Friday, September 6, 2013

Canoeing on Lake Harriet -- Minneapolis, Minnesota



Minneapolis is known as the "City of Lakes." There is still canoeing on the lakes, but canoeing is not as popular as it was during the canoe craze that developed in the 1910s. In 1912 there were nearly 2,000 spaces available on park board canoe racks and docks at Lake of the Isles, Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet. In comparison, only 200 permits were issued two years earlier, and only 485 spaces were rented in canoe racks on city lakes in 2011. (source: Canoe Jam on the Chain of Lakes)

These postcards show canoeing on Lake Harriet and the Pavilion that was built in 1904 and renovated in 1913. The first postcard (above) was mailed in 1917 and has the following description on the back:
Canoeing on Lake Harriet, Minneapolis, near the Pavilion. An unusually attractive lake and park resort of Minneapolis. Has a boulevard around its shore, 2.8 miles long, and round trip of lake on park launch 2.5 miles, 25 minutes, 10 cents.
The next postcard shows the pavilion with canoes at its lake side, and has this description on the back:
Every Friday evening, middle of June to the last of August, the Municipal band gives a grand opera concert performance with a 100 voice chorus and four grand opera soloists, general admission 25 cents, "Enjoy your parks."


The next postcard shows some more canoeists and a view of the pavilion from the middle of the lake.



The final postcard shows the sunset on Lake Harriet, viewed from shore with a single canoe in the middle of the lake. This card was mailed in January 1925. The back of the card refers to "concerts given by the Park Board every evening on the roof garden of the spacious Pavilion." This pavilion was destroyed by a storm in July 1925.




For More Vintage Views


19 comments:

  1. I think I would indeed have enjoyed those parks - especially with the band and chorus - perfect.

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  2. I would have loved to be there and enjoy the roof garden - especially the concerts in the pavilion at night. How wonderful it must have been. What a shame the pavilion was destroyed. I wonder if they rebuilt it? And I love the last picture with the single canoe framed by the setting sun.

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  3. Thanks for sharing those postcards. I had no idea canoeing was ever so popular. My husband & his good friend take a canoe trip each summer to the Adirondacks here in NY.

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  4. I wonder what brought on the canoe fad. Images like the last card appear on the covers of sheet music of the period. A romantic notion that doesn't know the difficulty of canoe paddling.

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    1. Courting couples liked to sit together in canoes in the evening. They weren't really interested in paddling.

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  5. Lovely postcards. I am quite envious of them.

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  6. The post cards are great. It's amazing how popular canoes were a hundred years ago.

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  7. I can remember those type of canoes when I lived in Canada. Here in UK a canoe usually refers to a kayak so no sitting side by side!

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  8. Postcards were so much prettier and more interesting back then weren't they?
    What a shame that pavilion was destroyed, it's quite beautiful.

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  9. Postcards that are a delight to see. I've never been in a canoe but it looks quite inviting on Lake Harriet.

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  10. All through the post the part of an old camp song kept playing in my head: Dip, Dip and swing, flashing like silver, swift as the the wild goose flight, dip, dip, and swing them back. Very nice canoeing pics and a beautiful lake.

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  12. I remember that song also. Life used to be so Grand didn't it?

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  13. Methinks the postcard company did some photo tinkering in the third card. Those boats look a bit suspicious as if conveniently placed. And don't you wonder what sort of a boat the photographer was in?

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  14. I'm impressed by the choir of a hundred voices (+ band and soloists...) for such a venue.
    It must have been very festive in those days.
    :)~
    HUGZ

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  15. Had anyone sent me one of those postcards, I'd be packing to visit Lake Harriet. The pictures capture the allure of a summer vacation.

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  16. Lovely, especially the last shot in the sunset - I'm definitely going to start collecting old postcards myself, after seeing the great selection you have!

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