The History of Postal Codes

It's quite obvious how the postal code system first started out. When the mail system was first established, it quickly became the primary mode of long distance communication of its time. People sent mail to each other on a regular basis. And soon enough, they were sending mails and packages across countries and borders. The people at the post offices then realized they needed to come up with a more efficient way to deal with the ever-growing number of mails that pass through their offices each day. They needed to come up with something good, and they needed it fast

Luckily, the Germans found the secret solution when they invented the postal code and the postal code system.

The postal code is a standardized series of numbers and/or letters written along with the postal address for the essential purpose of efficient sorting of mail. Other accepted interchangeable terms include ZIP code, postcode, or post code.

So with this new system, sorting is made much more easier at the post offices, with mail sorters only needing to look for the numbers to identify which mail goes to which town, county, city, and etc.

The Germans polished and implemented the postal code system in 1941. Roughly 18 years later the British followed suit, implementing their own similar postal code system within the United Kingdom in 1959. And lastly, the Americans started using it too in 1963 after they saw how successful and efficient the system was in Germany and the UK.

Today, more than 117 countries have established their own version of the original German postal code system. It's only a matter of time before the practice spreads throughout the rest of the world.