Celebrate the golden anniversary of this U.S. Postal Service's 5-digit system by going back to a time when snail mail was considered the epitome of "space-age speed." July 1, 2013 12:06 PM PDT ZIP code promotional sign on a hotel letter drop. (Credit: United States Post Office Department) The U.S. Postal Service's ZIP code system turns 50 on Monday, harkening a time when those five digits were the side effect of a the tech behind a quickly evolving communications industry. The service introduced the ZIP code, or Zone Improvement Plan, in 1963 as "five trailblazing numbers" that "launched every piece of mail with space-age speed and precision," according to a cheesy 1960s PSA that encouraged people to use zip codes while addressing mail. Related stories This e-mail will self-destruct in five seconds Yahoo integrates Flickr with e-mail, adds new search alerts Yahoo: Don't fret about hack attacks on recycled user IDs The nearly 15-minute video also features a singing group called "The Swingin' Six," who made ditties about why the zip code is so amazing for keeping long-distance romance alive ("A carefully ZIP-coded valentine, it goes straight there in just one day!") and remedying mail mix-ups caused by poor handwriting and identical city names. A ZIP code represents a postal region, post office section, city and local post office number. "As up to date as the computer, as timely as the fantastic zip code reader, electronically reading zip codes and sorting the mail," the narrator says. The use of what we now affectionately call "snail mail," was growing rapidly then, doubling from 40 billion in 1948 to 80 billion in 1963. Unfortunately for the postal service, e-mail, other forms of communication, and private shipping service have slowed down that growth in the last 50 years. The agency currently delivers about 40 percent of the world's mail, roughly 160 million pieces of mail. But, the ZIP code system remains. Catch more of "The Swingin' Six," and their PSA below. [VIA Time]
Celebrate the golden anniversary of this U.S. Postal Service's 5-digit system by going back to a time when snail mail was considered the epitome of "space-age speed."
ZIP code promotional sign on a hotel letter drop.
(Credit: United States Post Office Department)
The U.S. Postal Service's ZIP code system turns 50 on Monday, harkening a time when those five digits were the side effect of a the tech behind a quickly evolving communications industry.
The service introduced the ZIP code, or Zone Improvement Plan, in 1963 as "five trailblazing numbers" that "launched every piece of mail with space-age speed and precision," according to a cheesy 1960s PSA that encouraged people to use zip codes while addressing mail.
Related stories
- This e-mail will self-destruct in five seconds
- Yahoo integrates Flickr with e-mail, adds new search alerts
- Yahoo: Don't fret about hack attacks on recycled user IDs
The nearly 15-minute video also features a singing group called "The Swingin' Six," who made ditties about why the zip code is so amazing for keeping long-distance romance alive ("A carefully ZIP-coded valentine, it goes straight there in just one day!") and remedying mail mix-ups caused by poor handwriting and identical city names. A ZIP code represents a postal region, post office section, city and local post office number.
"As up to date as the computer, as timely as the fantastic zip code reader, electronically reading zip codes and sorting the mail," the narrator says.
The use of what we now affectionately call "snail mail," was growing rapidly then, doubling from 40 billion in 1948 to 80 billion in 1963. Unfortunately for the postal service, e-mail, other forms of communication, and private shipping service have slowed down that growth in the last 50 years. The agency currently delivers about 40 percent of the world's mail, roughly 160 million pieces of mail.
But, the ZIP code system remains. Catch more of "The Swingin' Six," and their PSA below.
[VIA Time]
