Green stamps

“I told my friends that we used to get food stamps,” my daughter casually mentioned as we worked together on a project last month.
“You what? We never received food stamps.” I put down my work and stared at her.
“Well what were all those books of stamps you used to have?”
“I think what you are talking about are the bundles of books of Green Stamps I used to find at garage sales for a few coins. I would buy them and send them off to a place that used them to buy Bibles.”
“What are Green Stamps?”
I stared at her, this child of the 80’s who did not know about Green Stamps that were a household item for every child of the 60’s.
My mother received sheets and strips of green stamps every time she shopped at her favorite grocery store. Each stamp represented a specific amount of money she had spent. I think one stamp equaled 10 cents in purchases. Mom tucked them into a cubby hole of her desk until she had time to lick’em and stick’em in the blank pages of her wallet-sized Green Stamp books.
She took the filled books of Green Stamps to another store – called a redemption center – and used them to purchase items for the home such as a four slice toaster, new linens for the beds, knick knacks, dishes, toys and tools.
Sometimes community organizations joined forces and green stamps to purchase unusual items such as new play ground equipment or a bus. Children in Erie, Penn. assimilated 5.4 million Green Stamps to purchase a pair of gorillas for their zoo. Several other companies issued orange, blue or plaid, redeemable stamps to promote store loyalty, but S&H Green Stamps (The Sperry & Hutchinson Company, Inc.) dominated the field. In the 1960’s the company boasted that they printed three times as many stamps as the U.S. Post Office and enough catalogs of redeemable items to circle the world a time and a half.
As inflation crept in and the price of goods moved up, S&H Green Stamps issued big stamps equivalent to 10, 50 or 100 of the small green stamps.
The recession of the 70’s pinched in hard on store loyalty versus discount prices. Inflation slowly pushed out awards for shopping such as S&H Green Stamps. Gas stations converted from service with a smile and Green Stamps to self service at the discount pump. S&H Green Stamps and the other premium stamp programs faded and disappeared across the country. Redemption centers closed. The catalogs became hard to find and finally non-existent. By the 1980’s folks cleared them out of drawers, bundled them up and sold them for a quarter or two at their garage sales.
By the late 1980’s I quit finding orange, blue, plaid, or even Green Stamps at garage sales. Although many probably ended up in the trash, the stamps still retain a monetary value of 1,200 stamps for $1.20.
My children grew up ignorant of licking and sticking up a book of stamps. Nostalgic persons can purchase a few books or old catalogs on E-bay – but I won’t, because my grandchildren might see a revival of the S&H company. The great-grandson of the originator of S&H Green Stamps purchased the company in the 1999, decorated headquarters with Green Stamp memorabilia and revamped the whole program for the digital age as Green Points. No more lick-em and stick-em, just slide the plastic card and add up the points.
After Sept. 11, 2001, Green Point collectors donated over 3 million green points in two days through the company’s link to the United Way’s September 11 Fund.
On less dramatic days, Green Point collectors can purchase household appliances, linens, toys or negotiate for a bigger purchase. If you don’t want a gorilla, perhaps you would settle for a few exotic food stamps?