If you've ever riffled through your grandparents' junk drawers looking for scissors or tape, you might've found errant S&H green stamps that've probably been there since the 70s. These stamps weren't meant for your mail; rather, they were better than any rewards program we have today. Launched in 1896, Sperry & Hutchinson's green stamp program is still around. Discover the story behind your grandparents' favorite rewards system and why you shouldn't ever throw away these vintage green stamps when you find them.
What Are Sperry & Hutchinson's Green Stamps?
If you've never time traveled or had a passion for coupon history, chances are you've never even heard of Sperry & Hutchinson, let alone seen their infamous green stamps in person. Sperry & Hutchinson was a unique late-19th century business that sold green stamps to retailers who gave them to their customers as rewards for spending money. Much like raffle tickets or rewards points, people could use their green stamps to get cool products from the S&H Catalog and redemption centers around the country.
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Green stamps were so popular that musicians and screenwriters paid homage to them in many songs throughout the 1970s. Famed folk group, the Kingston Trio sings "lickin' them green stamps, lickin' them blue," in their 1964 song Them Poems.
By the 1960s, these stamps were insanely popular. According to S&H's website, it's "estimated that 80 percent of American households collected Green Stamps during their heyday." Because of how ridiculously popular they were, there are tons of these unused books around middle America just waiting to be sold to collectors or redeemed through their website.
Green stamp booklets came with a variety of covers, but each one had the iconic S&H red and white logo on the front. The pages were full of spit-activated adhesive, so when you got new stamps, you'd lick the back and stick it into the pages of your gift saver book. The stamps themselves had the same logo and were printed on iconic mint green paper.
Are S&H Green Stamps Worth Collecting?
S&H green stamps are so representative of the 1960s and 1970s that if you're infatuated with that period, it'd make for a cool and unusual collectible. They also sell pretty quickly online, especially if you price them fairly. You don't often find people selling just a few stamps here and there. Rather, they do best when they're combined into a lot of a few booklets or sets of stamps.
For example, this lot of 33 quick saver books with some stamps sold for $35.99 on eBay. A separate lot of 44 quick saver books only sold for $20. So, if you want to make a pretty quick (albeit small) buck, you can list your grandparents' or great-grandparents' old green stamps online. Expect to sell them for about $15-$30, depending on how many you have.
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Why Keep S&H Green Stamps if They're Not That Valuable?
Today, the S&H Company has completely digitized their entire redemption catalog. You can redeem green points through their ideabook system online. Yet, that leaves the millions of unused stamps in limbo. For a time, there was a third party company that brokered stamps-for-cash transactions but it shut down in 2001.
However, there's hope on the horizon. On their website, S&H states that they have future plans for how people are going to be able to redeem their old stamps and to hold onto them, and you can sign up for an account on their website to get any updates on the matter.
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Rewards Programs Were Cooler Back in the Day
Sperry and Hutchinson perfected the rewards game back in the 1960s and 1970s. Their green stamps marketing system was unparalleled, and the little books you find today are testaments to their massive success. Best part is you can always make some fast cash on your family's old booklets, or you can let them marinate a little while longer and see what S&H has in store for them.
The rate of exchange for Green Stamps to greenpoints is 1 to 1. If you prefer cash, S&H will give you $1.20 for every 1200 Green Stamps that you redeem. Register at the greenpoints website. No matter how you want to redeem your stamps, registering with the website is required.
In 1972, the company was brought before the United States Supreme Court for violating the unfairness doctrine. In FTC v. Sperry & Hutchinson Trading Stamp Co., the court held that restricting the trade of the stamps was illegal. Sperry and Hutchinson was sold by the founders' successors in 1981 to Baldwin United.
Announcer: S&H Green Stamps were trading stamps popular in the United States from the 1930s until the late 1980s. They were distributed as part of a rewards program operated by the Sperry & Hutchinson Company, founded in 1896 by Thomas Sperry and Shelley Byron Hutchinson.
For investing purposes, the value of stamps depends on demand, trends, origin, and condition of a stamp. Unused stamps are more valuable than used ones. However, if a stamp is very rare, it could be investment-grade even if its condition is less than perfect.
The variety of products that Green Stamps could be redeemed for was amazing. By the 1960s, the S&H "Ideabook" catalog contained 178 pages of items from dish towels and ash trays to fishing poles, bicycles, furniture and appliances.
S&H Green Stamps were the first trading stamps popular across the U.S. and Europe, although the company did have competitors. “S&H” stands for the Sperry & Hutchinson Co., which was founded by Thomas Sperry and Shelley Byron Hutchison in 1896, according to Greg Hatala in a 2013 article on NJ.com.
The small S&H stamps were worth just a single point, and a full booklet page took 50 of them. If you spent enough, it was possible to earn the 10-point stamps; it took only five of those to fill each of the booklet's 24 pages. So, a single book — often a long time in filling — was worth 1,200 points.
program in the United States, S&H Green Stamps, was sponsored by Sperry & Hutchinson. The company started operations in 1896 and flourished from the 1930s through the 1960s.
Over 8 million people who loved S&H Green Stamps signed up for the online redemption opportunities, but in October 2020, the company announced that physical green stamps would no longer be accepted for redemption. Those who had online points in their program would be transferred to a new program known as Freshpoints.
Bowling centers were still giving out stamps too, but 13 years later in 2010, Blue Chip Stamps were no longer given out, but they could still be redeemed. If you go online today you'll find plenty of old Blue Chip Stamps for sale on eBay and Etsy as collectors' items.
S&H green stamps are so representative of the 1960s and 1970s that if you're infatuated with that period, it'd make for a cool and unusual collectible. They also sell pretty quickly online, especially if you price them fairly.
As the name suggests, Forever Stamps can be used to mail a one-ounce letter regardless of when the stamps are purchased or used and no matter how prices may change in the future. Forever Stamps are always sold at the same price as a regular First-Class Mail stamp.
Since February 2023, non-barcoded stamps have been invalid. Royal Mail explained: “We've added barcodes to all our regular stamps. Regular stamps without a barcode are no longer valid for postage. “This follows the introduction of a 6 month grace period from the initial 31 January deadline.
Over 8 million people who loved S&H Green Stamps signed up for the online redemption opportunities, but in October 2020, the company announced that physical green stamps would no longer be accepted for redemption. Those who had online points in their program would be transferred to a new program known as Freshpoints.
A stamp's condition affects its value. Usually, a stamp that has never been used and is in “mint” condition is more valuable than the same stamp that has been used. Keep your stamps in a condition as close to “mint” as possible. The color: The color of the stamp should be bright.
Green Stamps were offered in certain regions beginning in 1896 but they were most widely distributed in the U.S. from the 1930s to the 1980s, with a peak in the 1960s and '70s. S&H Green Stamps were the first trading stamps popular across the U.S. and Europe, although the company did have competitors.
Introduction: My name is Dr. Pierre Goyette, I am a enchanting, powerful, jolly, rich, graceful, colorful, zany person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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