RETURN TO SENDER • 1962

A look at the lyrics for “Return to Sender” reveals some forgotten history about the U.S. Postal Service: When the letter referenced in the song is returned in the mail, it’s marked “Return to sender” and stamped “No such number, no such zone.” What’s a “zone”? It’s the precursor to a ZIP code, a system instituted in 1963, one year after the song came out. (ZIP stands for zone improvement plan.) The lyrics were inspired by an errant letter, which contained a demo, sent by the song’s ÜÀĶÌiÀÃ] "ÌĶà Ń>VłÜiŃŃ >OE` 7ĶOEwiŃ` Scott. Thirty years after ZIP codes were introduced, the postal service issued a commemorative Elvis stamp.