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Meet Mr.
Zip
Introduced July 1, 1963
In the early 1960s, the
Post Office Department
(known today as the U.S.
Postal Service®) faced
rapidly growing mail
volumes. The Post Office
Department developed a
five-digit number code to
be added for each
address. This code—the
ZIP Code™—helped to
quickly sort mail and
speed its delivery, but
Department officials were
concerned that Americans
would not easily accept
or adopt adding
unfamiliar five-digit
numbers to each address.
Enter Mr. ZIP™, a little
stick figure character
who used a letter and
satchel to convince
Americans to use a ZIP
Code when addressing
mail. The use of the ZIP
Code system began on July
1, 1963. Within a year,
between a third and a
half of mail had a ZIP
Code. Today, virtually
everyone uses a ZIP Code.
 The
Creation of Mr. ZIP
Mr. ZIP was based on an
original design by Harold
Wilcox, son of a letter
carrier and a member of
the Cunningham and Walsh
advertising agency, for
use by a New York bank in
a bank-by-mail campaign.
Wilcox's design was a
child-like sketch of a
postman delivering a
letter. The figure was
used only a few times,
then filed away. Later,
AT&T acquired the design
and made it available to
the Post Office
Department at no cost.
Post Office Department
artists retained the face
but sharpened the limbs
and torso and added a
mail bag. The new figure,
dubbed Mr. ZIP, was
unveiled at a convention
of postmasters in October
1962. Until January 1986,
his image was printed in
the white area outside of
the stamp, known as the
selvage.
 Mr.
ZIP Today
Currently undergoing a
renaissance, the Mr. ZIP
character is being
updated by the Postal
Service™ for licensing
and other purposes,
extending his cultural
icon status to a new
generation of Americans
What information does
your Zip Code number
contain?
Find a Zip Code.
Other USPS Zip Code
Information
Source:
U. S. Postal Service
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