What's on your card?

There's data encoded in your Social Security number! (not a lot, but some).
You can tell in what state the card was issued:

"The first three (3) digits of a person's social security number are determined by the ZIP Code of the mailing address shown on the application for a social security number. Prior to 1973, social security numbers were assigned by field offices. The number merely established that his/her card was issued by one of the offices in that State."

Social Security Number Allocations

If you're an employer, you can verify if the number is valid:
Social Security Number Verification
(There are three types of cards)

Here are some stories about Social Security :

" The most misused SSN of all time was (078-05-1120). In 1938, wallet manufacturer the E. H. Ferree company in Lockport, New York decided to promote its product by showing how a Social Security card would fit into its wallets. A sample card, used for display purposes, was inserted in each wallet. Company Vice President and Treasurer Douglas Patterson thought it would be a clever idea to use the actual SSN of his secretary, Mrs. Hilda Schrader Whitcher.



The wallet was sold by Woolworth stores and other department stores all over the country. Even though the card was only half the size of a real card, was printed all in red, and had the word "specimen" written across the face, many purchasers of the wallet adopted the SSN as their own. In the peak year of 1943, 5,755 people were using Hilda's number. SSA acted to eliminate the problem by voiding the number and publicizing that it was incorrect to use it. (Mrs. Whitcher was given a new number.) However, the number continued to be used for many years. In all, over 40,000 people reported this as their SSN. As late as 1977, 12 people were found to still be using the SSN "issued by Woolworth."

History

Other things on the site include:

Slider puzzles
(Including such luminaries as: Otto von Bismarck, Frances Perkins, and Arthur Altmeyer )

Both Nixon and LBJ recorded conversations in their offices. The SSA has some of them you can listen to about SS matters:
LBJ and Nixon tapes

Social Security Number

[Edited entry from 6/1/2005]



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