TerryB Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 Many of us probably grew up with the trading stamp programs such as S&H green stamps. I did and my family used them to get many household things like small appliances and decorative home furnishings. Today going though my library of unusual stuff I found a 1965 catalog for Top Value stamps. In this catalog you could exchange your full stamp books for new Ford automobiles and small motorbikes. Here are some photos from the catalog. The Ford Falcon wagon was 771 books, the Econoline wagon was 807 books, the Mustang 718 books and the Fairlane coupe was 766 books. The Lambretta scooter was 129 1/5 books. I wonder how many people, if any, were able to save enough books to redeem for a car? 6 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillip Cole Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 I'd guess not many.... Each book held 1200 stamps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryB Posted March 16, 2021 Author Share Posted March 16, 2021 As I kid I remember helping put the green stamps in their books, what a mess and headache to get them on the pages before the glue dried. Seven hundred books would take years to do. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akstraw Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 1 hour ago, TerryB said: As I kid I remember helping put the green stamps in their books, what a mess and headache to get them on the pages before the glue dried. Seven hundred books would take years to do. I remember pasting them in books. My mother made a game of it for my brothers and I: sit around the kitchen table on a rainy Saturday morning and paste stamps in books. We thought it was fun! Now I am retired, and I block-sand ancient automobiles for “fun”. Go figure. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickelroadster Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 I think you got 1 S&H stamp for every ten cents you spent. That means you spent $120 per book. 807 x $120 =$96840 spent to get a Ford econoline. Then you could start saving again for the Falcon Wagon. About that time you died. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Restorer32 Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 My ex bro-in-law was a long distance trucker for Harley Davidson. Some clever fuel stations figured out that if they raised the price of their fuel and gave S&H stamps to the drivers they could lure them into their stations. At one point he had several hundred books of stamps. Unfortunately Harley figured out what was going on and banned their drivers from fueling up at over priced stations that gave stamps. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Dobbin Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 I still have 3 1/2 books of S & H Green Stamps. I remember getting lawn furniture with them in the 1970's. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franklinman Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 I remember one of my friend’s parents would let him and his sister use their stamps. I was a little Jealous because my folks wouldn’t shop the places that gave out stamps. My dad said those places just had higher prices to pay for the stamps. Looking back I realize, like most things, he knew what he was talking about. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimm63 Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 My Mom gave them to me, as did friends of hers. Got my first socket set with Plaid Stamps in about 1970. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_S_in_Penna Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 (edited) 15 hours ago, nickelroadster said: I think you got 1 S&H stamp for every ten cents you spent. That means you spent $120 per book. 807 x $120 = $96840 spent to get a Ford Econoline... I wonder whether these were "aspirational" prizes which no one, or hardly anyone, ever achieved. They're offered for their publicity value. Similarly, in recent times the Neiman Marcus catalogue has offered high-end showy products which often go unsold. Edited March 17, 2021 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 I recall being on a road trip when I was about 12 years old. Hiway sign said that this place would give you a thousand free S&H stamps if they forgot to offer them. Well I went in and bought a candy bar and they didn't offer. I turned a 360 and said "Hey you forgot to offer the stamps". The girl only apologized and offered me the one or two stamps correct for the purchase. I was to easy at that age and should have demanded, but I was 12 and didn't stand up like I should have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 8 hours ago, Paul Dobbin said: I still have 3 1/2 books of S & H Green Stamps. I remember getting lawn furniture with them in the 1970's. Keep going, your only about 800 books away from that van. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 Mom would put them in a paper grocery bag. Pretty sure the Acme gave them out. I think it may have been around the time they stopped I got a black and decker 1/4" electric drill just so we could use up the stamps we had rather than lose them. I was probably about 12 or so. Also remember Pop saving bands off of his Philly cigars, I think you could trade them in for trinkets as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted March 17, 2021 Share Posted March 17, 2021 One New Year’s Eve, had a party at a friends apartment. This was 1970 or so, he had the typical college place with shag rug, he was at a northern Louisiana institute of higher learning. We never let college interfere with our education, though. His roommate’s mother worked at a Green Stamp redemption center, and they shredded the books of stamps so they couldn’t be used again. The roommate got the idea that the shredded books would make great confetti, so at the stroke of midnight, many boxes and handfuls of shredded green stamps were thrown everywhere. He didn’t take into account the glue on the back of the stamps. Let us just say it was a mess, with “confetti” sticking to everything, and they were months getting all the pieces out of the shag carpet... 