Video Archive Posts

Video Archive: KDLH-TV Evening Edition from Sept. 28, 1990

Get ready for some “News for the Nineties.” Courtesy of an old VHS tape in the PDD basement archive, we present the complete KDLH-TV evening newscast from 30 years ago today — Sept. 28, 1990. And yes, the commercials are included.

PDD Video Lab: Cruising the Duluth Harbor on the Flame

In this edition of the PDD Video Lab we take a cruise with Lorraine and the kids on the Flame excursion boat in 1964. At the midway point of the video, the scene switches to the Edgewater Motel.

PDD Video Lab: Old Highway 61 Footage

Take a cruise up Highway 61 in this edition of the PDD Video Lab, featuring old footage from Duluth’s Lester River, past the Loneyville Motel to the edge of Silver Creek Cliff before a tunnel was built there, and on to Gooseberry Falls State Park and Silver Bay.

For music, an excerpt of a cover version of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” by Sparklehorse & Thom Yorke from the soundtrack to the 2005 movie Lords of Dogtown.

PDD Video Lab: 1963 Duluth Footage

For this edition of the PDD Video Lab we’ve once again taken a silent film from Dominic Chione’s archive — this one from 1963 — and paired it with music by Duluth/Superior’s own Jerree Small. The track is “60 Words for Water” from the 2004 album Mobius.

Watch for a nice cameo appearance at the 1:30 mark by the old Sky Room Restaurant at the Buena Vista.

Video Archive: The Litter – “Blue Ice” (Duluth Armory, 1970)

Recently unearthed Super 8 footage of the Litter performing at the Duluth Armory on May 15, 1970 has been set to a studio recording of the song “Blue Ice.”

Members of the band were: Mark Gallegher, Dan Rinaldi, Tom Murray, James Worthington and Sean Jones.

Video Archive: Buying Pot in Duluth in 1972

In this 1972 clip from WDIO-TV, reporter Stu Stronach enlists cameraman Mark Ryan to buy an ounce of marijuana on Fourth Avenue West and Superior Street.

Ethan Freel transferred this film to video and added the music.

PDD Video Lab: Bridget’s Cadillac – “Baby Blue”

This video premiered as part of the 2020 Homegrown Music Video Showcase, but it’s also a product of the PDD Video Lab and there are a few things worth mentioning about it.

PDD Video Lab: Starbelle and the Aerial Lift Bridge

In this edition of the PDD Video Lab we watch the bulk carrier Starbelle pass through the Duluth Ship Canal and under the Aerial Lift Bridge via footage from Richter Home Movies. The final 15 seconds features a nice look at Canal Park circa the early 1960s.

PDD Video Lab: Old Iron Range Footage

In this edition of the PDD Video Lab we take a cruise through Virginia, Chisholm and Hibbing circa the 1960s with footage from Richter Home Movies set to the tune of Iron & Wine’s “Weary Memory” from the 2002 album The Creek Drank the Cradle.

PDD Video Lab: Old Grand Marais Footage

In this edition of the PDD Video Lab we blend old film footage of Grand Marais from Richter Home Movies with “Easy Ride,” a song from the Doors’ 1969 release The Soft Parade.

PDD Video Lab: Edgewater, the Bellows and S.S. Meteor, 1976

For this edition of the PDD Video Lab we’ve taken yet another silent film from Dominic Chione’s Vimeo account. The clips here are from 1976, and they might make you weepy when you see them accompanied by the intro to the Manhattans’ 1976 hit “Kiss and Say Goodbye.”

Video Archive: SatAn’s Residence for Sinner Citizens

Ten years ago today, the Colder by the Lake theater group opened “Older by the Lake, or the Colonoscopy Monologues” at the Zeitgeist Teatro. The show was a comedy about aging. The clip above, produced for the show, is a parody of television ads for St. Ann’s, an assisted-living facility in Duluth.

PDD Video Lab: Lester Park, Skyline Drive and Twin Ponds, 1975

In this PDD Video Lab mashup we’ve taken another silent film from Dominic Chione’s Vimeo account and added music. This time the Duluth scenery includes Lester Park, views from Skyline Drive and Twin Ponds (with two slides going into the water). For music we’ve chosen “Sister Golden Hair,” a chart-topping single by America in 1975.

PDD Video Lab: Sandra’s Birthday Frolic in Duluth, 1973

For this PDD Video Lab mashup we’ve taken a silent film from 1973 that was recently uploaded to Dominic Chione’s Vimeo account and added Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground,” a track from his 1973 album Innervisions. The first minute of the video is kids frolicking in a yard; recognizable Duluth scenery kicks in after that.

But wait … there’s bonus footage.

Video Archive: Attempting to save UMD’s Old Main

During WDIO-TV’s annual March of Dimes Telethon circa 1990, Dennis Anderson introduced a Colder by the Lake Comedy Theatre slide presentation by Bruce Ojard featuring old Duluth buildings as a plea to convince the city to preserve the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Old Main building instead of tearing it down.

The building was destroyed by fire on Feb. 23, 1993.