By Lisa Rice
ALLIANCE – Who remembers S&H Green Stamps? Raise your hand! Now, who still owns something that was purchased with green stamps? Raise your hand!
If you don’t remember them, the concept was that the more money you spent on groceries, the more green stamps you earned. The amount of green stamps you saved up determined what you could order from the catalog.
I can tell you, from first hand experience, there weren’t many things more fun to do (as an 8-year old) than to get to lick the stamps and put them in the book! I can remember that it was so disappointing to get ONE $50 stamp versus FIFTY $1 stamps. (I used to silently wish Mama would only spend $49 for groceries, even if it meant my sister didn’t get her favorite cereal.) The more stamps you got to lick the better! Of course, those were the good ole pre-Covid FUN days.
Now days, the grocery store reward program is getting a measly 10 cents off of your purchase of 15 of one product. Who wants to buy 15 bottles of shampoo to save 10 cents??? I’d much rather get a stamp to lick!!
Anyway, I was recently gifted an old book of stamps and an old catalog. And, let me tell you, that catalog is pretty amazing. In the 70s and 80s, you could save up for all kinds of things offered from that catalog. Razors, sofas, fake plants, cigarettes, dishes, doll baby accesssories, sports equipment, etc.!
I think they offered everything except the kitchen sink and puppies. And if they didn’t offer it, you probably didn’t need it anyway. So, way back in 1974, my sisters and I got this really cool ‘spinning egg’ chair. I don’t know how it was decided that we’d save up for that chair but I sure am glad we did. Because I still have that chair! I still love that chair. Every now and then, I’ll sit in it and do a quick spin. It’s still fun to do but I usually feel dizzy afterwards.
I can’t help but wonder if green stamps were offered today, what would people choose? 1975 compared to 2021 – a lifetime of change.
And gosh, little kids are so unlucky these days. They have lots of handheld gadgets and computer games to occupy their time, yet their chance to lick stamps is long gone. They are so deprived of good, clean fun!
Editor’s note: Lisa Rice and her husband Jake live on Mill Pond Road in Alliance. For a free tour of ‘Everybody Else’s History,’ call her at (252) 675-7489. Believe me – you will be both entertained and flabbergasted.