Fly high, Duluth! Senior Ralph Eisenach takes a running broad jump.
A pair of young ladies aim for their target; Junior Lawrence L. Korda displays his pole vaulting skills.
If you were to stand at this same spot on 44th Avenue West today you’d see all of the same houses, but with full-grown trees.
Denfeld cagers Ralph Tostrup, Lawrence Korda and Bob Ignatius.
Under the advisement of Mr. Frank Englehart, Denfeld’s chess club was a small group because the supply of chess boards was limited. Seated are John Forsman, James Johnson and Floyd Michelson. Standing are William Engwall, Paul Lindgren, Walter Gunderson, Howard Johnson and Kenneth Johnson.
They don’t make ’em like they used to — bikes, cars, houses and girls.
Another shot from Denfeld’s front lawn on 44th Avenue West.
These sophomores look like they want to be Donald Trump’s apprentice. Left to right: James Sommers (class president), Dorothy Sundstrom (VP), Roger Ostdahl (secretary) and Anna Moline (treasurer).
19 thoughts on “Select Images from Denfeld’s 1938 Oracle”
Thank you for doing this! My dear departed dad was Denfeld ’40 so I am guessing he knew all these folks. When did boys in their best clothes stop lounging on lawns for photos? Classic. I am Duluth Cathedral ’72. Again, thanks!
Ralph Eisenach (top pic) was my grandpa’s brother. He died three years ago. Crazy.
Awesome.
A couple more shots from this collection are on the Denfeld Alumni Association website.
Wasn’t there an Eisenach pharmacy on Grand Ave? And, do you know if William Engwall was related to the green house/florist? Only in Duluth could you randomly pull some photos and have someone thinking of how they might be connected to something else! One degree of separation is so cool!
Thanks Paul. That is very cool. I will print these for my grandma and my dad (since Robert is deceased).
Patty, yes, the Eisenach Pharmacy on Grand Avenue was the pharmacy owned by Ralph Eisenach. Small world isn’t it?
Special note to Nicole Kreidler:
Here are your grandparents, Gladys Suk and Bob Kreidler.
Hi Nicole! Small world, indeed! This is such a great way to learn a bit more about the history of our town.
Thanks for posting these pix. My mom, Edith Mac Intosh (Emma), also graduated in 1938. My dad, Melvin Ramsli (Ken) graduated in 1937 and later owned Duluth Tent and Awning. They were both proud Denfeld graduates as was my sister Linda (1962) and I (1966).
I also have a copy of the 1938 Oracle plus 1931, ’33, ’37 and ’40.
Sadly, and by strange coincidence, Ralph Eisenach’s widow, Alyce, died 10 days after this thread was started. She was 91, and also a 1938 Denfeld grad.
Eisenach Pharmacy was at 5709 Grand Ave. in the 1960s and early 1970s. (Today that location is the office of Paul T. Paczynski, CPA.) In the mid-to-late 1970s and into the 1980s the pharmacy was at 5503 Grand Ave. (Today that location is the Grand Avenue Veterinary Clinic.)
For Nancy Ramsli Kurpius: Here is your mother.
The yearbook I have belonged to Willis Paulson. The word “married” is written by the names of a lot of people, presumably by Willis after she learned the person had been married.
Emma signed the book: “Willis, you’re a friend worth having. You helped me out plenty. Luck + success – Emma” (The words “out plenty” are a little fuzzy, so I can’t be certain I got that right.)
I wish people would still dress like that everyday. What an awesome history!
An interesting development related to this post. A fellow in California named Dave e-mailed me because he recently acquired an old popcorn vending machine. Inside were a bunch of Eisenach Pharmacy bags.
Dave was curious if the popcorn machine was at one time used at the pharmacy or if the bags just found there way into it over the years.
Brad Bubacz, a grand nephew of Ralph Eisenach, writes, “Yes they had a popcorn machine at the pharmacy. They gave away popcorn Friday to Sunday, I’m told. My dad used to make it on the weekends.”
So there you have it, all evidence indicates the old Eisenach Pharmacy popcorn machine is being restored in California.
Also, it should be noted that Ralph Eugene Eisenach was a World War II Army Air Force veteran, serving as a bombardier on a B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft. He was shot down by German Focke Wolfe fighters over Paris on his seventh mission and was a POW in Germany for 10 months. The Veteran’s Memorial Hall website has more info on that.
Dave has sent along a photo of the machine. “It doesn’t look like much right now,” he writes. “I do have it completely torn apart and hope to have it done and popping corn in the next couple of months. The guy I got it from is a picker in the L.A. area and said he has had it for about 20 years.”
And in the realm of strange coincidences, I was visiting my parents a few days ago and my mother mentioned she was cleaning out some old things and found an envelop of congratulatory greeting cards she received back when I was born in 1972. Among them was, of course, one from Eisenach Pharmacy.
Wonderful indeed.
Is it just me, or does the top photo of Ralph Eisenach look a lot like Paul Lundgren? When I first saw this, I thought it was Paul before I read this through.
Dave sends along a new photo of the restored Minit Pop popcorn machine, ready to pop! Dave says it “makes great fresh popcorn in about a minute. Probably how it got its name.”