Watson Silver and Lift Bridge Spoons

Ad for Watson Silver

As I read some of the magazines I purchased from the Duluth Public Library, I am impressed by a sense that the library bought magazines to suit the aspirations of the Zenith city. Magazines celebrating the fancy life might feel a little out of place in a public library today, but Duluth in the 1920s was a city that had some millionaires and wanted the world to think it had more.

We can see that in the ad above, taken from an interior design magazine, for Watson Silverware.

Duluth Mail Bag: What does a city councilor do?

Hobbs Mail BagAs a two-time Duluth city councilor, now in my final year of service, one of my goals is to make city government more accessible, or at least help citizens become more informed. I figure there are many Duluthians who would like some simple answers to some simple questions. I learned in school that if there is something you don’t understand it’s likely there are many others who feel the same way. Hence the idea of the Duluth Mailbag column.

I won’t divulge who is asking the questions, but I’ll answer them in this format about once a month. Feel free to put a question in the comments for next month’s “Duluth Mailbag” or tweet me via @Hobbs_Duluth or email me at hobbsforduluth @ gmail.com.

Also, if you want to have a longer conversation, you can sign up for a 45-minute cup of coffee through my 100 Cups of Coffee project.

OK, here we go!

Indecent Proposal – “Late in the Morning”

Indecent Proposal‘s music video for “Late in the Morning” was shot by Manny Villanueva at Spurs on First, among other Duluth locations. It features Henriette Soderlind and Stuart Gordon.

Video Archive: Green Man 2003

The second annual Green Man Festival was held at Spirit Mountain 20 years ago this week — July 11-12, 2003. The event featured more than 30 music acts — the Big Wu, Wookiefoot, Shannon Wright, Heiruspecs, the Black-eyed Snakes, Ol’ Yeller, Mark Mallman, White Iron Band, Cry on Cue, Spider John Koerner, Charlie Parr, Haley Bonar, etc.

Embedded above is local television news coverage of the event.

Seeking info on the Hadjis and the Black Labels

I hope this brings back memories to all the fans of Duluth’s music scene. I am beginning research into two Duluth bands from the past, namely the Hadjis and the Black Labels.

Video Archive: Proctor Speedway, 1983

This video from July 10, 1983 — 40 years ago today — features the Mid-season Championships at the Proctor Speedway.

Video: Eveleth Clown Band in Two Harbors Heritage Days Parade

A highlight of the Two Harbors Heritage Days Parade was the Eveleth Clown Band, performing songs like “When the Saints Go Marching In” and other standards while … you know, clowning.

PDD Quiz: Waterfalls

With summer in full swing, it’s the perfect time of year to explore the outdoors. This week’s PDD quiz spotlights some of the region’s many parks that feature cascading water. Both the Zenith City website and Tony Dierckins’ Duluth Historic Parks: Their First 100 Years were valuable resources for this quiz.

The next PDD quiz will be pubished on July 30; it will review the month’s headlines and happenings. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by July 26.

American Boy

“Get out of the lake right now, or I will fucking shoot you,” he hollers, staring down an invisible sight and into my eyes, his finger threatening to pull the trigger — a notched branch on the stick rifle he has cocked and rested on his shoulder.

None of us respond, but if heart rates were words, we’d be babbling.

Our silence exasperates him. “I am not fucking kidding. You get out of the lake right now” — he sweeps a dictatorial finger from the lake where seven of us are circled in the water and toward the pebbled beach where he’s tantruming — “… or I will fucking shoot you.”

A few of us turn our backs to him, attempting to pick up the conversation we’d been having before this agitated teen and his friend, high on unaccustomed warmth in the air and whatever’s in that vape pen tucked into that pocket, stumbled into our orbit. The gun-pointer, initially aided by his sidekick, has been yelling at us for five minutes now, a genuinely unnerving bundle of aggression in green shorts. But if there’s one thing this group of grown-ups — parents, partners, queers, professionals, grieving, recovering, regulating, growing — knows how to do, it’s ignore the todderlistic foot stamping of a heckler.

Video Archive: Tri-State Speedway, 1983

This video from July 8, 1983 — 40 years ago today — features three races at Tri-State Speedway in Superior. The 3/8-mile dirt track is now known as Superior Speedway or Gondik Law Speedway.

Record Collection from Gabriel’s

In the past, I’ve written about the used records, bound in old-school albums, I have found at Gabriel’s, the thrift-bookshop in Lakeside. Because the records are donated, they are a real crapshoot, as the ruffians say. Often they come from estates, from families that don’t want to sell things piecemeal and are grateful someone will just take the whole collection all off their hands.

The Slice: Sailboat Racing on Lake Superior

Captain Chris Friese has owned the sailboat Radio Flyer for five years, racing with his crew in the A-Class on Lake Superior.

In its series The Slice, PBS North 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.

Spring Vignettes in the Northwoods

This spring 2023 trail camera footage shows vignettes of wildlife in Voyageurs National Park, with several toddlers tromping through the frame.

The camera was set up by the Voyageurs Wolf Project, which is focused on understanding the summer ecology of wolves in the park.

Mystery Photo: Third Street Patriots

This image, found on eBay and still available for sale as of July 3, has “609 W. 3rd Dr. Duluth” written on the front. It looks as if the famous Duluth Incline Railway is in the background, which would seem to verify the photo was indeed shot on West Third Street.

Duluth-area beer production back on an upswing

When Perfect Duluth Day last took stock of regional craft beer production in 2020, the Twin Ports and surrounding region had generated roughly 50,000 barrels of brew — more than 1.5 million gallons. Pandemic production dipped slightly but has stabilized and started to rebound. The 2022 tally shows a production level of more than 61,000 barrels of brew as well as optimism that there’s still some untapped potential for growth.