Editing Trading stamp

{{short description|Small paper coupons given to customers by merchants in loyalty marketing programs}}
[[Image:Gold bond stamps.jpg|thumb|200x200px|Gold Bond trading stamps were dispensed in strips at the time of purchase and pasted into books for saving.]]'''Trading stamps''' were small paper stamps given to customers by merchants in [[loyalty programs]] in the United States, Canada and the U.K. which predated the modern [[loyalty card]]-based<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title = Whatever Happened To ... trading stamps?|url = http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/rocroots/2015/07/31/whatever-happened-trading-stamps/30963275/|website = Rochester Democrat and Chronicle|accessdate = 2015-12-27|date = July 31, 2015|last = Morrell|first = Alan}}</ref> and online programs. Like the similarly-issued retailer coupons, these stamps only had a minimal cash value of a few mils (thousandths of a dollar) individually, but when a customer accumulated a number of them, they could be exchanged with the trading stamp company (usually a third-party issuer of the stamps) for [[Premium (marketing)|premiums]], such as toys, personal items, housewares, furniture and appliances.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title = THE TRADING STAMP STORY (or: When Trading Stamps Stuck)|url = http://www.studioz7.com/stamps.html|website = studioz7|accessdate = 2015-12-27|last = Lonto|first = Jeff R.|date = 2000}}</ref> In [[trading stamps in Hong Kong|Hong Kong, trading stamp programs]] continue to operate.

==History==

=== Origin ===
The practice of retailers issuing trading stamps started in 1891 at [[Schuster's]] Department Store, [[Wisconsin]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|url = https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/68340/OSLJ_V23N1_0035.pdf|title = Trading Stamps|last = Clapp|first = Newell A.|journal = Ohio State Law Journal|access-date = 27 December 2015|year = 1962|volume =  23| issue =  1 (1962)|pages = 35–55|hdl = 1811/68340}}</ref> At first, the stamps were given only to customers who paid for purchases in [[cash]] as a reward for not making purchases on [[credit (finance)|credit]].<ref name=":0" />  Other retailers soon copied the practice of giving trading stamps that could be redeemed at the issuer's store. One example was [[US Foods|L. H. Parke Company]] a Philadelphia and Pittsburgh manufacturer and distributor of food products that included coffee, tea and spices along with canned goods. They established a trading stamp program in 1895 under the name Parke's Blue Point Trading Stamps for customers who purchased Parke's products in grocery stores in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Parke's Blue Point Trading Stamps|publisher = AN IRWIN FAMILY HISTORY BOOKS}}</ref> The program was successful.{{who|date=February 2014}} Parke established showrooms in their headquarters buildings in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh where customers could inspect and obtain premium goods.

=== Independent trading stamp companies ===
[[Image:Plaid Stamp sign at Cracker Barrel, Lubbock, TX IMG 4691.JPG|150x150px|thumb|Plaid Stamps sign at [[Cracker Barrel]] restaurant in [[Lubbock, Texas|Lubbock]], [[Texas]]]]In 1896 the [[S&H Green Stamps|Sperry and Hutchinson Company]] was created as an independent trading stamp company in the [[United States]]. By 1957 there were approximately 200 trading stamp companies in operation.<ref name=":4" />  Typically, merchants would pay a third-party trading stamp company for the stamps, and would then advertise that they give trading stamps with purchases.<ref name=":0" /> Large retailers were usually given a discount on the stamps while smaller retailers generally had to pay the full cost of adopting the trading stamp program.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Marketing Communications|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Bas9AQAAMAAJ|date = March 22, 1905|language = en|pages = 30–31|volume = 50|edition = 12}}</ref> The intent was to get customers to be loyal to the merchant, so that they would continue shopping there to obtain enough stamps to redeem for merchandise.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> Customers would fill books with stamps, and take the books to a trading stamp company redemption center to exchange them for [[Premium (marketing)|premiums]].<ref name=":2" />  Books could also be sent to the trading stamp company in exchange for premium merchandise via [[mail order]] catalogs.<ref name=":1" /> An example of the value of trading stamps would be during the 1970s and 1980s where the typical rate issued by a merchant was one stamp for each 10¢ of merchandise purchased.  A typical book took approximately 1200 stamps to fill, or the equivalent of US $120.00 in purchases.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The 1950s|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pt-o5xnJXvkC&q=trading%2520stamps%2520like%2520green%2520stamps&pg=PA56|publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group|date = 2004-01-01|isbn = 9780313323935|language = en|first1 = William H.|last1 = Young|first2 = Nancy K.|last2 = Young|page = 56}}</ref>

