The Postal Shift of 1963: How Michigan Got Its ‘MI’ Abbreviation

In the spirit of the topic, I'll keep this brief. Its current abbreviation, MI, hasn't always referred to Michigan. Like all things Mitten State it was earned, not on a battlefield, but in a room full of United States Postal Service employees. The abbreviated fate of every state would be decided in that room in 1963.

Before that meeting, Michigan had gone by a few shorthands. The state was included on the Post Office Departments' first list of preferred abbreviations in 1831 updated in 1874 and 1943. Abbreviations were actually discouraged as people were prodded to write the state's full name until 1963 when envelope real estate was at a premium.

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The 5-digit ZIP Code was rolled out in '63, which meant mailing label space had additional numbers to add to the address, 2 letter state abbreviations would become the new standard.

They didn't even need to get to the Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Missouri conflict before the A's put a hurting to the abbreviation ease. Alabama, easy AL. Next up, Alaska, crap...Gary Gulman, a brilliant stand-up comedian, tackled this very topic on Conan.

I said I'd keep this story about abbreviations short. Once you see the chart below, realize that this list was obviously tackled in alphabetical order, and then attempt to apply a logic that can only come from a room full of bureaucrats, you can plainly see how Michigan ended up with MI:

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Postal abbreviations for states/territories

Sources: 1831, Table of Post Offices in the United States; 1874 and 1943, United States Official Postal Guide; June 1963, Postal Bulletin 20368; Oct. 1963, Post Office Department Publication 59, Abbreviations for Use with ZIP Code.

Michigan's first abbreviation 'Mic T', stood for Michigan Territory. At the time, all United States Territory's shorthand ended with a T.