https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/ca7de142-0a40-472d-8560-b6291fdbdf8e Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCddem5RlB3bQe99wyY49g0g/join Help us preserve, scan and post more rare and endangered films! Join us on Patreon. Visit https://www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Visit our website www.PeriscopeFilm.com This wonderful 1960s musical film by Lee Rothberg Productions, Inc. for the U.S. Post Office Department highlights the importance of the postal system, particularly the role of ZIP codes in improving mail delivery. It uses music from The Swingin’ Six, an American folk group, to discuss the challenges faced by the postal service due to increasing mail volume, traces the history of communication methods, and explains how the ZIP code system simplifies sorting and delivery. Zip codes were first introduced in the United States in 1963. The Swingin' Six was actually a real band - with a 1967 album called "For the First Time" released by Decca. The group consisted of: Steve Burnett - vocals, banjo, guitar, John Fisher - vocals, guitar, Pat Lanigan - vocals, guitar, Richard Neives - vocals, guitar, bass, flute, Ann Rachel - vocals, Carol Richards - vocals. The film starts on an American flag background, with the first song from 0:34-1:50 acknowledging the postal system's challenges with increased mail volume and need for solutions. The group is composed of 4 men, (two on guitar) with two female singers. Three men next to a red U.S. postal mailbox (1:22). Starting at 1:56, the film provides historical context on communication methods and the evolution of mail delivery leading to a mail explosion by 1948. Cavemen hit each other with sticks (2:00). A man with a torch (2:35) represents ancient civilizations; a series of black-and-white drawings shows communication development with mail, wagons, and ships (3:17). At 3:26, paintings of mail on horseback and westward expansion. Black-and-white footage of post office workers (3:51) and stagecoaches. Bunches of letters and packages representing increased mail volume after World War I (4:12). A patchwork plaid map of the United States (4:46); the words “Zip Code” appear in red. At 4:56, the film explains the ZIP code system, detailing how it simplifies mail sorting and delivery by using five digits to designate location. At 5:14, the Swingin’ 6, wearing numbers, launch into another song explaining how ZIP codes function. From 7:00 to 9:30, a Valentine’s Day story using a heart and arrow between a boy and a girl near Frisco Bay shows how zip codes allow mail to move efficiently in a straight line between post offices. At 9:45, the Swingin’ 6 act out the “Dead Letter Office,” and the film discusses common issues in mail delivery due to illegible handwriting and the benefit of ZIP codes in reducing errors. One of the performers next to an Egyptian Hieroglyphic Alphabet poster (9:48); another, dressed as a nurse, examines a letter with a magnifying glass. The women hold up cards showing the different states with a city named Springfield in the U.S. (11:23). At 12:02, the film emphasizes the ZIP code system’s success, its adoption internationally, and a call to action for everyone to use it for efficient mail service. Automated postal technology, such as a zip code scanner (12:06); a “Zip Code Belongs in Every Address” poster (12:17). Post Office Department United States of America seal (12:22). The U.S. Postmaster General from 1965-1968, Lawrence F. O’Brien, speaks at 12:29. A postal Zip Code Directory from Boston, Massachusetts (13:03). At 13:09, the film concludes with a final song reiterating the importance of ZIP codes and encouraging the audience to adopt them, featuring a cartoon man, Mr. Zip (13:57). Credits: Produced and directed by Lee Rothberg; Performed by The Swingin’ Six; Music and Lyrics by Steve Burnett; Script Irve Tunick; Narration Lee Stevens; Editorial Syncrofilm; Animation Coastal Film Service; Executive Producer Ben Gradus. Motion picture films don't last forever; many have already been lost or destroyed. For almost two decades, we've worked to collect, scan and preserve the world as it was captured on 35mm, 16mm and 8mm movies -- including home movies, industrial films, and other non-fiction. If you have endangered films you'd like to have scanned, or wish to donate celluloid to Periscope Film so that we can share them with the world, we'd love to hear from you. Contact us via the weblink below. This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vweQrjtAg0U Mirrored from Periscope Film (https://www.youtube.com/@PeriscopeFilm) Sat, 13 Jun 2026 13:19:14 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://peertube.dngr.us https://peertube.dngr.us/lazy-static/avatars/41a6fee9-7f57-42d0-a5fc-5db4f1af2e31.png https://peertube.dngr.us/videos/watch/ca7de142-0a40-472d-8560-b6291fdbdf8e All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://peertube.dngr.us/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.