Perfect Duluth Day’s Best Archival Videos: The stuff from the 1970s and older

From ancient home movies to classic TV footage of ol’ Denny Anderson himself, these are the oldest of the best of the videos on PDD.

Duluth and Isle Royale circa 1930

A film of Duluth and a trip to Isle Royale by Henry Dahl. Originally posted April 8, 2012.

North Pole Bar Robbery

Karen Barta reports this 1977 story for NewsCenter 6. Originally posted April 2, 2012.

Chemielewski Fun Time!

14-year-old Paula Shires of Bovey tears it up on the Chemielewski Fun Time show. Originally posted Nov. 18, 2011.

Denny & Jack

In this early 1970s video, WDIO-TV’s Dennis Anderson knocks down a few Grain Belts and shows off the film equipment. Also included is a Jack McKenna weather forecast. Originally posted Nov. 8, 2010.

A Sunday Afternoon Walk on Central Avenue

The Helgeson family takes a stroll after church services on a Sunday in roughly 1940. They lived at 911 Central Ave. in West Duluth. The parents are George and Rose. Their sons are G. Lewis, Robert, John and Paul. Originally posted April 21, 2010.

Duluth Home Movie Footage From 1938

This 8mm home-movie depicts a 1938 fishing trip to Duluth. Originally posted April 18, 2010.

P.O.W. David Wheat’s Return to Duluth

This excerpt from a Feb. 7, 1973, WDIO-TV broadcast reports on David Wheat’s return to Duluth from North Vietnam. Originally posted April 15, 2010.

Bo Conrad: All-American Soap Box Derby Champion

Harold “Bo” Conrad, age 12, wins the 1963 Duluth soap box race where Hartley Nature Center is today, then goes on to win the All-American Soap Box Derby Race in Akron, Ohio, with 75,000 people in attendance. Originally posted April 13, 2010.

Retro 1970s-era WDIO-TV Holiday Promos

Check out Denny Anderson and the gang as they were 40 years ago. Originally posted Nov. 9, 2009.

Duluth TV ads from 1970

TV ads from WDIO-TV, broadcast in Duluth in 1970, including Team Electronics, St. Germain’s, Goldfine’s Sound Center, Target, Wig Imports, and a collective of four West End furniture stores.

More Duluth TV ads from 1970

TV ads from WDIO-TV, broadcast in Duluth in 1970, featuring Rhude Camper Headquarters & Rhude Ford, Northwestern Bank of Commerce, Goldfine’s By the Bridge, M&K men’s and boy’s clothing store, and Shake-a-Leg. Footnotes for these ads were published here. Originally posted Nov. 9, 2009.

London Inn, 1970

Sometimes all you need for a great video is to get a bunch of people to flip off a camera at the same location, then to wait 40 years. This was shot around 1970 at the London Inn on the 1600 block of London Road. (It’s the current location of the China Cafe.) Originally posted Dec. 11, 2008.

Jeno’s Pizza Roll Commercial with the Lone Ranger

Classic. Originally posted Nov. 24, 2021