My brother texted me recently to let me know Hallmark made a Christmas movie in Duluth, which was nice of him, because I do always want to know about films set in Duluth. Duluth is the best part of Minnesota. I’d say it’s the best city between Fargo and at least Toronto, if you draw a straight-ish line (arced because of the curve of the earth—big curve of the earth guy today), and that’s probably selling it short. Duluth is cool. But…and this gets to a question my brother then asked: Is it Christmasy?
My brother’s question was, “What does Vermont have that Duluth doesn’t?” The question is fair. And it’s an important question, too, because when we think “Christmastime,” I think we picture Vermont more than we picture Duluth (not sure why that makes it important, but roll with me here).
Vermont is fluffier than Duluth. This isn’t to say Vermont doesn’t have grit—Vermont’s grit, as a state, is widely undervalued—but it’s just so much more charming. Duluth has industrial beauty, and its natural stuff is grander. Take the lakes: Lake Superior is titanic, massive and nasty and beautiful and terrifying. Lake Champlain is comforting, large enough to make some lake effect snow but not large enough to make a lot of lake effect snow. Lake Superior makes you feel like you’re on the edge of civilization. Lake Champlain feels like you could put it in your pocket and it would make you warm.
There’s also the architecture. Vermont’s got some colonial vibes to it, but cozier. Duluth feels like a place of iron and brick. Not red brick, either. Orange brick. Orange or brown brick with a garland feels Christmasy, but it’s a Rust Belt Christmas. It’s not dashing-through-the-snow.
Lastly, Vermont’s a whole state, so it’s large enough to have a more vague identity. Duluth, being just a city, is too narrowly defined. Vermont’s more malleable in the mind.
Still, good on Hallmark for getting Duluth onto the Christmas map. We need more Duluth in our media spheres in general. This is how the come-up continues (it started with UMD getting really good at hockey, and I mean really good, not the stuff from the 80s).
