Trading stamps

[Twitch]

Does anyone remember trading stamps that were given out from businesses based on your purchase amount? In St. Louis we had Eagle Stamps which we mostly got at gas stations. If a station didn't have competitive prices they'd had better have given stamps.

Some food stores gave them. I recall Top Valu in So. California in the late 60s but that was about the end of stamps.

You filled a booklet with the stamps and once full you could redeeem for cash or gift items.

What other trading stamps were there in your regions?

 

[dhermann1]

S & H Green stamps

Good lord, yes. My mother religiously collected her S&H Green stamps, licked them, and stuck them in the little books. The books would have the edges of the stamps straying in all directions, and get fat and bulky. Eventually she had a big pile of them and either go to a store (if I'm remembering correctly) or order from a catalog. The stuff you could get varied from utter junk to not so bad quality. But there were plenty of people around who were not embarrassed to say "Oh, yes, we got that with green stamps." It was as much a part of 1950's life as the regular visit from the Fuller Brush Man.
I've always wondered if the green stamps were an off shoot of War Bond stamps during WW II. People (mostly kids) would buy stamps to put in their little book, and when they had enough they got a war bond.
There were also coupons in cigarette packs. My mother got lots of stuff from her Raleigh coupons. They also, of course, contributed to her death from a heart attack years later.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Our breadbox and canister set, still in use, came from Green Stamps. My sister stole my collection of books and got plastic sewing chests; I have those now. I did the grocery shopping, getting a ride from my brother or dad or mom, so I was the one who collected the stamps when I was growing up. My NRBQ record came from Green Stamps as well as the very cool pole record holder. I put too much pressure on the pole alas and it bent, becoming unusable. I got a lot of other nice stuff from them, probably still have most if not all of it. Folidng chair, transistor radio, many other items. A department store in Buffalo gave them out, not just supermarkets and gas stations as I recall.
My dad had a joke he stole: They're the perfect couple. She collects trading stamps and he pastes them in the book.

 

[Michaelson]

We received Top Value stamps from our local A&P and Ashland Oil gas station. I'm still using a few items that I picked up from our local TV store from back in the 60's.

The store and practice is long gone, but not forgotten.

Regards! Michaelson

 

[LizzieMaine]

We gave away Top Value stamps at the family gas station (remember their mascot, Topsy The Elephant?). I still have a bunch of them stuck to the bottom of my desk drawer, where I stuck them when I was four years old...

My mother was a fiend for Green Stamps -- all the grocery stores gave them out, and a year didn't go by that half our Christmas presents didn't come from the Green Stamp Catalogue. She's still holding onto a pile of half-filled books "in case they come back."

 

[Twitch]

lol It tickles me to know some others remember those wacky stamps too. Guess I shouldn't be surprized though. Oww. That just made me remember the cigarette coupons and the associated catalogs with stuff you could order. I'm sure there were a few who smoked more so they could get a radio.:eusa_doh:

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Sometimes Big Brother is nice.

Now I get cash or gift cards back from using my credit card for things I would buy anyway. I don't like to have a large amount of cash in my house, not in my neighborhood. And of course I shop online. AND I got a package in the mail containing a nice free Quattro razor, since I used a grocery shopper's card when I redeemed manufacturer's coupons for free Quattro razors.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I barely remember the stamps ... but I clearly remember the "Hot Wheels" race car toys that you could buy cheap with a gas purchase.

.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

More buyer incentives.

Oh yeah! Still have mine. And the smoke colored drinking glasses from Mobil. And the towels packed into the laundry detergent boxes. And the radio and headphones I got when buying hair gel the other day.

 

[Flivver]

I remember S&H Green Stamps, Top Value Stamps, and some red stamps I don't know the name of.

The Stop & Shop supermarkets around here gave out the Top Value Stamps. Often, they would have a coupon in the newspaper for 500 extra stamps with a $5 purchase.

I remember sticking the stamps in books and pouring over the catalogs, but I never remember turning in the books for merchandise.

In the sixties, Top Value created large stamps valued at 50 or 100 regular stamps. This made it easier on both the cashier and the customer. Does anyone else remember these?

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Oh, yes. I loved looking at the catalogs, dreaming of having a nice home and husband and children. Gosh, I'm pathetic! lol There were 2 sizes of books, too.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Oh, yes. I loved looking at the catalogs, dreaming of having a nice home and husband and children.

How many books were those? I knew I should've kept saving up...

 

[BegintheBeguine]

I've been weird for a long time now.

lol lol There was an extremely handsome man featured in the Green Stamp catalog in the late 70s. Forget the pasta maker, I want him. And the ottoman.

 

[Twitch]

Oh yes the free glasses from the gas stations! Hey you don't even get free air from the gas station anymore.

 

[Flivver]

I remembered the name of those red stamps...Holden Red Stamps. Does anyone else remember those?

 

[The Wolf]

I think my first bow and arrow set was bought with trading stamps.
I have an L.P. from Mobil or Gulf of Disney songs.
I believe Arco gas stations used to have a platic toy ark you got with a tank fill up, then a different pair of animals each week when you filled the tank.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[Twitch]

Never saw any red stamps flivver. Were those Holdens supermarket or what? So far I know we know-
S&H Green stamps
Top Value (blue)
Eagle stamps (green)

Here are some other s mentioned http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trading_stamp

 

[Flivver]

The Holden Red Stamps were given out by a local supermarket chain called Ralph's. As far as I know, they only had stores in Central Massachusetts.

 

[dostacos]

he had S&H green stamps, blue chip stamps. various types of glasses from the gas stations.

my mom tried to remove broken glass from the plastic shell [the plastic has a basket weave inside] cut the tendon of her finger so she now gives everybody the "bird" did not keep her from hitting a hole in one though. She still has the matching plastic coffee cups, and so did my mother in law