Mr. Zip

One of the quirky things we enjoy doing is playing the ‘zip code game.’

I’ve always enjoyed geography and maps and logistics and I guess my facility for zip codes comes under that large umbrella. Holly picked up on this and, occasionally, she tries to stump me.

Anyway, in the ‘zip code game,’ the questioner lists a zip code and the contestant tries to tell them what city matches the zip. The zip code game is somewhat similar to the old Coke Bottle game. Back when Coca-Cola was served in the small green glass bottles, there was an imprint of the city in which the beverage was bottled pressed into the glass. Anyway, the contestant got 10 guesses to name the city.

The zip code game is somewhat similar but, rather than featuring a “20 Questions Style,“ it requires that you are familiar with zips. 

Holly and I played this game, recently, when she received a letter from her friend who attends the College of Charleston. Holly asked me if I knew what city matched zip code 29424.

I remembered that my friend, Bill Cooke, lives in South Carolina and his zip code starts with a ‘2.’ Doing a quick check in my mind of all of Holly’s friends and I thought of her friend in Charleston. Presto. That had to be the answer: “Charleston, S.C. “ She grinned a “He did it again,” smile.

You see, it ALL depends on Zip Code.

 I mention all this banter about the zip code game because, of course, our American zip code celebrated its 50th birthday yesterday. On July 1, 1963, the Zone Improvement Plan Code (or ZIP code) officially went into effect. By 1968, it became mandatory to use the five digit code on mail sent domestically.

Now, of course, it is just a matter that we take for granted on a daily basis.  And there are some special zip codes that have made it into daily chatter:

• 10036 (Theatre District/Times Square, NYC)
• 20500 (White House, Washington, D.C.)
• 90210 (Well…you know)

Anyway, I don’t know if you all find it interesting. I admit that I do. Of course, I was also a prodigious stamp collector as a kid (which, again, folded right in with my interest in geography and my hobby as a ham radio operator as a teen). I would always look with interest at the cancellations, the postmarks and, yes, the zip.

Which, of course, brings this post (ahem) full circle.

By the way, do you know what city matches zip code 12345?

(Source: TIME)

Originally posted 7/2/2013