S&H Green Stamps
Instructions: Remember licking and pasting stamps into booklets to redeem for a toaster or a tent? Test your memory of the trading-stamp craze that ruled American shopping.
- 1.
What did the "S&H" stand for in S&H Green Stamps?
ASperry and HutchinsonBStewart and HarmonCSears and HendersonDSherwin and Hughes - 2.
How many S&H Green Stamps fit into one full trading-stamp booklet?
A1,200 stampsB500 stampsC750 stampsD2,000 stamps - 3.
At the peak of the S&H Green Stamps craze in the 1960s, the company printed more Green Stamps than what other widely printed item?
AU.S. postage stampsBDollar billsCBaseball cardsDSears catalogs - 4.
What was the big book that showed shoppers everything they could redeem their Green Stamps for?
AThe IdeabookBThe Dream CatalogCThe Premium GuideDThe Reward Register - 5.
Where did families go to exchange their filled stamp booklets for merchandise?
AA Redemption CenterBA Trading PostCA Savings BankDA Bonus Depot - 6.
Which of these was a real, well-known competitor to S&H Green Stamps?
AGold Bond StampsBSilver Crown StampsCRed Ribbon StampsDBluebird Savings Stamps - 7.
Top Value Stamps were issued primarily through which type of store?
AKroger and other grocery chainsBSears department storesCStandard Oil gas stationsDWoolworth five-and-dimes - 8.
In what decade did S&H Green Stamps first become hugely popular with American shoppers?
AThe 1930sBThe 1950sCThe 1970sDThe 1910s - 9.
Which household task did many children help their mothers with when it came to trading stamps?
ALicking and pasting stamps into bookletsBCutting out coupons from newspapersCSorting stamps by color and valueDMailing booklets to a warehouse - 10.
Roughly how many S&H Green Stamp booklets would a family need to redeem for a mid-range appliance like a toaster in the 1960s?
A2 to 3 bookletsB12 to 15 bookletsC50 to 60 bookletsD1 booklet - 11.
Besides supermarkets, which other kind of business commonly handed out S&H Green Stamps to customers?
AGasoline stationsBPublic librariesCDoctors' officesDPost offices - 12.
What happened to the S&H Green Stamps business as the 1970s progressed?
AIt declined sharply as retailers switched to cash discountsBIt grew larger and opened international locationsCIt was purchased by the U.S. governmentDIt merged with the Sears catalog - 13.
S&H Green Stamps eventually relaunched as an online rewards program under what new name?
AS&H GreenpointsBGreenRewards OnlineCStampSaver DigitalDHutchinson Points - 14.
Which beloved TV sitcom featured a famous storyline where the children saved up trading stamps to redeem a gift?
AThe HoneymoonersBI Love LucyCBewitchedDThe Brady Bunch - 15.
S&H claimed that at the height of the trading-stamp era, its yearly rewards catalog was the largest what in the United States?
ASingle published item in the countryBGrocery store chainCLong-distance telephone companyDChain of movie theaters
Answer Key
S&H stood for Sperry and Hutchinson, the company founded in 1896 by Thomas Sperry and Shelley Byron Hutchinson. They launched the Green Stamps program to reward loyal shoppers.
A standard S&H Green Stamps booklet held 1,200 points across 24 pages, with each page holding 50 points' worth of stamps. Filling up a booklet was a satisfying milestone for the whole family.
At their peak in the 1960s, S&H printed roughly three times as many Green Stamps as the U.S. Postal Service printed postage stamps. They were truly everywhere in American life.
S&H published the famous "Ideabook" catalog, which shoppers looked forward to browsing each year. It was filled with appliances, toys, sporting goods, and household items.
S&H operated thousands of Redemption Centers across the country where customers could browse actual merchandise and exchange their booklets on the spot. At their height, there were roughly 800 such centers in the United States.
Gold Bond Stamps were a popular rival loyalty program, especially strong in the Midwest, and one of the most direct national competitors to S&H. The other three names here were never real trading-stamp brands.
Top Value Stamps were closely associated with Kroger supermarkets and similar grocery chains. Like Green Stamps, shoppers received them based on how much they spent per visit.
Although S&H stamps were invented in 1896, they exploded in popularity during the postwar boom of the 1950s as supermarkets and gas stations adopted them to attract customers, before reaching their absolute peak in the 1960s.
Licking and pasting stamps into the little booklets was a classic family ritual. Children loved helping, though the gluey taste of the stamps was not always a highlight of the chore.
A modest item like a toaster typically required around 12 to 15 filled booklets, which represented a fair amount of grocery shopping. Larger items like a bicycle could require 50 or more booklets.
Gasoline stations were one of the most common places to collect Green Stamps, turning every fill-up into a chance to add to the family stamp booklet. Many different gas brands, from Sunoco to neighborhood Shell stations, gave them out.
Recession and high inflation in the 1970s, plus the oil crisis, pushed retailers toward offering straightforward cash discounts instead of stamps, and customer enthusiasm faded rapidly. By the 1980s, Green Stamps were a shadow of their former self.
Around 1999-2000, S&H attempted to reinvent itself for the internet age as "S&H Greenpoints," an online loyalty program. It struggled to recapture the magic of the original stamps and was eventually discontinued.
"The Brady Bunch" episode "54-40 and Fight" (1970) centered on the kids fighting over 94 books of saved trading stamps, finally redeeming them for a color TV for the whole family, capturing just how deeply the stamp craze was embedded in American family life.
S&H claimed that by 1964 its Ideabook catalog was the largest single publication in the United States, with tens of millions of copies printed each year for shoppers browsing their reward options.