Mr. ZIP

The cartoon figure, Mr. ZIP, was adopted by the Postal Service as the trademark for the Zoning Improvement Plan or ZIP Code, which began on July 1, 1963. However, the figure originated several years earlier. It was designed by Harold Wilcox, son of a letter carrier and a member of the Cunningham and Walsh advertising agency, for use by Chase Manhattan Bank in New York 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.

The American Telephone and Telegraph Company acquired the design from the Cunningham and Walsh agency and kindly made it available to the Post Office Department without 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 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. Within four years of his appearance, eight out of ten Americans knew who Mr. ZIP was and what he stood for.

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.

Image of smiling Mr. ZIP, carrying a bag of mail and holding a letter.

Detail of Post Office Department promotional cartoon from May 1968, featuring Mr. ZIP and the text "Mail moves the country, ZIP Code moves the mail."  

Image of advertisement distributed for free to magazines by The Advertising Council, Inc., in 1968, as a public service.  The ad features Mr. ZIP tied up in a bag of mail, saying "Don't tie up mail service . . . use ZIP Code."

Image of "MR. ZIP and the 5 Little Digits," a 1964 Post Office Department advertisement.  In comic strip format, Mr. ZIP promotes the use of ZIP Code with the following text: 
Hi Folks - I'm Mr. ZIP your new letter carrier! (drawing of Mr. ZIP saluting readers)
I serve 10 national postal areas, more than 190,000,000 people! Imagine . . .  (drawing of a map of the United States with ZIP Code zones)
And I give 'em all accurate, complete and faster mail service with the help of - 
Just 5 little digits! F'r instance . . . 20500, what are they?
That's ZIP Code talk.  It's the number for the White House.  Why, even a postal clerk in Kwigillingok, Alaska, can mail directly to President Johnson - with these numbers! (drawing of a carrier sorting mail in Alaska)
No matter where you live - (drawing of Mr. ZIP's face at the center of a compass with different weather zones depicted in four quadrants - snow and an igloo, water and sun, desert, and mountains)
Your address has 5 little digits! (drawing of Mr. ZIP pointing to the ZIP Code on an addressed envelope)
So do your neighbors and the firms with which you correspond.  Use both yours and theirs every time you write -
In your return address and in their address. (drawing of envelope with arrows pointing to the ZIP Code in both the return and delivery address)
Mail early in the day and - (drawing of a clock and mailbox)
I'll take it from there - (drawing of Mr. ZIP driving a mail truck)
Right to the Post Office where it is cancelled, sorted, sacked, with other mail bearing the same ZIP address (drawing of mail sack with the ZIP Code 20500)
Or if it is volume mail already presorted to ZIP Code … it bypasses the Post Office … and heads for the transportation terminal (drawing of mail truck driver approaching terminal)
Then we're off - by land, sea or air - (drawing of plane, train, and truck)
Skipping intermediate stops … eliminating a number of handlings enroute (drawing of Mr. ZIP hopping across a map of the United States)
To the distant sectional center or large Post Office, right through their busiest operations - (drawing of a sectional center or large Post Office)
Directly to the station or branch of destination - (drawing of mail truck heading to the destination Post Office)
And delivered as addressed! (drawing of Mr. ZIP delivering mail into a residential mailbox)
Just 5 little digits did it!  Now - what about you … for your ZIP Code ask your postman … or  … call the Post Office.  ZIP Code is the last word … in mail addresses! (drawing of Mr. ZIP holding a properly addressed envelope)
Regular postage plus ZIP Code - that's all it takes. (drawing of a 5-cent postage stamp)
Or … for even faster service ….. send it air mail! (drawing of a stamp flying through the clouds)
Remember - your address includes 5 little digits.  Use ZIP Code for better mailing! (drawing of Mr. ZIP holding a poster with the words "5 little digits")

HISTORIAN
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
JULY 2008