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== History ==
=== Early postal zones ===
[[File:UseZipCode.JPG|thumb|A 1963 U.S. Post Office sign featuring [[Mr. ZIP]]]]
[[File:Stamps USA, Markenheft IMG 1699.JPG|thumb|A [[Label (philately)|label]] inside a [[Postage stamp booklet|stamp booklet]] promoting the ZIP Code]]
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The "16" is the number of the postal zone in a specific city.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/04/the-bounty-zip-codes-brought-america/275233/|title=The Bounty ZIP Codes Brought America|last=Chokshi|first=Niraj|date=April 23, 2013|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-12|quote=...Postmaster General Edward Day in the early 1960s suggested combining Moon's three-digit code with the existing two-digit system.|archive-date=October 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026095632/https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/04/the-bounty-zip-codes-brought-america/275233/|url-status=live}}</ref>
=== Establishment ===
By the early 1960s, a more organized system was needed, and non-mandatory five-digit ZIP Codes were introduced nationwide on July 1, 1963. The USPOD issued its ''Publication 59: Abbreviations for Use with ZIP Code'' on October 1, 1963, with the list of [[List of U.S. state abbreviations|two-letter state abbreviations]] which are generally written with both letters capitalized.<ref name=USPS>[https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/state-abbreviations.pdf "State Abbreviations", USPS.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116005935/http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/state-abbreviations.pdf |date=2017-01-16 }}.</ref> An earlier list, publicized in June 1963, had proposed capitalized abbreviations ranging from two to five letters.<ref name=USPS/> According to ''Publication 59'', the two-letter standard was "based on a maximum 23-position line, because this has been found to be the most universally acceptable line capacity basis for major addressing systems",<ref name=USPS/> which would be exceeded by a long city name combined with a multi-letter state abbreviation, such as "Sacramento, Calif." along with the ZIP Code. The abbreviations have remained unchanged, with the exception of [[Nebraska]], which was changed from NB to NE in 1969 at the request of the [[Canada Post|Canadian Post Office Department]], to avoid confusion with [[New Brunswick]].<ref name=USPS/>
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