[Lowell, MA.]
[Lowell, MA.]
[Northeast, Minneapolis.]
[West Side, St. Paul.]
[West Side, St. Paul.]
[Bloomington.]
[West St. Paul.]
[West St. Paul.]
[West Side, St. Paul.]
2026-08-12
2026-08-11
Vintage Music Company, South Minneapolis' Obscure 78-Record Museum-slash-Wizard Repository, Sadly Closing
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| [The amazing Vintage Music Co. storefront.] |
Years ago, I was low-key conducting a project I called “Obscure Museums” where I led tours to off-off-the-beaten-path “museums”, i.e. any place where interesting collections were on display in either a formal or informal way. The 2018 tour included the Vintage Music Company, truly a magical storehouse of 78 rpm records.
(Note: I’m still hoping to put together a published guide to these places. I think my list would be great fun!)
 |
| [78 rpm records used to be wildly popular.] |
Some time back, I inherited a trove of 78 records and have a (crappy) turntable that can play them, and so I have an interest in these amazing artifacts. But the real reason I wanted to bring people to Vintage Music is because it’s straight out of a urban fantasy story, the closest thing to a wizard’s shop I’ve ever encountered. (And that includes my time spent in the South Minneapolis “witch district.”)
You step inside and are immediately engulfed by musty chaos. Two men tinker behind a raised central pedestal island, tweaking turntables some of which have actual ear horn-style speakers straight out of the ancient RCA dog advertisement. (“Put a sock in it!”) Nobody helps you. If you ask an inadequate question, one of the record wizards might castigate you sarcastically as if you’re a first-year student at wizard school. (This happened to me, of course.)
The place is an idea obscure museum, and that’s why it’s sad to see its closing. Places like this, where they are obviously barely scraping rent money together, always seem doomed. But whenever I’d go past Vintage Music Company and see its building still standing, its faded sign still legible, I’d knew Minneapolis still had more than its share of magic.
For further reading, here’s a great 2017 Star Tribune story on the owner and his idiosyncratic ways. (h/t Keith at Racket):
Star Tribune quote article here asdf
Holthus, 54, has spent decades collecting, cataloging and selling this music — big band and Billie Holiday, country western and Bing Crosby — in its original form: records that spin at 78 revolutions per minute. He also collects, restores and sells the machines that play them: spring-driven phonographs with stately finishes and names like Edison, Brunswick, Victor.
His shop, Vintage Music Co., which smells of spray varnish and dust, is one of the last record stores in the country to stock solely 78s. Vinyl is popular these days, of course, in its wider LP or 45 rpm format. But Holthus, nostalgic even as a kid, has never been driven by trends.
"I'm not malleable," he said. "I should be able to bend with the times ... and I just can't do it."
Instead, he keeps alive records and players that others have given up on.
In the piece, you learn that the store had over 750,000 78 rpm records in it! That's a wild number, especially considering each of them is about 2-3 minutes of music on each side. In other words, the entire store probably didn't account for as much music as you'd find on a 20-year-old iPod.
Anyway... the real treat for me was the total characters running it.
Even on days the shop's doors are locked, Holthus is there, repairing and cataloging until dark. He's known both for happily sharing his encyclopedic musical knowledge and his persnickety spirit. He hates the word "vinyl." He disdains new, cheaply made portable players. He scoffs at reissues.
RIP, godspeed and good health to Scott, and I hope someone can do something with this fantastic obscure museum of a shop.
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| [A wizard shop for sure.] |
2026-08-05
Twin City Doorways #83
[Chicago, IL.]
[Chicago, IL.]
[Chicago, IL.]
[Chicago, IL.]
[Tomah, WI.]
[Chicago, IL.]
[Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis.]
[Williamstown, MA.]
[Lowell, MA.]
2026-08-04
Sidewalk Dogs #18
[Southwest, Minneapolis.]
[Grand Avenue, St. Paul.]
2026-08-03
Vote for Rebecca Noecker for Ramsey County Board
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| [Rebecca is the right choice for Ramsey County Board.] |
There aren’t many elected officials that I’ve seen up close for their entire careers, but Rebecca Noecker is one of them. I’ve known Rebecca since we both joined the St. Paul Planning Commission together in 2011. We often sat next to each other. I remember her bringing her one-year-old to the meetings, literally juggling her duties. (He’d sleep through them, which often seemed like the wisest move to me.) She rose to become St. Paul Council President, and I want to endorse her for the open* Ramsey County board seat.
Since our early days on the planning commission, and after helping with her first City Council campaign, I can say three things about Rebecca as an elected official: she pays attention to detail, is a good listener, and works hard.
This last point is key; for years, Rebecca has gotten up early to answer emails before her kids wake up, way earlier than I ever do. She also knocks doors tirelessly, even in high heat or decent rain. (I’ve witnessed this!)
She follows through, replying to questions and sending thank you notes, the kind of attentive constituent service that is often seen as superfluous to the job. She actually reads memos and reports, public comments and studies, and is eager to ask questions of staff and experts to learn about policy complexities. She shows up for public engagement work, and it's not always transactional; instead, she spends time actively listening to people’s gripes or dreams.
Those are invaluable attributes in any elected official, but I think are suited to what we need at the county level. Ramsey County government is not know for being close to the people, and, to be fair, that’s largely a structural issue around Counties having less direct connections to most people. Still, it could be better...
Meanwhile, the previous County Commissioner had some weaknesses. To my mind, Ortega was neither transparent nor accessible, not someone who spent much time on outreach or engagement. Living in the district for years, I only saw him in person once: at a West Side caucus where he gave a 30-second speech before walking out of the room.
My general sense, having observed County Board members and their staff, is that there's a lot of inertia. It’s not “Gondor-level" sclerotic, but let’s just say there’s a lot of downtime. The way I interacted with Ortega was that I heard second-hand pronouncements, most of which were meant assuring people that “everything was fine” or to “trust us” on key projects under his purview: improved transit on West 7th Street and big downtown development opportunities. Many, many years have gone by, and those projects are failures.
Noecker and I don’t always agree, and to be honest, there were at least two major issues times where she voted against whatI thought was the right thing to do. (Thankfully, in both major cases — the Ayd Mill Road bike trail and Grand Avenue housing approval — she was in the minority.) Even so, I trust Rebecca to put in the work and be transparent.
I won’t say anything particularly negative about the other candidate for County Board, Maria Isa Perez-Vega. I think she is a good state representative and a good fit for the legislature. In that role, giving speeches and being a strong advocate is a key part of the job. Legislators need to claim space on a few key issues and operate through their committees, all while working in a contentious, insular political bubble.
(I worked as Minnesota House Page twenty years ago, so I’m an expert. /s)
Ramsey County board is a different job. It requires administrative chops and bureaucratic follow-through. Rebecca’s work ethic will be a welcome change. Her attention to detail and experience with budget and administration are a good fit for the County, where big development failings have really damaged the regional tax base and local economy. Her experience with the city gives her good knowledge of its limits and potential, and where the County can fit in.
If you’re still undecided about what to support in the August 11th primary, please support Rebecca Noecker.
PS. See also the indefatigable Naomi Kritzer’s analysis of the race, which comes to the same conclusion I do. Vote for Rebecca!
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