S & H Stamps

Here is the answer why they stopped using these stamps.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trading_stamp

They say better then I could.

After stamps do you all remember the gas stations give always a free glass here or a free plate there and they came in colors of red, green, blue and gold(yellow) glass. My mother collected a whole set. It is in the cupboard and was treated like fine china and never used. After Ma died I used one glass as a candle holder one power outage. It looked nice being green and the flickering light showing through, picture a wine glass, long stem with green glass. Mom would have killed me!

I, too, remember putting these in books, with my mom, and sister, when I was growing up. I also collected Mallow Cup cards.

Somewhere around here I have a sheet of S&H stamps which somehow I was able to date to 1919 or 1916 or something like that. It seems to me that they have an inscription printed on the gum side (prior to gumming) but I don't recall it for sure. If I find it I will post a scan of both sides.

I remember going with my mom to get a Zebco rod and reel combo, still have the thing.

It wasn't until I collected stamps, that I understood one of the lines of a Pat Boone pop tune hit.........."Speedy Gonzales"

Mmm, Speedy Gonzales (Speedy Gonzales)
why don't you come home?
Speedy Gonzales (Speedy Gonzales)
how come you leave me all alone?

"Hey! , Rosita, come quick!
Down at the cantina, they're giving green stamps with Tequila!"

La, la la la la la la la la, la la la la la la la la, la la la la la la
la la
La la la la, la la la la la la la la, la la la la la la la la, la la la
la la la la la.

I grew up in Chicago during the "resurgence" period the wikipedia article mentioned.

We would get the stamps at the A&P grocery store. When A&P left the Chicago market, the S&H green stamps dried up fast.

We would redeem them at the an S&H distribution which looked like a small Service Merchandise type store.

I also grew up got older in Chicago a tad before the resurgence and remember coming home from the store and myself and my sister got to put the green stamps in their books. I would get pissed at my sister because she always put them all in crooked while mine resembled a factory booklet.
Even when the parents spent enough to get a sheet or 2 we would tear them apart 1 by 1 so it took longer to place them in their books.

I remember this part of my childhood fondly. I can remember going with my grandmother to the redemption center right in the middle of Silver Spring, MD. I bet if I dug hard enough thru my moms house I could come up with a few Green stamps. Licked thousands of them with my brother.

My mom got me my first Rawlings baseball glove with Green Stamps!
Ray

My mom collected Blue Chip stamps. I also remember getting a baseball mitt with the redemption (probably around 1962).

I remember S&H Green Stamps; I remember Top Value Stamps (same principle as Green Stamps); I remember gas stations giving away glassware sets with purchases; I remember grocers giving away certain pieces of china or stoneware plate/cups/ saucers and selling you the "completer" pieces to have whole matching set....pots and pans too. I also spent plenty of time sticking the stamps in books for my Mom when I was young......... I've got some Green Stamps and Top Value stamps around somewhere that came with collections over time. Brings back memories of my Mom and going to the redemption store to pick out items...don't think Mom ever actually purchased a toaster any other way...

My mom and grandma saved Blue Chip stamps, and I remember the local redemption center closing in the early '80s (certainly no later than 1984, when I went off to college).

Rich60, we must have gone to the same Green Stamp Redemption Center in Silver Springs (I lived in the Glenmont area at that time). It was fun to lick all those stamps and place them on the pages of each book. That's about the time I started stamp collecting too!

Al E. Gator, I think I recall the Top Value Stamps too. Weren't they a gold color?

While we're waxing nostalgic here I too remember the local Shell station giving glasses out. We had those 'Pepe Le Pew' and 'Sylvester the Cat' glasses forever!

Yes, Top Value stamps were yellow with red printing. I grew up in Oklahoma and the glasses, tray and Pitcher being given away were representative of the Native American tribes in Oklahoma. Very popular--can still find them popping up in antique stores from time to time.