Is He Still In The Army?

I just received this, and thought it was a very appropriate stamp. Look at the return address! (Apologies to Mr. Bailey, but I am sure he has heard this already!)

Nice one!

A curious question on the postal markings, though. At the bottom is what I assume is the 9-digit zip code for the addressee, I note they used a "$" character between the five digit zip code and the remaining digits in the Zip+4. Is this a usual occurrence? (Maybe it has to do with characters recognizable by the sorting machines?) Anyone known for sure?

I believe that Beetle is indeed still in the Army.

Mort Walker is retired now and his son creates the new strips, but I think Mort's name is still on the strip as author/creator.

Kirk

In an impromptu desktop poll, out of 14 US covers on my desk, 7 have a plus sign "+" in this position, 4 have the dollar sign "$", all First Class with stamps.

The remainder have (1) a barcode label (1st Class w/ stamps oversize) and 2 have nothing (1 presorted 1st Class, and 1 non-profit permit this from the APS)

These are just the stamped covers I have on my desk. I don't have any metered or permit-stamp mail available, though these may not go through the same sorting process.

If Beetle Bailey was 18 yrs old when he "joined the Army" (i.e. when the strip began), he would be 78 years old today.

smauggie: He should have made Corporal by now

I hear he made Acting Lance-corporal.

Nice Cover!


More likely Temporary Acting lance Corporal.
david