In retrospect, the weeks before 9/11 are almost better defined by the things I didn’t know. I didn’t know, really, how much people in the Middle East disliked, hated America and Americans, sure. And then there are smaller knowledges that I didn’t know — details of events and of governmental decisions that would become clear after the fact.
Last year the Minnesota historian Peter S. Svenson wrote an unpublished monograph, “The Forgotten Duluth Painter, Edward Alexander Congdon.” Svenson gave me the following information in an interview conducted on Halloween as luck would have it.
Edward Alexander (a nephew of Chester Congdon) lived at Glensheen, the historic Congdon estate. He hid slightly pointy ears with clever hair styling. But, enlisting in the armed forces to fight World War I, he suffered a military haircut. At Belleau Wood a German flame-thrower splashed liquid fire into his trench, and he escaped with his life unlike some of his fellows. But much of the skin had been burned off the top of his head, including his right ear and his eyebrows. Once healed, hair grew toward the back of his head, and the scar tissue of the high forehead became less noticeable with time. However, his eyebrows remained white scars, and the right ear had burned off down to the hole. Aleister Crowley said, “The effect of that, with his one remaining devil’s-ear, was striking.”
Edward Alexander remained overseas for a time after the war. He wandered the world using his unsettling appearance as currency in mediumistic parlors and spiritualist circles. He joined the Ordo Templi Orientis in England, and enjoyed esotericists he met in France. Then he joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, mingling with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and W.B. Yeats. He painted, climbed the Eiger, and had lucid dreams of the dead. Returning stateside in 1923, he lived in the Glensheen attic, “like a bat,” Mrs. Congdon used to say.
A collection of three paintings — one dubbed as “rat erotica” — is beginning its five-city tour about 65 miles northwest of Duluth. John Oliver, host of the HBO cable television show Last Week Tonight, explains in the video above that the works will be on display at the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids from Sept. 7 to 28.
Photo by Hudconja
I started visiting New York City while I was still a kid in Milwaukee. I used to hop the Greyhound at 10 p.m., catching the connecting bus in Chicago, to a layover, bus cleaning, and reboarding in Cleveland, where large numbers of Amish would board, too. From Cleveland to Pittsburgh to, I think, “King of Prussia” (avoiding Philly, I think). From there into New York City, landing at the Port Authority.
The second video release from the new album by Moors & McCumber, featuring Superior’s James Moors, is for the track “Survival.” The video was produced and directed by Tim Bloomquist of Iowa-based Professional Video.
Survival set for release in October.
On Sept. 2, 1921 — 100 years ago today — crews began laying concrete paving on Miller Trunk Road near Twig. The photo above, by Louis P. Gallagher, was shot when a quarter mile of the 21-mile stretch had been completed, according to the Sept. 5 issue of the Duluth Herald.
This video displays a “fine set of portraits” that were shot “probably in Duluth, Minn.,” and some others taken “probably in Santa Barbara, Calif.,” circa the 1940s. As a bonus at the end there’s a little advice on clearing snow from the porch.
In 1871 the steam dredge Ishpeming finished cutting a canal through Minnesota Point, opening Duluth’s inner harbor to ship traffic. One hundred and fifty years later, the canal remains a focal point for industry and tourism in the Twin Ports.
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.
This postcard bears the date of Aug. 31, 1906 — 115 years ago today. It shows horse-drawn carriages on “the Boulevard,” now known as Skyline Parkway. The illustration might be an interpretation of the Twin Ponds area; it’s not clear. The artist apparently felt the popular scenic byway’s gravel surface should be green.
The handwritten message on the card reads, “Will leave here to-day for home,” and the sender’s name looks like “Smith.”
Test your memory of this August 2021 headlines with this week’s current affairs quiz!
The next PDD quiz will take a look at weird Duluth laws; it will be published on Sept. 12. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Sept. 8.
The fourth video release from Duluthian Sarah Krueger’s new musical project, Lanue, features dancing and choreography by Mason Binetti. Krueger shot and edited the video herself.
The debut Lanue album was released in February and is available on Bandcamp, Apple Music and Spotify.
Iron Ranger Steve Solkela ran 5 kilometers through the streets of Virginia while playing an accordion. His finishing time was 34 minutes and 34.91 seconds, which is presumably a record — there seems to be no previous attempts at this stunt.
Video by Nathan Wangensteen.
From the back of this cabinet card photo we know the subjects are Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Burchell or Burehell, married Aug. 26, 1891. They were also presumably residents of West Duluth. The photo is from the Downtown Duluth studio of John R. Zweifel.
On Aug. 25, 1921 the Duluth Herald reported that former Denfeld and Valparaiso football standout Wally Gilbert had agreed to join the Duluth Knights of Columbus football team. The “K.C.” team, or “Kaysees,” turned out to be the region’s best pro football squad. Facing all Minnesota and Wisconsin teams at Athletic Park in Duluth, the team racked up a 9-0 record and outscored opponents 278-0 before dropping a playoff game in Illinois to the Rock Island Independents.
