ZIP Codes!
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What is the purpose of ZIP codes?
This is Planet Money from NPR.
The other day, I went out into New York City with a mission. I wanted to travel the length of one entire zip code as fast as I could. Start the timer.
Okay. Three. Two.
Two, one, start. I got into an elevator with one of our producers, Willa, to start our journey from the bottom to the top of the Empire State Building. All right, we're passing through a hallway. Go, go, go. We had to run through a couple of hallways, take four separate elevators. And along the way, we passed by every single address ending in the numbers 10118. Because this building, like other big buildings around the city and the country, it has its own zip code. Another elevator bank.
Welcome to the 86th floor observation deck.
My ears just popped.
Finally, we made it to the top, the 102nd floor. Gorgeous views of New York City all around us. Willa, how long did it take?
It took exactly three minutes and 40 seconds.
I ended up on this little mission because I had gotten curious about the zip code. It pops up all over our daily lives. Like you type it into the machine at the gas station to verify your credit card. You might type it into a rental search website if you're looking for a new apartment. I actually found a report saying that back in 2013, the zip code contributed about $10 billion a year to the U.S.
How did ZIP codes originate?
economy. And as I have learned more about the world of the zip code, I've come to feel that it is less like a cold, clinical, ordered list of numbers and more like a kind of weird, overgrown number garden. full of all these odd, surprising things, like a skyscraper with its own zip code. A couple more. The zip codes do not start at 00000. The lowest is actually 00501, which directs mail only to the IRS in Holtzville, New York. The president apparently has his own secret zip code. I, of course, don't know what it is, and the White House declined to elaborate. Santa and Smokey Bear also have their own zip codes to deal with all the mail that they get from children. And, and, there is a zip code in Michigan that is actually three boats?
The J.W. Westcott II, that is the boat that is, I guess you might say, the iconic piece that's known worldwide. It's a great handling boat. It's a single screw, diesel driven, and made for the trade.
The trade of delivering mail. That is Jim Hogan of the J.W. Westcott Company. They deliver mail via boat to commercial boats near the port of Detroit. Jim is the fourth generation in his family to do this. He told me back in the day, some of the letters they delivered were more than strictly business letters.
A lot of the first class letters, if they were going to guys aboard the boats, would certainly have some of them be scented with perfume and things of this nature.
You're saying love letters in the old days.
Love letters right there.
There you go.
Yeah, we don't see so much of that anymore, you know, with iPhones and Android and this and the other thing with email.
What are the unique features of ZIP codes?
They're texting with their loves on shore, but they're like getting like a toothbrush delivered from CVS or Amazon or whatever. Yeah. Yes.
I got to say. It is amazing to me that packages are successfully being delivered to people aboard boats. Jim's mailboats, as I have mentioned, have their own zip code, 48222. He told me that zip code is crucial to his business, but he's never really thought about where it came from.
As the population grew, there needed to be a more streamlined system. And I'm basically surmising here because I've never thought about really looking into it.
Well, I got to tell you, Jim, I'm going to find out. So, you know, I'll report back.
I really hope you do.
Hello and welcome to Planet Money. I'm Sally Helm. Today, we turn our attention towards the humble zip code. Why was it born? How has it changed the male? How has it changed the broader world? And has it gone too far? The zip code has its origins in a moment of crisis, World War II. I heard about this from Lynn Heidelbaugh. She's a curator at the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the purpose of ZIP codes?
0:01–1:44
2
How did ZIP codes originate?
1:44–3:37
3
What are the unique features of ZIP codes?
3:37–8:46
4
How did Mr. Zip promote the use of ZIP codes?
8:46
5
What challenges did ZIP codes face during their introduction?
6:32–10:24
6
How have ZIP codes evolved over time?
10:24–28:05