When I was a kid, I was fascinated by S&H Green Stamps. These were few official black and green stamps handed out at grocery stores and other retailers, gas stations, even in packets of cigarettes.
You would save your stamps Saver Books and then you buy in the S&H Green Stamps Idea Book to use your carefully collected stamps. There were even physical stores where you could exchange your stamp books for products.
There were always cool things in the Idea Book, like chemical kits, telescopes, home movie equipment, camping gear, bikes, and other items that a young nerd boy wants. Hmmm … 26 books stamped to get this Super 8 film camera and 10 books to get this wheel 750x microscope? Maybe I should start smoking!
Launched in the 1930s, Green Stamps peeked out in the 60s and 70s and was gone in the 1980s.
Image: Larryzap – CC BY 3.0