A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Here is our first entry in the new History Mysteries feature. Northeastern Saloon and Hotel owner Bert Whittington shared this old time photo with the Pine Knot News.
Northeastern Saloon and Hotel owner Bert Whittington believes the men in their unusual capes may have been part of a group called the "woolies" or "woolly bullies" from the Wood Conversion Company, which made balsam wood insulation at its Cloquet plant. Old car aficionado Lloyd Peterson, editor Jana Peterson's dad, puts the years of the car on the left between 1923 and 1927.
What do you think is going on in this week's "history mystery" photo?
Here is our first entry in the new History Mysteries feature. Northeastern Saloon and Hotel owner Bert Whittington shared this old-time photo with the Pine Knot News. Whittington said he bought the photo at the Cloquet American Legion auction when the Legion was moving out of its longtime home on Cloquet Avenue. He believes the men in their unusual capes may have been part of a group called the "woolies" or "woolly bullies" from the Wood Conversion Company, which made balsam wood insulation at its Cloquet plant.
Whittington doesn't think the photo was taken in Cloquet, because it would have been after the 1918 fires and the trees are too big and healthy. He's betting on West Duluth or maybe even St. Paul, at a possible Memorial Day parade. The military uniforms appear to be of World War I vintage.
A notation appears on the lower right hand side of the photo: "#2031 Donaldson Photo Co. St.P." That might indicate a St. Paul connection, but Donaldson was a national company that seems to have specialized in photos of fraternal organizations. Wood Conversion had headquarters in Cloquet and St. Paul.
Old-car aficionado Lloyd Peterson, editor Jana Peterson's dad, puts the years of the car on the left between 1923 and 1927, with his best guess being a 1926 Ford Model T.
Here's what he said about the clues from the car: "The date range is possible because of the grill or radiator shape. ... Everything is painted up front meaning it is after 1916, the brass era."
Amy Utech from the Carlton County Historical Society agrees with the dating of the car. She looked at a file of company parade photos and did not see this particular one. "I did find elaborate floats from the Wood Conversion Company and the promotion of their products in the parades," she told us. "Specifically, they wore tubular, insulation costumes on themselves in a 1928 Fourth of July parade. Those capes might be insulation."
Do you have any information to shed light on this photo? Send it along to [email protected]. And if you have your own History Mysteries to solve through the hive of Pine Knot News readers and sources, send it along to us. Let's solve it.
