Green – the Color of Money

Stroll Down Memory Lane Entry - Prompt #5


“Same as money!”  That was the generally accepted idea of S&H Green Stamps when they proliferated across the business community from the 1950s through the early 1970s. 

Nearly all of the grocery stores, service stations and many of the small Mom & Pop establishments, from butcher shops to dry cleaners, sported swinging signs proclaiming, “We give S&H Green Stamps”, near their entrance.  For every ten-cents worth of merchandise you purchased from that vendor you would receive one stamp.  They also made the small books for their accumulation available along with wonderful catalogs showing all of the merchandise for which you could redeem them.

The rewards offered a plethora of items from tableware and linens, towels, bed linens to small appliances and pieces of furniture.  In their heyday they even offered vacation trips!

Most of the working-class families I knew didn’t have the extra cash to spend on non-necessities, so many hours were spent poring over those terrific catalogs and planning what their next “treat” would be.

One year my Aunt Ida decided she was going to save up the Stamps so that she and her husband, George, could take a vacation trip to Florida.  Over the next many months, she frantically accumulated the little green items.  I often wondered how much “extra” money she spent, just to gain the stamps.

The closer she got to her goal the more desperate she became.  She begged the little books from family members and even other shoppers in the grocery checkout lines.  Finally she had acquired the necessary number of books and, gushing with excitement, sent them off for redemption. 

Before long she had the needed documentation in hand and began planning the trip, enthusing to the family how exciting it was all going to be.  At long last the date of departure arrived and the couple set off on their adventure, taking the good wishes of the other family members.

Now, you have to understand that my Aunt Ida was one of those people who most, at that time, would refer to as “rather persnickety”.  Sometime later, when they returned, she was full of complaints – the food was practically inedible, the service they received was “lousy”, the motels were not properly cleaned and contained beds with musty-smelling sheets and dirty blankets!

As she ranted on, one of my uncles, her brother, interrupted her.  With a chuckle he said, “Well now, Ida, you know you get just what you pay for!”  Turning all shades of red, she whirled around and stalked away.  We never heard another peep out of her about that vacation.


As for myself I thoroughly enjoyed all of my S&H Green Stamp premiums.  When I moved into my first apartment, I had high hopes and little money.

Most apartments at that time were rented furnished, but they usually contained drab, non-descript cast-offs that the building’s owner had either replaced in his own home or bought at a second-hand furniture store.

The evening of moving arrived and I unlocked the door, flipped on the light and was dismayed by the dreariness of what was to be my home for at least the next six months.  I walked through my space, noting the water-stained, yellowing paint, the sagging, dull-brown couch, scuffed end table, chipped kitchen sink and ancient appliances and sighed.  It hadn’t looked nearly so depressing on my original, daytime walk-through - but a lease is a lease.

After carrying in the remainder of my personal possessions, I dug out my hoarded books of Green Stamps and the dog-eared catalog. With a little “sprucing up” the apartment would be livable.  I promptly ordered a couple of pictures for the barren walls, a folding card table for my portable typewriter, a lamp for the end table, colorful sheets for the bed and a bookcase to organize and display the myriad of books I’d collected over the years.  The result was a much more “homey” feeling for my temporary abode.

Six months later, I moved again.  This time I chose a third-floor walk-up efficiency that was much nicer with its Murphy bed that folded away into a closet and a compact kitchen with much newer appliances.  My S&H Green Stamps helped me acquire a pretty bedspread for when I decided to leave the bed exposed, towels for both kitchen and bath, a colorful tablecloth for the small dining table, an end-table, a radio, and a toaster.  This was my cozy home for the next several years – until I was able to buy a small house.

With the purchase of the house I was again financially “strapped”, so the stamps again came to my rescue by helping me add more bookcases and even a steel-mesh table and chairs set for the small patio.  Like so many others, I appreciated the aid that S&H Green Stamps provided in my acquisition of small items to make my life more comfortable while not straining an already stretched budget.

Yes, I agreed with the majority opinion at the time, “S&H Green Stamps were great – just the same as money!”

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