Lickin' 'o the Greenby Eva Pasco 
Though there will
always be spills in "Aisle 2" of our nation's supermarkets, B.B.
King's '69 song title spills all: The Thrill is
Gone...the thrill of collecting and hording
S&H Green Stamps. My
mother collected Plaid and King Korn stamps too, from markets
now defunt--Almacs, A&P, Great Scott, and Big G-- but
'twas streamers 'o the green that stuffed our cookie
jar.
Sperry&Hutchinson, distributor of S&H Green Stamps, was
by far the most popular, and actually began offering their stickies
to retailers since 1896. Supermarkets gave out green stamps
as bonuses with every purchase based on the amount you spent
at the checkout. You pasted them inside a book or
several, and brought these to an S&H redemption center.
Oftentimes after a grocery shopping spree ferried in a bat-winged
Impala driven by my aunt, my sister and I would lick the stamps
and paste them inside a book for that coveted day of
reckoning and redemption. A-a-a-h, so many
choices...so few stamps: bedspreads, clocks,
toasters--you name it--even life insurance policies could be had
with the green!
Sperry&Hutchinson hit their stride in the 60s, printing
three times as many stamps as the US Postal Service. It's
catalog was probably the largest single publication in the
country. Alas, stamp programs faded during the recession of
the 70s. S&H was sold by the founders' successors in
1981, then purchased for a holding firm by a member of the Sperry
family in 1991. Stores offering green stamps have dwindled
considerably, though I understand one may acquire "greenpoints"
through online purchases.
As if Green Stamps
didn't make grocery shopping in the 60s thrilling enough...I
recall the boxed powdered dish detergents offering
hidden treasures inside: fine china; silverware; pink and
blue Melmac cups and saucers. I can't forget those
reusable Howdy Doody jelly jars for drinking glasses either.
There may be spills and frills in the aisles today, but nothing can
surpass the fanfare of supermarkets during the sixties.
The Thrill is Gone...
|
.jpg "The 60s - Carl - 1968 - Vietnam")
