The olden days - grocery store edition

[susandennis]

machupicchu  reminded me, once again, of times gone by when he was astounded to hear me describe grocery store giveaways. I honestly don't think he even really believed me.

Grocery store rewards cards are the children and grandchildren of plates and forks and stamps. There were not a lot of big chains. The Piggly Wiggly and the Food Marts of the day were one, maybe two stores or a handful in the region. They rewarded customers with dishes and silverware.

They had whole sets of dishes and silverware laid out and labeled with miraculously low prices plus you could only buy them as rewards. If you bought $x of groceries then you could buy a plate or a cup at that low low price. If you shopped there every week for a year you could get the whole set. It was what every housewife wanted according to the sign and the ads.

But the big chains - the A&Ps and Winn Dixies gave away S&H Green Stamps. You paid your money and then the cashier got your change from the drawer, your receipt from one machine and your green stamps from another and off you went.

At our house they were obsessively collected and turned into a paying chore. We had chores (make your bed, clean your room) and we had paying chores (sweep the porch, glue in green stamps). I hated the green stamps even for money. They tasted horrible (and I never thought to do the sponge deal). Plus my Mom was anal about their having to be placed in the book perfectly.

"Do you want those people at the green stamp store to know we are not smart enough to follow the lines??"

Yes, there was a green stamp store. You paid in books of green stamps. We bought our blender there.

I'm sure the internet is full of proof that all this happened. I plugged "S&H Green Stamps" into Google images and found tons of images.

Oh and one brand of detergent came with a towel in the box! A bath towel! My sister pulled it out in the middle of the kitchen one time and got in big trouble for getting detergent all over the floor.

I love that I was there and saw it all and I love that I am not now.

Comments

[rosehiptea.livejournal.com]

I remember green stamps. We used to collect them but not with quite the same enthusiasm and I'm not sure we ever got anything for them.

(Rewards cards are much simpler!)

[loganberrybunny.livejournal.com]

Oh, I (just) remember those things! They were called Green Shield Stamps (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Shield_Stamps) in the UK, but the basic idea was much the same. Some of the supermarkets had their own versions, but Green Shield Stamps were by far the best known.

[behrndahl.livejournal.com]

From what I remember as a child, the "bath towel" in the box of detergent was approximately the size and density of a kitchen towel.
I, also, spent countless hours licking S&H green stamps, and lining them up neatly in the books - yuck!! We did redeem them for quite a lot of stuff, mostly small appliances.

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

and I love that I am not now.

This. Yes.

S & H Stamp Wine Glasses

[(Anonymous)]

Interesting that you still have the wine glasses. I have a full sets of wine goblets, champaign glasses. I broke one and want to find a replacement of the wine goblet only because I got the sets when I was 18 years old. I am 61 years old now. Think they are classics now? Lol.

[letmesaythis.livejournal.com]

Ah, the good old days...I wouldn't wish to go back there either!

[howeird]

My mom collected them. I don't remember a green stamps store, just remember redeeming them at the grocery store and maybe the drug store. I think everything cost at least 12 million stamps. When me or my younger sister pasted in the stamps, there was little evidence that there might be straight lines beneath them.

The towel in the detergent box bit me at least once. :-( But it wasn't bought with green stamps, I don't think.

My dad liked them because they showed us kids the concept of saving. He actually used them as a way to encourage us to put money in our savings accounts.

[susandennis]

I think everything cost at least 12 million stamps.

YES! oh yes - I'd forgotten this tidbit.

[rejectomorph]

S&H still operates on the Internets as Greenpoints. I remember both Green Stamps and their rival, Blue Chip Stamps. Big chain stores were more likely to give out Green Stamps, but Blue Chip Stamps were more popular with small neighborhood retailers such as the corner grocery store in my old neighborhood. I licked an awful lot of both kinds of stamps as a kid, but I can't remember any of the things my mom got with them. I doubt any of them were worth the tongue abuse I suffered, though.

Blue Chip got swallowed by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in the 1980s. I don't think they operate any sort of stamp-like programs anymore, but they got into retailing themselves when they bought control of See's Candy Shops, and they also had a financial services and investment company as a subsidiary.

The good thing about S&H Greenpoints is that, being virtual, they don't have to be licked, but all in all I'd rather lick some See's candy than collect Greenpoints.

plaid stamps

[henare.livejournal.com]

we had plaid stamps growing up (we heard about s&h green stamps on tv, but nobody in the bronx seemed interested). mostly good for small kitchen appliances and toys.

[davmoo.livejournal.com]

My favorite fishing pole is one that I got with Green Stamps :)

[earthmother45.livejournal.com]

Oh, my! I'm just trying to catch up with my reading and I'm so glad I did! What a blast from the past! My mom saved S&H and I saved S&H until they didn't offer them anymore. When I got married, we didn't have much money and my mom started giving me her stamp books, too, so we could get some things! I got so much stuff and some of it I still have today. Also, the Plaid Stamps. If I'm remembering them right, they were yellow with red criss cross lines on them, but their stuff wasn't as nice as S&H, I didn't think. Also, I remember we got so many sets of glasses in the detergent boxes, too, besides all the towels. The glasses were gray smoky color and what a wide variety. My mom was ever for the bargain and I think we ended up with about 100 glasses before they stopped offering them.

What a wonderful post this is. I love that you're here and one of my friends!

[susandennis]

100 glasses??!! Most impressive!!

I'm glad to be here and have you as a friend, too!!

[mhaithaca.livejournal.com]

My mom actually worked for S&H back in the day, in the corporate office rather than in one of the redemption centers. I guess it must've been before we were born, though I'm also old enough to remember the stamps themselves.

[susandennis]

That is wild about your Mom actually working there. very cool.

[machupicchu.livejournal.com]

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Of course I believed you! I think I probably just thought it sounded really odd. I can barely remember this conversation now, actually.

I'd like to say I look forward to being able to tell amazing stories like this to younger people when I'm in my sixties. Except I can't remember shit. :(
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