Modern rendition of Mr. Zip in a 2003 USPS press release. [1]

Mr. ZIP, informally "Zippy", is a cartoon character used in the 1960s by the United States Post Office Department, and in the 1970s by its successor, the United States Postal Service, to encourage the general public to include the ZIP Code in all mailings. The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 The Post Office Department is the former name of the United States Postal Service when it was a Cabinet department This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. The ZIP code is the system of Postal codes used by the United States Postal Service (USPS

The Post Office had little difficulty in getting mass mailers to use the ZIP Code as they could require its use in order to receive preferential mailing rates, which it soon did. However, there was some resistance to using it by the general public, members of whom would mail items without ZIP Code, almost invariably at the full First Class Mail rate, which by regulation had to be delivered if at all possible and feasible. This was particularly true of older mailers. Mr. ZIP was the Post Office's answer to this, apparently to teach small children to know to always use the ZIP Code as they got older, and also to encourage their parents and grandparents to do so.

Mr. ZIP is a caricature of a mail carrier, wide-eyed and drawn with his letter bag trailing him in such a way as to imply his travelling at extreme speed, and sometimes holding on to his hat with his free hand. For the electronic mail software see GNU Mailman. "Postman" redirects here His hair was straight, but his skin was somewhat orange, making him non racially-identifiable. His limbs were very thin, almost like those of a stick figure. He was used especially on posters promoting ZIP Code use. The character was largely phased out by the late 1970s, but the Post Office retained rights to the copyrighted figure, which has been revived on the Postal Service's ZIP Code lookup website. This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. Copyright is a legal concept enacted by Governments, giving the creator of an original work of authorship Exclusive rights to control its distribution usually for A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages ^[1].

Mr. ZIP appeared on the selvage (non-postally valid areas) of stamp panes (more commonly called "sheets") on many stamp issues, beginning with the Sam Houston stamp of 1964. Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. He also appeared on non-postally valid labels in, or on the covers of, stamp booklets. Stamp collectors sometimes collect the corner block of four stamps with the part of the selvage bearing Mr. ZIP; they are called "ZIP blocks".

Zippy attached to a Mary Cassatt stamp of 1966

Trivia

In The Simpsons episode "The Day the Violence Died", Mr. " The Day the Violence Died " is the eighteenth episode of The Simpsons ' seventh season, which originally aired March ZIP is referred to as a knock-off of Roger Myers' stick-figure character Manic Mailman.

References

1. ^ ZIP Code Lookup. United States Postal Service. Retrieved on 2006-12-12. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 627 - Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II 's Persian