S & H Green Stamps

There was a time when the grocery stores, dry cleaners and gas stations of America would do all kinds of things to get your money and one of the most popular gimmick was "Green Stamps". The stamps were given out at the cash register and the more money one spent the more stamps one got. These stamps were then put into books that could be redeemed for premiums. These premiums were usually housewares and appliances and could be gotten at the S&H Green Stamp Redemption Center.

The S&H in the company name stands for Sperry and Hutchinson. The company was founded in 1896 by Thomas Sperry and Shelly Byron Hutchinson in Michigan. They grew to be the largest trading stamp company in the country and during their heyday 1960's the issues more stamps the the US Postal Service.
Their small green stamps came in denominations of one, ten and fifty points and were stuck into books that when filled counted 1200 points. When a customer had enough points accumulated the books were then brought to the Redemption center and exchanged for items. One could also redeem them through a catalog. The popularity of Green Stamps slowly started to decline in the 1970's and eventually was discontinued in the 1990's.