Origins: Green Stamps

Green Stamps, formally known as S&H Green Stamps, were a form of trading stamps first issued in 1896 by the Sperry & Hutchinson company in the United States. The concept was created by Thomas Sperry and Shelley Byron Hutchinson, who wanted to develop a customer loyalty program that would encourage repeat business among consumers and provide a competitive edge to merchants.

The basic idea was simple but highly effective for its time: shoppers received stamps when they made purchases at participating retailers—usually grocery stores, gas stations, and department stores. The amount of stamps given corresponded to the dollar value of the purchase. Shoppers would then collect these stamps in special booklets (usually holding 1,200 points or so) and later redeem them for household goods, toys, appliances, and other products listed in the S&H Green Stamps catalogue.

The business model was ingenious. Retailers would buy the stamps from Sperry & Hutchinson and give them to customers as a reward for spending money at their store. This incentivized customer loyalty without the store having to discount merchandise. At the same time, consumers were drawn to specific retailers that offered Green Stamps because they felt they were getting something extra for free.

Although the program began at the end of the 19th century, it didn't really take off until after World War II. During the 1950s and 1960s, Green Stamps became wildly popular across North America, particularly in the United States. At the peak of the program’s success, Sperry & Hutchinson operated more than 800 redemption centres across the U.S., and it was said that the company printed more stamps annually than the U.S. Postal Service.

The popularity of S&H Green Stamps also sparked competition, with other companies launching similar programs, such as Top Value Stamps and Gold Bond Stamps. However, S&H remained the most recognisable brand in the trading stamp market. The green stamp booklets became a fixture in kitchen drawers and family conversations, and redeeming stamps was often seen as a reward for frugal shopping habits.

By the 1970s and 1980s, however, the Green Stamp program began to decline. The economic landscape changed, and inflation, along with the rise of direct discounting and more modern loyalty programs, made trading stamps seem outdated. Retailers started to prefer offering lower prices or running promotions directly rather than going through a third-party loyalty scheme. Additionally, the growing use of credit cards and digital technology rendered paper-based loyalty systems less attractive and practical.

Despite its decline, the Green Stamp program left a lasting legacy. It helped pioneer the concept of customer rewards and loyalty programs, laying the groundwork for modern systems like Air Miles, credit card points, and store-specific rewards. The original S&H company eventually evolved into a digital rewards platform in the early 2000s, but it is largely remembered today as a nostalgic symbol of mid-20th-century consumer culture.

Source: Some or all of the content was generated using an AI language model