Zippy Mr. Zip - Let's See 'Em!

The new figure, dubbed Mr. ZIP, was unveiled by the Post Office Department at a convention of postmasters in October 1962. Mr. ZIP, who has no first name, appeared in many public service announcements and advertisements urging postal customers to use the five-digit ZIP Code that was initiated on July 1, 1963.

With the introduction of the nine-digit ZIP Code, or ZIP+4, in 1983, Mr. ZIP went into partial retirement. His image still was printed on the selvage of some sheets of stamps, but that practice ended in January 1986. Mr. ZIP still is used occasionally by the Postal Service.

Mr. ZIP appeared on the selvage (non-postally valid areas) of stamp panes (more commonly called "sheets") for many stamp issues, beginning with the 5 cent Sam Houston stamp issued January 10, 1964, although the 5¢ Battle of the Wilderness stamp of May 5, 1964, is sometimes listed as the "first" because it appears earlier in most stamp catalogs due to its inclusion in a five-issue Civil War series. He also appeared on non-postally-valid labels inside, or on the cover of, stamp booklets. Stamp collectors sometimes collect the corner block of four stamps with the part of the selvage bearing Mr. ZIP; these are called "ZIP blocks". Mr. ZIP appeared in the blank selvage of United States stamps until January 1986.

Bee topicalists as well as postal code collectors will enjoy the Danish 1.30-kroner University Seal stamp on piece tied by a datestamp and slogan cancel, shown in Figure 6, which depicts a round-eyed Mr. Zip-like bumblebee.

Speaking of Mr. Zip look-alikes, when Japan launched its postal code system on July 1, 1968, the U.S. stamp press matter-of-factly said, "Mr. Zip has arrived in Japan." Mr. Zip's Japanese cousin is shown in Figure 7, next to the 15-yen Mailbox and Postal Code Symbol stamp, Scott 998, issued on the first anniversary of the Japanese postal code.