Do you remember when a trip to Grandma's meant going through her drawer filled with S&H Green Stamps so you could lick 'em and stick 'em into those little booklets? Green Stamps were offered in certain regions beginning in 1896 but they were most widely distributed in the U.S. from the 1930s to the 1980s, with a peak in the 1960s and '70s.
Did you know you can still redeem any you might find lying around? Yep. S&H is still in business, only altered for a digital world. Read on to learn how to redeem them. Send you Green Stamps memories to kkazek@al.com.
History of S&H Green Stamps
S&H Green Stamps were the first trading stamps popular across the U.S. and Europe, although the company did have competitors. "S&H" stands for the Sperry & Hutchinson Co, which was founded by Thomas Sperry and Shelley Byron Hutchison in 1896, according to Greg Hatala in a 2013 article on NJ.com.
It wasn't until the 1930s that the company's reward programs became popular nationwide, and the little green stamps were distributed by various retailers as rewards for shoppers. The stamps could be collected into booklets - the backs had an adhesive like that on postage stamps that had to be wet to adhere - then the booklets were redeemed for "rewards" ordered from S&H catalogs, or picked up at one of several S&H centers across Alabama. The centers, found in Birmingham, Montgomery, Huntsville and most larger cities, were like department stores, offering everything from linens to china to furniture to sporting equipment.
By the 1960s, collecting stamps was so popular that S&H claimed it issued three times more stamps than the U.S. Postal Service and its reward catalog was the largest publication in the country.
"It is estimated that 80 percent of American households collected Green Stamps during their heyday," Hatala wrote.
The recessions of the 1970s impacted Green Stamps and their popularity slowly declined.
S&H today
Sperry and Hutchison no longer has redemption centers but the company does offer online redemptions. The company is now called S&H Greenpoints and its website www.greenpoints.com launched in 2000.
If you found a few books of stamps in the back of a drawer, they can be redeemed for gift cards from the S&H Online Rewards catalog.
The how-to website WikiHow even offers a guide on redeeming old stamps here.
Green Stamps fun facts in Alabama
- After 1962 primary elections for the gubernatorial race, Birmingham officials wondered how they would remove the thousands of campaign posters distributed by George Wallace and other candidates. Green Stamps helped save the day.
- According to Jeff Frederick in his book
Join al.com reporter Kelly Kazek on her weekly journey through Alabama to record the region's quirky history, strange roadside attractions and tales of colorful characters. Find her on Facebook or follow her Odd Travels and Real Alabama boards on Pinterest.