# Question about USPS in the 1970s and 1980s **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 22, 2020, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-usps-in-the-1970s-and-1980s/918717 "2020-08-22T04:13:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-usps-in-the-1970s-and-1980s/918717/21 "2020-08-23T15:21:03Z")
Ouch. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-usps-in-the-1970s-and-1980s/918717/22 "2020-08-23T15:55:17Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > [Here is the story of the first automated Post Office in the US or A](https://postalmuseum.si.edu/collections/object-spotlight/first-automated-post-office-in-the-us-issue). It ends the way most Rhode Island stories end. From the article: > The _Turkey_ project, created by Arthur Summerfield, one of the Department’s most forward looking Postmasters General, was greatly criticized by his successor, J. Edward Day. Postmaster General Day suggested that project’s name “might be rendered more appropriate by knocking out the “n” in turnkey.” The writers got ahead of themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-usps-in-the-1970s-and-1980s/918717/23 "2020-08-23T19:46:28Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Looking online, I discovered that the operator does not key in the entire ZIP code, but just tthe first three digits. Makes sense, since Zone Improvement Project codes are hierarchical. The first digit refers to one of nine broad regions that the US is divided into, and the next two refer to one of the “hub” post offices in that region. So all mail with the same first three digits will make its way through the same post office, at some leg of its journey. The human at the machine wouldn’t need to enter the last two digits of the code, because those would be handled at that hub. Of course, there are also practical limits on how many digits the machine can make use of at once. It has to put the letters into different receptacles of some sort according to the numbers. One can envision a machine with a thousand different receptacles, but there’s no practical way to make one with a hundred thousand (actually, both of those numbers should be lower, since not all five-digit combinations are used, but it’d be of that order of magnitude). I am surprised that the machines only have ten buttons-- There has to be some way to code a letter for “reject”: There’s no ZIP code, or it’s illegible, or the letter got turned around the wrong way so the operator can’t read it, or whatever. Maybe they used an initial 0 for that purpose. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-usps-in-the-1970s-and-1980s/918717/24 "2020-08-23T20:07:03Z")
Or the operator didn’t read it in time? It probably just went back into the stream. CNN did a piece on the anniversary of the ZIP Code some years back (I do remember that Anderson Cooper did the commentary) and they showed a commercial that was used to promote it. I cannot find this commercial online (maybe someone else here can) but it was B&W and featured Caucasian teenagers singing a very catchy tune, which actually bordered on rapping. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-usps-in-the-1970s-and-1980s/918717/25 "2020-08-23T20:47:57Z")
I worked one month in college unloading bulk media mail bags from from 18 wheelers. The type of mail that went to schools, banks, libraries and whatnot. They were 80-100 lb canvas bags stacked up 4 feet high and were a bitch to handle and tore your hands up with blisters (even with gloves). I was glad to get back into school and it encouraged me to stay in school and graduate. Damn that job sucked, one of the worst. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-usps-in-the-1970s-and-1980s/918717/26 "2020-08-23T22:06:35Z")
Yup. Utter failure and ironic typos, that’s how Rhode Island stories usually end. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2020, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-usps-in-the-1970s-and-1980s/918717/27 "2020-08-24T01:15:28Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I started working summers for the Post Office in 1970. We were first placed inside sorting mail before being turned loose on the world as carriers. So, **Mapcase** used to hotcase? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2020, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-usps-in-the-1970s-and-1980s/918717/28 "2020-08-24T01:47:31Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Is this still the case? In my Chicago neighborhood, at least, I’ve never seen postal carriers cut across lawns. They go up the walkway to the house, back down the walkway to the sidewalk, and continue to the next house. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2020, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-usps-in-the-1970s-and-1980s/918717/29 "2020-08-24T01:58:48Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Makes sense, since Zone Improvement Project codes are hierarchical. The first digit refers to one of nine broad regions that the US is divided into, and the next two refer to one of the “hub” post offices in that region. So all mail with the same first three digits will make its way through the same post office, at some leg of its journey. The human at the machine wouldn’t need to enter the last two digits of the code, because those would be handled at that hub. I don’t know about other places, but in Queens the last two digits were the zone which predated Zip codes, so the hub might have had machines to handle those already. I went from Bayside, 64, New York to Bayside, New York, 11364. When Sol Cohen took over Amazing and Fantastic the mailing address had my zip code, which was weird the first time I bought one. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2020, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-usps-in-the-1970s-and-1980s/918717/30 "2020-08-24T02:56:31Z")
I can’t ever remember a time when they didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2020, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-usps-in-the-1970s-and-1980s/918717/31 "2020-08-24T10:08:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I am surprised that the machines only have ten buttons-- There has to be some way to code a letter for “reject”: There’s no ZIP code, or it’s illegible, or the letter got turned around the wrong way so the operator can’t read it, or whatever. Maybe they used an initial 0 for that purpose. Not initial zero; that’s for New England. Possibly three zeros, since there’s no post office with that low of zip code. Or, more likely, no code at all. If the code isn’t entered in time, it goes to the redo/reject bin. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2020, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-usps-in-the-1970s-and-1980s/918717/32 "2020-08-24T12:27:53Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Is this still the case? I wish. My house is situated such that I am technically the only house on my block. If my house is facing Elm St, the houses to the north, west, and east of me face 1st Ave. The house to the south faces 2nd Ave. The carrier usually comes from the house to the north, crosses 1st Ave, across my yard, then around the side of my house to the house to the west. All grass. Ten years ago or so we received over 2’ of snow in a 24 hour period. I was able to dig out my driveway and the walkways that led to the mailbox timely. I did not cut out the yard cutting path the carrier used, so they decided to quit delivering my mail. Called the PO. They demanded I clear a walkable pathway. I did, it was just not convenient for the carrier. How did I know they purposely stopped my mail delivery? _They left a note in my mailbox_. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2020, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-usps-in-the-1970s-and-1980s/918717/33 "2020-08-24T22:26:56Z")
Puerto Rico uses 2 leading zeros. So do APO/FPO addresses; I know this from my business. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-usps-in-the-1970s-and-1980s/918717/34 "2020-08-25T12:46:32Z")
Interesting my carrier goes back to the street. And while there isn’t a paved path between my house and my neighbor’s, there is a staircase where it is a little steep. We would certainly not mind if the letter carried walked across our lawns. (On the other side there’s a large hedge, which, hmm, I planted when I moved in. But that side you can’t wank from door to door, you need to go to the sidewalk.) ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-usps-in-the-1970s-and-1980s/918717/35 "2020-08-25T12:57:30Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > (On the other side there’s a large hedge, which, hmm, I planted when I moved in. But that side you can’t _wank_ from door to door, you need to go to the sidewalk.) My italics. Wrong kind of “male” man. But thank God for hedges. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2020, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-usps-in-the-1970s-and-1980s/918717/36 "2020-08-25T14:33:24Z")
weird typo, I wonder how I did that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-usps-in-the-1970s-and-1980s/918717.md?page=1)