Bad postcards of the week:

Double dose of Mackinac Bridge madness
From: The Grand Rapids Press

 Yoopers have a thing for tollbooths. I’m starting to see that.

I thought last week’s bad postcard proclaiming to show us the mighty Mackinac Bridge and instead showing us a tollbooth was just one of those glorious adventures into postcard badness.

So imagine my gleeful horror in discovering there were more Mackinac tollbooth postcards, and they were even better – or worse, depending on how you like your bad postcards.

Take our first example. That back reads:

“Mackinac Straits Bridge, joining Michigan’s peninsulas. The Toll Gate for the World’s Largest Suspension Bridge in located at the Northern Approach. This great Bridge connects the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan at the Straits of Mackinac.”

We’re going to excuse the random capitalization for a moment, and even the redundant copy.

That’s because the prominent element in this photo is not the tollbooth, or even the bridge, which you can sort of see off in the background – this time.

No, this should be called “Street light of the toll plaza of the Mackinac Bridge.”

I’m not saying it’s not a cool street light. Note that all the other street lights have just one lamp, and the one front and center has two. It’s special. Apparently the bridge isn't the only engineering marvel up there.

And where are the cars? Was there some trooper holding back traffic so the photographer could get just the right shot? It’s pretty tough to get a ghost town photo of a busy toll plaza.

That leads to our final part of our tollbooth trilogy, also titled “The Mackinac Bridge.” While not exactly prominent, the bridge is at least visible in this one.

We get a partial tollbooth, and a partial street light – but not our extra special double light – a birch tree, some birch saplings, some dirt piles, three parked cars and one paying the toll and probably asking directions to Castle Rock.

But still we are left to ponder why Yoopers are running around with postcards showing off tollbooths like new parents with their baby photos.

Reader wmharris, who enjoys unraveling he mysteries of bad postcards of much as I do, last week speculated.

“Tollbooths in the Upper Peninsula? That's progress. The next thing you know they'll be having grocery stores with doors that automatically open. That, and of course Kresge's. Seriously, the UP was uhm, rather forgotten until the bridge went in, and even then... So oddly, strange as it sounds, the tollbooth is a sign of progress. Finally, they can sort of join the civilization. And isn't that the iconography here, with the bright cloudless sky (just like California, only with snow!), and the cars lined up.

One other thought: I think the optimism is actually the substance of the card. It's not the bridge as monument, but the more prosaic act of connection. Sure it's highway plumbing, but sometimes indoor plumbing is actually a sign of progress. And think, can we take pleasure in the simple achievements as well as the proud bridge moments?"

Makes sense to me!