag from the Denfeld Super Valu asserts Duluth is terrific. The grocery store at 4501 Grand Ave. closed in 2001 and was replaced with a Walgreens.
From the Sept. 7, 1975, Duluth News Tribune; photos by Charles Curtis.
This is how some of more than 1,000 square dancers looked from the top of the scoreboard in the Duluth Arena Saturday. The terpsichoreans, from a five-state region and Canada, are here through today for Shindig ’75, sponsored by the Duluth Square Dance Association.
Lilah Crowe, executive director at Itasca County Historical Society, talks about the rich native history of Itasca County in the first of a four-part presentation.
This short-form documentary was produced by A Plus B Productions as part of the Itasca Conversations series.
This photo is dated Dec. 5, 1996. It’s a shot of the exterior mural on the parking lot side of the former Wild West Liquor, 318 N. Central Ave. in West Duluth.
At the time it was probably a fairly new mural; the liquor store changed its name from West Duluth Liquor to Wild West Liquor at some point in the mid 1990s. I don’t remember when the mural was painted over, but I’d guess the side of the building has been plain white for at least ten years. The liquor store closed in 2015.
The building is being remodeled to open as Zenith Bookstore in summer 2017.
I’m teaching a class that emphasizes writing about place next semester. So I’ve been scrounging thrift stores for examples. Here’s one to share. Is there a copyright-awesome way to secure these old magazines online?
The American Wrestling Association brought some of its finest grapplers to Duluth 30 years ago, as the newspaper ad above attests. It was six months before the World Wrestling Federation juggernaut brought a series of shows to the Duluth Arena. The AWA, of course, was a smaller promotion and held its card in the Duluth Auditorium, with the ring placed on the stage the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra typically occupies.
