Canal Park souvenir invites tourists to envision a lift bridge over the Mississippi

Some years ago, I had a Duluth nameplate hanging from the back of my bicycle, which I suppose is why I impulsively bought another when I saw it recently in a Canal Park souvenir shop. I vaguely remember the one I had purchased in my younger years having a generic cityscape and not actually showing Duluth.

This one seemed no different, and might even be the same design, but this time I noticed that the building on the far left had a rather specific architecture. Checking with a group of skyscraper-obsessed friends led me to a conclusion that I should have reached myself: this Duluth souvenir depicts the skyline of St. Paul.

Former Huskies outfielder makes major league debut

Former Duluth Huskies outfielder Cal Stevenson made his Major League Baseball debut for the Oakland Athletics on Aug. 10. He is the 301st former Northwoods League player to reach the majors.

Stevenson played for the Huskies in 2015. He was drafted in the 10th round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Blue Jays.

Northern Pacific Railroad Locomotive #1849

This 1952 photo shows Northern Pacific Railroad Locomotive #1849 in Downtown Duluth, with Duluth’s tallest building — the Alworth — in the background among other structures. NP’s #1849 was built in 1923 and scrapped in 1957.

Duluth 2022 Primary Election Results

With 4,103 of 4,103 precincts reporting, here are the statewide numbers for races relevant to Duluth.
 
FEDERAL OFFICES

District 8 United States Representative, Republican Party
Pete Stauber | 51,404
Harry Robb Welty | 5,074

District 8 United States Representative, Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Jen Schultz | 38,536
John Munter | 6,199

Jens Flaaten & the Minnesota National Guard 3rd Regt. Band

This postcard from the early 1900s has a pencil-written note on the back: “Jens Flaaten & the Minnesota band from Duluth.” As noted at zenithcity.com, Flaaten’s funeral was held 100 years ago today — Aug. 9, 1922. He died on Aug. 5 when he was struck by a motorist while crossing Superior Street at Fifth Avenue West.

Exploring Buckingham Creek

The latest look at Duluth’s underworld from Duluth Urbex explores Buckingham Creek, which flows through Enger Park and down Observation Hill into the St. Louis River.

The Minnesota Woolen Company Story

The clips above are from the 1959 film The Minnesota Woolen Company, obtained by Perfect Duluth Day via the Kathryn A. Martin Library Archives & Special Collections at the University of Minnesota Duluth and shared with permission from the St. Louis County Historical Society. For those who want to fully nerd out on this, the complete film can be viewed below.

Monthly Grovel: August 2022

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Concerts on the pier, concerts in the park, concerts on the patio, concerts on the porch, bayside concerts, courtside concerts, fireside concerts … we’ve got concerts coming out of and back into our ears at the PDD Calendar.

Each month we reach out with one beggarly blog post to remind everyone that human beings and not machines are at work editing and publishing event listings. So if you appreciate it, drop a few bucks in the PayPal account.

Selective Focus: Festival of Sail

A smattering of images via Instagram from the weekend’s Festival of Sail in Two Harbors.

Postcard from the Duluth Folk Festival

This postcard, published by Gallagher’s Studio of Photography, shows a typical scene from the Duluth International Folk Festival at Leif Erikson Park. The postcard was mailed 60 years ago today — Aug. 6, 1962 — by someone named Sara who mentions attending the festival in her message on the back of the card.

Wisconsin Point at Sunset

Videographer Adam Jagunich flew his Yuneec Typhoon H Plus hexacopter at the Duluth/Superior border to capture sunset scenes at Wisconsin Point.

Lake Superior Aquaman on Community Connection

The “Souvenir of Duluth” decorative pillow cover

It’s certainly no odder than the Pink Aerial Lift Bridge Dollhouse Toilet, but the Duluth pillow cover still qualifies as an oddity. I nabbed the image from an eBay listing circa 2018 and figured it was a one-off thing someone made, but then …

White Lady Cornrows in Duluth

For the second time, Duluth has been mentioned on the podcast Yo, is this Racist? The show, hosted by Andrew Ti and Tawny Newsome, answers questions from listeners about whether given subjects are an example of racism or not. The Aug. 3 episode was recorded live in Minneapolis, so Newsome’s reference to Duluth was perhaps more carefully selected than random.

Flame Excursion Boat during Portorama 1962

This photograph by Lyman E. Nylander was shot 60 years ago during the Duluth Seaway Portorama of 1962. The 108-passenger Flame served as a tourist excursion boat in Duluth from 1961 to 1973. It was replaced by the 256-passenger Vista Queen.

The Flame is now operating in Buffalo, N.Y.