Big Bird As Civic Planner

What exactly is the point of hanging banners from light poles? Those in St. Louis invariably have a picture of the Arch on them. Hey, you can look up and see the big, fool thing so why do you need fifty pictures of it strung along ten blocks.

You also see a lot of them in historical areas -- and what could be more historically accurate that ugly galvanized poles with synthetic-fabric poster-art fluttering under stark mercury-vapor lamps?

My all time favorites are those that give the age or anniversary of some nearby attraction. How long has that been there? Why 25 years; 25 years; 25 years; 25 years; 25 years; 25 years; 25 years; 25 years; 25 years. Do you think maybe it’s been there 25 years? It's the Sesame Street approach to tourism.