While one of the most popular brand of trading stamps in the US were [[S&H Green Stamps]], informally known as "green stamps", other large brands included Top Value Stamps, [[Carlson Companies|Gold Bond Stamps]], [[Plaid Stamps]], [[Blue Chip Stamps]], [[Quality Stamps]], [[Buccaneer Stamps]] and [[Gold Strike Stamps]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title = Trading stamps were more than currency for some - Farm and Dairy|url = http://www.farmanddairy.com/columns/trading-stamps-were-more-than-currency-for-some/39813.html|website = Farm and Dairy|accessdate = 2015-12-27|language = en-US|last = Moore|first = Sam|date = August 2, 2012}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite news|title = Green Stampede: The Redeeming History of Trading Stamps|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1980/01/22/green-stampede-the-redeeming-history-of-trading-stamps/8bf0ba24-db78-499f-847a-04941c560caa/|newspaper = The Washington Post|date = 1980-01-22|access-date = 2015-12-27|issn = 0190-8286|language = en-US|first = Joseph P.|last = Mastrangelo}}</ref> [[Texas Gold Stamps]] were given in Texas mainly by the [[H-E-B]] grocery store chain, and Mahalo stamps in Hawaii.

Even the comic-book publisher [[Marvel Comics]] entered the trading stamp field in the 1970s, with what were known as "Marvel Value Stamps". Each Value Stamp featured artwork of a Marvel character (the first one featuring [[Spider-Man]]), and were generally featured in the letter pages of Marvel titles (with certain titles, primarily reprints, consequently not offering Value Stamps). Buyers were encouraged to clip out the stamps and collect them (this practice was annoying to future comic collectors, with the price of comics declining if they were cut up for their Value Stamps),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tuck |first=Matt |date=2019-05-08 |title=Hulk 181: Stamp or No Stamp? |url=https://blog.gocollect.com/hulk-181-stamp-or-no-stamp/ |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=GoCollect |language=en-US}}</ref> with Marvel offering a stamp book by mail for 50 cents; if a person managed to collect all 100 stamps in a book (the 100th Stamp was kept a mystery until it was featured in ''[[Sub-Mariner]]'' #72, featuring the image of [[Galactus]]), they were entitled to discounts at comic book shops and conventions (including [[San Diego Comic-Con]]). A further series of stamps were released known as "Series B", which in lieu of singular stamps featuring only one character, were instead akin to a jigsaw puzzle; when put together, the stamps would create an entire image, typically of a Marvel star (or in one case, [[Stan Lee]] himself). The concept was revived in 2006 for a run of stamps in ''[[Marvel Spotlight]]'', and again in 2017 as part of the ''[[Marvel Legacy]]'' initiative.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-09-08 |title=Marvel Values Stamps Index |url=http://mvstamps.blogspot.com/ |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=Marvel Value Stamps - The Unofficial Index}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-18 |title=Dig These 13 Sensational MARVEL VALUE STAMPS |url=https://13thdimension.com/dig-these-13-sensational-marvel-value-stamps/ |access-date=2023-02-24 |website=13th Dimension, Comics, Creators, Culture |language=en-US}}</ref>

==== Growth and decline ====

The use of trading stamps grew with the spread of chain [[gasoline station]]s in the early 1910s and the then-new industry of chain [[supermarket]]s in the 1920s.  Merchants found it more profitable to award them to all customers rather than cash only customers.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Why Are Coupons Worth 1/100th of a Cent?|url = http://mentalfloss.com/article/26838/why-are-coupons-worth-1100th-cent|website = Mental Floss|accessdate = 2015-12-27|date = January 11, 2011|last = Trex|first = Ethan}}</ref> Legal challenges regarding the use of trading stamps were raised in various jurisdictions around the US but were often struck down.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite journal|url = http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2778&context=bclr|title = Trading Stamps and the Law|last1 = Callan Jr.|first1 = Phillip J.|date = April 1, 1963|journal = Boston College Law Review|access-date = December 27, 2015|last2 = Jacobs|first2 = Norman I.|issue = 3|volume = 4}}</ref> Some merchant groups disliked trading stamps and actively worked to have them banned in their areas.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Dry Goods Reporter|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=MMYcAQAAMAAJ|publisher = B.F. Jacobs|date = July 3, 1915|language = en|page = 59|volume = 46}}</ref> Following WWII the use of trading stamps expanded when supermarkets began issuing them. By 1957 it was estimated that nearly 250,000 retail outlets were issuing trading stamps, with nearly two thirds of US households saving trading stamps. During this time trading stamp companies had between 1,400 - 1,600  retail centers where consumers could redeem their stamps for [[Final good|consumer goods]].<ref name=":4" /> In the early 1960s, the S&H Green Stamps company boasted that it printed more stamps annually than the number of [[postage stamp]]s printed by the US government.<ref name=":2" /> In 1968 it was reported that more than $900 million in stamps were sold in the United States.<ref name=":0" />

