New Stamps: Choreographers

Today the USPS releases its new issue, Innovative Choreographers, featuring Isadora Duncan, José Limón, Katherine Dunham, and Bob Fosse.  

The dancer in me is very excited to start using these beauties!


~ Anne

New Stamps

Lovely new stamps:

I ordered these online because my local post office didn't carry most of them.

The one thing that really bugs me about ordering stamps online is the amount of wasted packaging.

Plastic:

Cardboard:

Fortunately the plastic can be recycled, though I would rather not use the plastic at all.


The cardboard I'm going to use to make a few postcards and then I suppose I'll recycle the rest. 


I understand that they want to protect the stamps during transit, but why can't multiple stamps go in one thing of packaging?  I ordered several identical sheets and they were each packaged separately.

In general I love shopping online - reading reviews before I buy something, taking as much time as I need to make a decision about whether or not to get something.  But, everything seems to be packaged in plastic! 

~ Anne

History of "ZIP Code"

I needed to look up the zip code ("postal code" in Canada) for one of my penpals, which got me thinking... why is it called a zip code?

In case you've ever wondered the same thing, here's what I found out:

ZIP = Zone Improvement Plan.

1973 stamp promoting the ZIP code system.

This brilliant system didn't start until the 1960s.  It's amazing to think that mail got to the right place without it!  If someone from, say, Utah sends me a letter, how are the postal workers there supposed to know where Hummelstown, Pennsylvania is?  Before this ZIP system, I suppose they would just send the letter to Pennsylvania, and once it got here hopefully the postal workers would know that I live in the south-central part of the state.  And eventually the letter would reach someone who had actually heard of Hummelstown, and then it would reach my mailbox.  Miraculous if you really think about it.

It's true: it all depends on ZIP code.

How does the system work?  Like magic!  But really, it is pretty cool.  (Well, it's cool if you love the post office as much as I do!)

The original system was just the five digits we usually think of as our zip code.

The first digit designated a broad geographical area of the United States, ranging from zero for the Northeast to nine for the far West. This was followed by two digits that more closely pinpointed population concentrations and those sectional centers accessible to common transportation networks. The final two digits designated small post offices or postal zones in larger zoned cities.

Almost 30 years ago (1983), USPS added four more digits to the ZIP Code system, yielding "ZIP+4".

The nine digits of a ZIP+4 code (e.g., 12345-6789) may be grouped as follows: [123] [45] [67] [89]

• [123] : Sectional Center or Large City
• [45] : Post Office facility or Delivery Area
• [ - ] : The required "dash" or "hyphen" separates the first five digits from the last four digits; the +4
• [67] : Sector or Several Blocks
• [89] : Segment or One Side of a Street

Use of the 4-digit add-on is not mandatory, but it helps the Postal Service direct mail more efficiently and accurately because it reduces handling and significantly decreases the potential for human error and possibility of misdelivery. 

So there you have it, folks!  I, for one, am going to start using ZIP+4 more often for my return address.  Just one more way to help save the post office!

~Anne


Information from usps.com.

USPS: Systems at Work

To all of my fellow mail lovers, USPS put out this video showing how our precious mail gets to us every day.  I didn't think it was possible to love the post office more than I already did, but now I have a new level of appreciation!  (Thanks to Lovely Handwritten Notes for posting!)

Update on the great mail I got this week coming soon :)

~Anne