When She’s Collecting S&H Green Stamps, of course!
You didn’t live through the 60’s without being intimate with Green Stamps. Though they were hardly a new ‘thang’, grocery stores/supermarkets (even gas stations!) used Green Stamps as promotional items to get women in the door.
“In the beginning”……………..a separate dispenser sat on top of the cash register. No electronic scanning, Cashiers rang everything manually one digit at a time into the register. (I will add here that my aunts’ department store in coal regions had cashiers using an adding machine to calculate a tape, then open the drawer to give change) When completed, cashiers used the stamp dispenser–three dials, smallest was 1’s, next was 10’s, next 100’s. They dialed the number like using a telephone dial. So, $23 would be a 2 on the tens dial and 3 on the ones dial. Push a button and the stamps spit out with the register tape. As prices went up, it became silly to get 23 single stamps. So they started spitting out larger stamps (equivalent to 10) and bigger ones (equivalent to 50).
Stamp books sat by the exit door in a little metal stand. Sometimes catalogs were there as well. You could never have enough stamp books! My mom had piles of the stamps in a bedroom drawer and plenty more deep within 7 or 8 purses. So I was off to the races. 50 single stamps per page. Then the books started having a space in the middle for 5 10-stamps or one 50-stamp.
Now, I know the stamp company had a reputation for cheap items, but it depended what you redeemed the stamps for. I would guess that getting a living room lamp or a pair of work boots might be questionable. But we had some stuff that lasted for years–a small desk lamp, a blender, a large steel bottle/can opener that hung above the sink, even a set of dishrags. You’d never have Home and Gardens magazine drooling over the stuff, but hell–it worked.
Time passed, even in the swinging sixties. Stores offered sales featuring ‘double green stamps’ on some items, like produce. Or double stamps over a holiday weekend. This mutated into triple stamps, like ‘any orders over $50 receives triple green stamps.’ They knew a good marketing tool when they saw it.
The redemption center was a 20-minute drive in an area that got a little off-balance at night. You bring in books and the catalog, fill out a form, then have everything checked and verified by the helpful ladies–some even gave you extra stamps if you were short a few on page 12. Wait by the conveyor and presto! Free stuff! Occasionally something was out of stock, so you got a receipt and your phone rang (no internet/email!) usually in a week to come pick it up.
I have fond memories of frenzied after school licking and finding stamps strewn in mom’s chest of drawers and dumping purses, looking for just that little bit more to finish a page. And the best part? These things tasted good!! Sweet and gentle, like a splash of sugar in your tea. Just call me ‘Have Tongue, Will Travel.’ After a long dry spell, I’d be Jones-ing for stamps.
But let me pause to own up……….even my tongue had its limits, and I’m not talking about high school french kissing. As Mick said, “I’m off my head and my mouth’s getting dry.” I think someone called it ‘cotton mouth.’ I didn’t have a spec of spit left in my drought-ravaged mouth. So, off to the kitchen, grab a dish sponge and a bowl.
I’m sure I got things from the stamps, probably bathtub toys. Mom probably used them most for those small gifts you’d give acquaintances at Christmas time.
Aw, sing it, David!