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From: mink@cfa.UUCP (Doug Mink)
Newsgroups: net.bizarre
Subject: Re: Those little colored stickers on mail
Message-ID: <142@cfa.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 25-Jul-85 21:58:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: cfa.142
Posted: Thu Jul 25 21:58:00 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 28-Jul-85 08:13:04 EDT
References: <151@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Distribution: net
Organization: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Lines: 18


> Those little stickers of various colors, shapes, and imprints that the
> USPS plasters on your junk mail and magazines always seemed pretty
> bizarre to me. I know they relate to sorting, and to the Sectional
> Center Facilities, in some way. Any ex-postalpersons out there who want
> to take a stab at explaining the arcane code and meaning behind them?

I'm not an ex-postal person, but I've used the stickers for bulk mailing
to save postage on a newsletter I work on.  They indicate presorted
groups of 10 or more pieces banded together:
	D (direct) indicates a single zip code,
	C (city) indicates the same city,
	3 (first 3 digits same) indicates the same regional sorting center,
	S (state) indicates the same state.

There may be more, but those are the ones I know.

			-Doug Mink