North Star Port

14 | NORTH STAR PORT | FALL 2025 Terminal, where they were loaded onto DANCO steamers for the journey across Lake Superior and beyond. The first shipment aboard the Norman W. Foy in Sept. 1959 included trailers of Chun King foods, flour from several Minnesota and North Dakota firms, hardboard from Duluth's Super Wood Corporation, and empty chassis. The Foy discharged the load of trailers at Detroit, where the foodstuffs went to Wrigley, Kroger, and Food Fair supermarkets as well as Abner A. Wolf wholesale grocery chains. Key in the operation was the installation of movable rails over hatch coverings on the deck of the steamers. The equipment was manufactured expressly for the purpose by Fraser-Nelson Ship- building and Dry Dock Company of Superior (known today as Fraser Shipyards). Fraser also manufactured the hoist rigging which hooked to the containers from the top to move them in position on the ship. Each container was stored on the vessel without any rigging, and each tier of six containers was fitted between steel retainer angles. As many as 60 containers (sin- gle-stacked) could be carried on deck. After the first shipments, the Foy and Hancock were calling on Duluth every four days. Backhaul cargoes up to Duluth were not as prominent, but they included welding equipment and tires. The former Peter White, renamed John C. Hay, was rechristened at Detroit for usage in the service but never sailed in it. The service continued through Dec. 1 and showed enough promise for Browning to consider using faster ships and standard 20- and 40-foot shipping containers. One port call was made at Cleveland, Ohio, and Browning officials believed the route could expand to Buffalo, New York, and potentially East Coast ports. Execution—did it work? Even before the service started, the ICC suspended the DANCO operation due to its tariff structure, which was protested by competing rail and truck lines for being too low. In summary, DANCO's tariffs placed higher charges on moving certain car- goes from Duluth to lower Great Lakes ports than the charges to move the same freight from Minneapolis-St. Paul to the same destinations, even though the freight in question would have to pass through Duluth. DANCO also had similar structures at Detroit and Cleveland. United States Rep. John A. Blatnik and other port stakeholders were able to get a temporary OK to operate in 1959, but the ser- vice was halted in 1960 when the entire DANCO tariff went under ICC investigation. Paulucci would later argue that DANCO never received competing rates from the railroads after establishing the joint truck-water rate. Because of the limited operating season, a true valuation of the service could not be assessed. Another blow came when a 116-day steel strike began July 15, 1960, and lasted until Nov. 7, affecting the availability of iron ore cargoes. Hauling the trailers alone could not begin to pay the cost of operating the two bulk carriers without bulk. Innovation in cargo handling was also rapidly outpacing Browning 's venture on the lakes. After the instant success of the Ideal-X, McLean worked with Fruehauf to develop what would become the standardized shipping container. Interest- ingly, he did not patent the design, as he wanted to ensure it was adopted by the entire industry and even his competition. It was Keith Tantlinger, Fruehauf 's vice president of engineering, that is widely credited with developing the modern intermodal container. Despite the rapid adoption, the supply of boxes in the Great Lakes region was still limited in 1959-60. Epilogue This story does not begin to convey Paulucci's full impact on the City of Duluth and his advocacy for the port. He sold Chun King in 1966 for $63 million and founded Jeno's Inc. in 1968. This company specialized in frozen pizza, lasagna, and Paulucci's own creation, the pizza roll. Jeno's was sold to Pillsbury in 1985 for over $140 million. He continued to support Duluth's port, notably importing 2 million pounds of tomato paste for Jeno's. Containerization—intermodal shipping—also morphed expo- nentially, worldwide. Browning and Paulucci were early visionar- ies with the right idea: repurposing old freighters and innovative boxes to demonstrate the feasibility of a new trade route. It was an example of bold thinking and short-sea practicality that could deliver fresh benefits for the Great Lakes region today. As long as there are ships sailing between Great Lakes ports, "fishyback" service can always be revisited—and reinvented—to meet modern-day opportunities. 14 | NORTH STAR PORT | FALL 2025 Despite its short run, the 'fishyback' experiment proved the Great Lakes could dream big. FISHYBACK

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