Remember those old green stamps your mother got when she bought groceries? Well, if you find any tucked away they are still good.
For those of you who have NO idea what on earth I'm talking about here is where you can find out what they were about. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S&H_Green_Stamps I know my mother in law helped me out with some books when I needed things for the kids. She was good that way. I saved them, too, but our stamp collection wasn't as much. I loved it when I'd get a bunch of stamps and could put them in the little books. It was really a feeling of accomplishment and it was one way of having a bit of disposable cash for myself.
The stamps are called Green Points now and here is the place to convert your stamps to points.
http://www.greenpoints.com/account/act_default.asp I'm not sure they are worth all that much. I just looked at the catalogue and a $10 card to Panera's is 11,000 green points. However, that is more than they would bring you laying about in a drawer. Here is the link to the catalogue http://www.greenpoints.com/catalog/cat_use.asp
Maybe they are making a comeback because of the economy...maybe just nostalgia. They were a big deal in my home sort of like getting something from Montgomery Wards in the bargain room. When we were in Boston and hubby was in meetings all day I went shopping. Filene's basement was still there then and it was pretty cool. I bought an art deco picture frame for a picture of my hubby when he was a child sitting on the paint shetland pony that I think was in everyone's picture during that time period.
I had not thought about green stamps for years. My mother used to love getting them when we were kids. She would save up until she had a big bunch of books and then go on a shopping spree at the store where you cashed them in. I can remember coming home with the car stashed full of stuff. It was like Christmas! Thanks for the memories.
ReplyDeleteI remember my friends and family helped me gather up enough books of stamps to buy Joshua's bassinet, gosh that was 30 years ago!!! Good to see you back..:)
ReplyDeleteI was so surprised to see that the stamps had come back...I wonder if they have been good all along? I'm sure I threw some out ages ago.
ReplyDeleteI remember my mother ALWAYS had green stamps! I think I had them myself for awhile too when I first moved out on my own. I seem to remember collecting and redeeming for a spice rack... I'd be really surprised to see actual STAMPS come back -- everything is VIRTUAL now days!
ReplyDeleteMy mother loved S&H Green Stamps. She saved till Christmas and usually exchanged for a family item, or occasionally her birthday, which was Dec. 24.
ReplyDeleteI didn't clean out the house when we sold it. I bet somebody found some unused ones.
We actually saved them at home and after I got married and bought some nice stuff with them. Later, when I lost my job at NCR corp, I went to work for Pinkerton's National detective agency and worked undercover at the local Green Stamp catalog warehouse where mailed in books were converted to catalog merchandise. And what an operation there was at that place. Some little old ladies, with big purses, were making a killing off Green Stamp catalogs turned in for merchandise. They picked them out of the trash barrel, stuffed them in their big purses and went to stores and got new blank catalogs, took the staples out of the cover and restapled the new cover on old books and turned them in again for more merchandise. They did this by the truck load (almost) and just about broke the Green Stamp business. I was sent in there, undercover, to find out who was stealing what.
ReplyDeletePick a Peck of Pixels
I remember my mom collecting and redeeming all sorts of coupons and probably these stamps too. It was necessary to make the money stretch in those days. My parents did not believe in credit, and it was just one policy among many that ultimately meant a secure retirement for them. Abe's perspective is pretty interesting. I had never considered that people would actually participate in such a scheme--and little old ladies at that!
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