2 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KVP Posted March 19, 2021 Share Posted March 19, 2021 I have friends who are the second owners of a 1965 Olds Cutlass Vista Cruiser station wagon which was initially purchased with trading stamps. The nuns in their local parish school needed suitable transportation for school use and solicited donations of stamps to secure its purchase. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrData Posted September 1, 2021 Share Posted September 1, 2021 Boy, Green Stamps sure brings back memories. I got my first golf clubs with Green Stamps. Used them for years…never got any better and g ave up the game. I think my parents also used them for my first guitar. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John348 Posted September 1, 2021 Share Posted September 1, 2021 There were also coupons with cigarettes, I think Raleigh's and Belair's. I was an apprentice for a guy who smoked 2 packs a day, and was saving the coupons for a sailboat. Everyday he would boast "I am two coupons closer" the other journeyman on the job would joke and remind him that all he was doing was driving more nails in his casket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KCHC Posted September 1, 2021 Share Posted September 1, 2021 1 hour ago, KCHC said: Hi KVP, strange question but would this happen to have been in Kensington MD? On 3/18/2021 at 8:00 PM, KVP said: I have friends who are the second owners of a 1965 Olds Cutlass Vista Cruiser station wagon which was initially purchased with trading stamps. The nuns in their local parish school needed suitable transportation for school use and solicited donations of stamps to secure its purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossil Posted September 1, 2021 Share Posted September 1, 2021 (edited) Shortly after the wife and I were married in 73 we purchased a pole lamp and a table lamp with green stamps. The table lamps quality wasn't great but that pole lamp lasted through all our kids and might still be living in the dump. Edited September 2, 2021 by Fossil (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KVP Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 The trading stamp purchase of this Vista Cruiser was in the Grand Rapids, Michigan, located on the west side of the lower peninsula. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlLaFong Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 Some guys that I worked with, saved "Marlboro Miles" to send off for cheesy products like ball caps and windbreakers. I asked, "How many "miles" do you need to get one of those little oxygen bottles with wheels"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Gariepy Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%26H_Green_Stamps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhigdog Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 On 3/17/2021 at 7:55 AM, Restorer32 said: My ex bro-in-law was a long distance trucker for Harley Davidson. Some clever fuel stations figured out that if they raised the price of their fuel and gave S&H stamps to the drivers they could lure them into their stations. At one point he had several hundred books of stamps. Unfortunately Harley figured out what was going on and banned their drivers from fueling up at over priced stations that gave stamps. Back in the day some airport fixed base operators were giving s&h stamps with jet fuel. Pensacola aviation was giving double stamps. Me and the co pilot would often each pocket 5 or 6 books a trip. They gave an IBM punch card equal to a book. No gluing stamps for us. For a couple of years before that bubble broke i bought all my xmas presents from the catalog. Then there was the operator in boston that was giving live lobsters. We,d fly from abe to bos with min fuel and fill it to the gills to return. The good ole days.....bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72caddy Posted September 2, 2021 Share Posted September 2, 2021 (edited) On 9/1/2021 at 4:51 PM, John348 said: There were also coupons with cigarettes, I think Raleigh's and Belair's. I was an apprentice for a guy who smoked 2 packs a day, and was saving the coupons for a sailboat. Everyday he would boast "I am two coupons closer" the other journeyman on the job would joke and remind him that all he was doing was driving more nails in his casket. when I was little suddenly a ‘Kool’ sailboat showed up at our house. Turns out my grandmother (who smoked - I didn’t have clue) saved enough stamps to pay for the boat. It was styrofoam but had wooden transom, seats, center board, paddles, etc. The kicker was that the sail was green and white and said ‘Kool” in giant letters. Logged my nautical laps around the local ponds and lakes with that boat. Just recently threw out the sail (after 40+ years) Edited September 2, 2021 by 72caddy (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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