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Mackinac Island, Biddle House
There seem to be Biddle houses just about everywhere, but for this one, “origins … are unknown, but its New France architectural lines and heritage indicate it was built about 1780, at the time of the first settlement of Mackinac Island by Euro-Americans. The American fur trade grew significantly on Mackinac Island, and about 1822, fur trader Edward Biddle … occupied the house and refitted it to serve as a home for his family and a shop space to exchange trade goods for furs of the Upper Great Lakes ecosystem…” (Wikipedia) This Plastichrome postcard P71584 looks like 1960s, and is aging noticeably on the reverse. Grade: 2
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Mackinac Bridge at night
Another “world’s …est” postcard, this time described in the caption as “the World’s Largest Suspension Bridge”. This is a designation Google refuses to recognize, though the honour now might go to the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge in Kobe (Japan), with Mackinac well down the list. In any case, of course it’s impressive — more than the postcard itself, which is unused but has significant smudging on the reverse. Grade: 3
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West Michigan Sand Dunes
Unused Dexter Press card 18390-C, rounded corners, and with a 1970 date inked above the postage area. Grade: 3
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Pictured Rocks
You need to pay a National Lakeshore Park entrance fee to see this Indian Head Rock, along the Lake Superior shoreline, but the cost to see it is more than the cost to buy this unused 1958 postcard. Grade: 1
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Marquette, Middle Isle Point
Once in awhile, we run into old postcards that had been held in stock by the publisher as reference for future orders. This is one of those. On the front, it’s typical of normal antique postcards. So would be the reverse, but it has rubber-stamped and typed indications of how many of this particular card were made (in 1941); and how many more were printed (we think), in 1950, along with a stamped legend “CABINET SAMPLE”. So this is, in its way, a novelty card if you’re looking for something unusual. It should be grade 3 or 4, because of the extra writing, but this is special, so it’s Grade: 1
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Old Mission, Traverse Bay, Eagle Nest Bluff
Unused old E.C. Kropp postcard 25892. Grade: 1
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Traverse Bay, Near Ford’s Island
Unused. Grade: 1
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Munising, Miner’s (sic) Castle
The card says “Miner’s” while websites all say “Miners”. The National Park Service itself says this (and we’ve condensed it a little): “Miners Castel (sic) is … one of the most famous landmarks along the Pictured Rocks shoreline, and the only cliff area in the park accessible by vehicle… a short paved trail leads past interpretive exhibits to breathtaking overlooks of Lake Superior and Grand Island. Stairs and a steeper trail lead to the lower overlook adjacent to Miners Castle. … A rockfall in 2006 dramatically changed the look of Miners Castle as one of its two turrets unexpectedly fell into the lake.” OK, that’s the history but this is another of the old cards designated as “CABINET SAMPLE” on the reverse, starting in 1938 and showing a growing list of subsequent orders. As a novelty, and exceptionally, Grade: 1
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Detroit City Airport
Mailed in 1945 with 1-cent stamp and full Detroit postmark, so this is an excellent representative of airport postcards. Grade: 1
