Posted in Uncategorized, tagged a different kind of mailart, fairy dust on February 29, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Clearly this was sent by a very dear friend of mine:
Not only did she sprinkle her note with fairy dust, but she knew I was in danger of ending up with fairy dust in my tea and gave me fair warning. Since imbibing magical substances almost always has unexpected consequences, this is just one more gesture in a long string of kindnesses she has shown me. And also, she sent me fairy dust – how cool is that?!
Posted in Taking Action in 2012, tagged usps on February 27, 2012 | 1 Comment »
For all of you who love getting mail and want to keep the USPS going strong, take a look at (and a listen to) what Postal Packin’ Mama has to say about the USPS’s current financial situation and the proposed fix that doesn’t include cutting jobs, facilities or delivery days.
Then get in touch with your congressional representatives and urge them to support H.R. 1351.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged National Postal Museum, postal history, usps on February 18, 2012 | 5 Comments »
If you’ve ever looked at items that were mailed a generation ago, you’ve probably noticed that something is consistently absent. Here, take a look:
Do you see what’s missing? (hint: look at the end of the address)
The reason behind this omission is that the Zone Improvement Plan Code system hadn’t yet been invented. First proposed in 1944 by postal inspector Robert A. Moon, it took nearly twenty years for the idea of a national coding system to be adopted. Hoping to improve the efficiency of sorting and delivering mail, Mr. Moon submitted several additional proposals over the years. He is now recognized as the father of the first three ZIP code digits, which are used to divide the country into roughly 900 geographic areas. The 4th and 5th digits, proposed by postal employee H. Bentley Hahn, were added to more precisely pinpoint locations, allowing a piece of mail to be placed on the most efficient route to its final destination.
Improved efficiency and faster delivery were clearly winning ideas, but the USPS still faced the challenge of convincing a whole country of people to buy in to the notion and start tacking five digits on to the end of their addresses. And change, even positive change, can be difficult to enact. So how did they do it?
Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum's virtual exhibit Flashing Across the Country: Mr. Zip and the ZIP Code Promotional Campaign
They introduced Mr. Zip!
Originally named “Mr. P.O. Zone,” he’d been rechristened (good decision!) by the time he made his first public appearance at a 1962 convention where he posed for photos with all the attendant postmasters. In the 9 months leading up to the official implementation of ZIP Codes, Mr. Zip popped up all sorts of places–buttons, letter satchel decals, the side of mail trucks, posters, TV ads, rubber stamps–touting the benefits of using ZIP Codes.
Although ZIP Code implementation got underway in 1963, citizens were given several years to acclimate before ZIP Codes became a hard and fast requirement for sending mail. During this time, all sorts of promotional materials were created to encourage acceptance and use. Give a listen to the ZIP Code Ballad and see if it doesn’t endear you to those five special digits! (More ZIP Code PSAs can be found here.)
By the 1970s, USPS mail was nearly 100% ZIP Code compliant. Mr. Zip, having achieved his objective with great success, began making fewer appearances. Although not often seen in official capacity these days, Mr. Zip has been spotted here and there recently. So keep an eye out for him! And remember:
Image courtesy of the National Postal Museum's virtual exhibit Flashing Across the Country: Mr. Zip and the ZIP Code Promotional Campaign
Sources* for Info about the History of ZIP Codes:
Martin, D. (2001, April 14). Robert Moon, an inventor of the ZIP Code, dies at 83. New York Times. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/14/us/robert-moon-an-inventor-of-the-zip-code-dies-at-83.html
Stein, L. (2003, July 14). Post haste. U.S. News & World Report, 135(1), p. 15. Retrieved from EBSCO MasterFile Premier.
“What does ZIP Code stand for?” (2011, September). Journal of the Retired United Pilots Association, 14(9), p. 13. Retrieved from: https://www.rupa.org/uploads/RupaNews_09-11.pdf
* If you are intrigued and want to know more, I highly recommend checking out the National Postal Museum’s virtual exhibit. It has lots more information, as well as many examples of the promotional materials used to get the public excited about using ZIP Codes.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged 30 Day Challenge, Month of Letters on February 13, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Well, it’s day 13 in A Month of Letters and I am thoroughly enjoying it. (If you’ve been thinking about playing along, but haven’t gotten around to starting, don’t despair! Read Mary’s post about starting late.) Before the month began, I printed the official calendar and scheduled my first week of letters, which made it so much easier for me to make sure the letters got written, even on days when I felt sluggish.
Bookmarks! Three library-related and one–shameless promotion–from Scribbling Glue.
So far, I have written and sent out: a birthday card, a few bookmarks to a bookmark collector, a quick note to a friend who I’ve not seen in a while, a congratulatory note to a friend who just had her first child, a note to my grandmother, a letter to someone I met virtually during 30DC, a reply to Leah at European Paper Company who wrote to me as part of EPC’s celebration of National Letter Writing Week, another installment in my epistolary story collaboration, a letter accompanied by part of another story that I’m writing for a young friend, and a handful of Valentines.
Five of the letters I sent were letters I’d been intending to send for quite a while, but hadn’t gotten around to actually writing. In one rather embarrassing instance, I’d been intending to write since October. And now I finally have–success!
This week’s line up will include several more birthday cards, a note to another Month of Letters participant, and a couple letters to people I just haven’t written in a while. And I must get the rest of my letter-writing schedule plotted out for the month. I’m having such fun with this! Have you written any letters that have made you happy lately?
Posted in Easy-Peasy Occasional, tagged a different kind of mailart, handmade, Month of Letters on February 5, 2012 | 8 Comments »
Last week, for my first day of A Month of Letters, I sent a birthday card to a friend of mine. I made it myself and you can create your own remarkably unique creations by following the same easy steps I took:
I started with this:
I have no idea who these people are. It was an abandoned family portrait, long ago separated from its family. Since it has no sentimental value to me, I felt the best thing I could do was to reuse it and give it a brand new purpose.
With the help of a pack of brightly colored paper, my trusty scissors and some glue, I transformed it into this:
Oh, joy! Don't they look much more festive now?
Some close ups:
After trimming the frame, this beauty of a card just fit into a 9″x12″ envelope and I definitely did some giggling along the way as I pictured the reaction it will get when opened.
