If you’re under the age of 30, read this first because you probably have no idea what I’m talking about. Moving on…
I remember spending the early part of my childhood having to lick S&H Green Stamps and affixing them to the pages of a book, but I didn’t really understand the point. I just did what I was told. 🙂
The Green Stamps are like today’s rewards cards you get from the supermarket or drug store. When you bought something at the store, the cashier would give you stamps, and you could redeem the stamps for “premiums” such as household goods. I assumed the company, Sperry & Hutchinson, was long gone, but not so. The company was bought out in the 1990s, and redemption is now done digitally at greenpoints.com. You collect “greenpoints” instead of stamps by shopping at a participating online merchant, and you can redeem points for things like gift cards, a Omaha Steaks variety pack and movie tickets. Ain’t that somethin’?
Now, here’s the kicker: If you happen to have green stamps, you can still redeem them if you mail them in. Wow. Time to check the attic…
Previous Comments
Lowes Foods (yeah, not home improvement) in North Carolina still uses them. I spent six months saving up and got a whole loaf of bread!
#165737 | Author: Trey Jurke Burke | Date: Jan 12 2012
That is so cool, Trey. I remember when there used to be a Sunflower grocery store where the theological seminary is now on Clinton Blvd., and my mom would get the green stamps at the checkout counter. Ah, memories.
#165740 | Author: LatashaWillis | Date: Jan 12 2012
Wow. Talk about memories. My mother collected green stamps, too. I remember pasting them into the books, but any memory of her getting anything for them is pretty hazy. There may have been a blender in there somewhere …
#165750 | Author: Ronni_Mott | Date: Jan 13 2012
My grandmother gave me all the S&H green stamps she collected from shopping and as long as I did all the work of pasting and putting them in the book, I could redeem them. I remember a wallet, and some other cool things. The redemption store was in the old shopping center on Terry Road, down from Zayres. Whew…. old skool… really awesome memories…
#165774 | Author: 833WMaple | Date: Jan 17 2012
My grandmother would let me have the S&H green stamps as long as I pasted them in the books. Then she would take me to the redemption store which was in the shopping center on Terry Road down from Zayres. I remember buying a really neat leather wallet.
#165778 | Author: 833WMaple | Date: Jan 18 2012
I haven’t heard the word “Zayres” in a looooong time. 🙂
#165784 | Author: LatashaWillis | Date: Jan 18 2012
It was a discount store right? We usually didn’t go that far over into South Jackson. We shopped at Millers and Gibson’s on Ellis Ave. And I can’t forget Kent Dollar store, all my clothes came from there. LOL
#165785 | Author: 833WMaple | Date: Jan 18 2012
I think Zayres was kind of like a Dollar General, but I was pretty young when they bit the dust. By the way, I still remember my mom buying my school supplies from TG&Y. 🙂
#165786 | Author: Latasha Willis | Date: Jan 19 2012
It has been a long time for me too, but I think Zayres was miles away from a DG. Didn’t they sell jewelry?
#165787 | Author: Queen601 | Date: Jan 19 2012
Queen- You thinking Zales maybe? Zaryre’s was a discount store. They went bankrupt and sold out to Ames Department stores who went bankrupt too. Zarye is still in busniness with BJ’s Warehouse and TJ Maxx.
#165789 | Author: BubbaT | Date: Jan 19 2012
I remember us collecting Quality Stamp from Big Star, I would pick something out of the catalog and save up the stamps to get it.
#165790 | Author: BubbaT | Date: Jan 19 2012
Didn’t they sell jewelry? Yes, among other things. They were a popular discount chain at the time, somewhere between what Fred’s and Wal-mart offer today. Strangely enough, although Zayre’s folded in the late 1980s, a portion of it survived as the TJ Maxx chain.
#165792 | Author: Jeff Lucas | Date: Jan 19 2012
Oh wow! Yeah, I remember green stamps and the old store by Zayre’s on Terry rd. I remember getting a nifty tape recorder with about a kabillon stamps. Latasha, I grew up in the Queens in West Jackson over by that Sunflower that used to be on Clinton Blvd where they would dial out your stamps on that rotary contraption by the cash register. I even went to the movies at the theater that was in that shopping center for about five minutes. Cool memories.
#165796 | Author: WMartin | Date: Jan 19 2012
Queen and Jeff, isn’t it Zales that mainly sold jewelry? I used to get their names mixed up all the time.
#165799 | Author: Latasha Willis | Date: Jan 20 2012
Zales did sell jewelry…but so did Zayres. The one off Terry Road. I didn’t know about the TJMaxx thing…but that makes good sense to me.
#165800 | Author: Queen601 | Date: Jan 20 2012