Beginning in the early 1970s the use of trading stamps began to decline. Gasoline service stations stopped offering them due to the [[1970s energy crisis|energy crisis]] that occurred and many supermarkets started spending more money to advertise lower prices rather than issue stamps.{{sfn|Lonto|2004c}}<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web|title = Remembering Trading Stamps - Chattanoogan.com|url = http://www.chattanoogan.com/2005/10/30/75064/Remembering-Trading-Stamps.aspx|website = www.chattanoogan.com|accessdate = 2015-12-28|date = October 30, 2005|last = Jolley|first = Harmon}}</ref> During the 1980s there was a brief resurgence in the popularity of trading stamps, but overall their use continued to decline.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Redeemed Retailers Glad They're Sticking With Trading Stamps|url = http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-08-19/business/8502030960_1_trading-stamps-green-stamps-sh-stamps|website = tribunedigital-sunsentinel|accessdate = 2015-12-27|last = Pounds|first = Marcia H.|date = August 19, 1985|archive-date = 2016-01-05|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160105182806/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1985-08-19/business/8502030960_1_trading-stamps-green-stamps-sh-stamps|url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title = What's New in Trading Stamps|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/16/business/what-s-new-in-trading-stamps.html|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 1987-08-16|access-date = 2015-12-27|issn = 0362-4331|first = Ann |last = Laforge}}</ref> Their role has been replaced by [[coupon]]s, rewards programs offered by [[credit card]] companies and other [[loyalty program]]s such as grocery "Preferred Customer" cards.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Answer Man: Inflation licked trading stamp business|url = http://www.bnd.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/answer-man/article17736815.html|website = Bellville News - Democrat|accessdate = 2015-12-28|last = Schlueter|first = Roger|date = February 10, 2015}}</ref>  Through the 1990s and early 2000s the majority of the remaining trading stamp companies either ceased operations or converted to an online format.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news|title = The Chips May Be Down, but Don't Count 'Em Out|url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-08-19-vw-25199-story.html|newspaper = Los Angeles Times|date = 1993-08-19|access-date = 2015-12-28|issn = 0458-3035|language = en-US|first = BEVERLY|last = BEYETTE}}</ref> In 2008 the last operating trading stamp company in the United States, Eagle Stamps, closed.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Trading stamps|url = http://ebusinessinusa.com/2767-trading-stamps.html|website = Business in United States of America|accessdate = 2015-12-28|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160105175953/http://ebusinessinusa.com/2767-trading-stamps.html|archive-date = 2016-01-05}}</ref>

===Outside the United States===
[[File:British dividend savings stamp book.jpg|thumbnail|A British trading stamp collecting book from the mid twentieth century.|167x167px]]

==== Canada ====
The use of trading stamps began in Canada circa 1900 but their use was banned by the Canadian government in 1905. In 1959 the grocery chain [[Loblaws]] introduced their Lucky Green Stamps program and a trading stamp program was started by an [[IGA (supermarkets)|IGA grocery store]] in Winnipeg. Although faced with legal challenges the use of trading stamps in these instances was upheld as legal since they did not meet the definition of trading stamps in the Canadian Criminal Code.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Postal History Corner|url = http://postalhistorycorner.blogspot.com/2011/04/lucky-green-stamps-cover-below-mailed.html|accessdate = 2015-12-28}}</ref> The [[Criminal Code (Canada)|Criminal Code]] provisions against trading stamps were deleted, among other obsolete provisions, by [http://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/bill/C-51/third-reading Bill C-51] in 2018 during the [[42nd Canadian Parliament]]<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/criminal-code-update-charter-1.4148220 |title=An unconscious person can't consent to sex, Liberals confirm in Criminal Code cleanup |publisher=[[CBC News]] |first=Kathleen |last=Harris |date=June 6, 2017 |accessdate=December 14, 2018}}</ref>

==== United Kingdom ====
By the 1960s the use of trading stamps had spread to the United Kingdom. Entrepreneur [[Richard Tompkins]] established [[Green Shield Stamps]] in the [[United Kingdom]]. Although based along a similar model, the Green Shield Stamps were independent of S&H Green Stamps but carried a similar trademark. Tompkins' company began selling stamps to [[filling station]]s, small retailers and had signed up the [[Tesco]] supermarket chain to the Green Shield Stamp franchise in 1963.<ref name="dnb">{{Cite web
|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/51347
|title=Tompkins, (Granville) Richard Francis (1918–1992)
|year=2004
|accessdate=2008-06-19
|publisher=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]], Oxford University Press
|author=Richard Davenport-Hines
}}</ref>
The S&H Company began offering their stamps in the United Kingdom as well but with the color changed to pink.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Customer Relationship Management: Concepts and Technologies|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=slGhBgAAQBAJ|publisher = Routledge|date = 2015-02-11|isbn = 9781317654766|language = en|first1 = Francis|last1 = Buttle|first2 = Stan|last2 = Maklan}}</ref> In 1965, the [[British co-operative movement]] began offering trading stamps as a new means of allocating patronage [[dividend]]s to its consumer members.<ref>{{Cite news
|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20020922/ai_n12666598
|title=Rear window: In the grip of Green Shield mania
|author=David Randall
|date=2002-09-22
|accessdate=2008-06-19
|publisher=[[The Independent on Sunday]]
}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
 |url=http://cep.lse.ac.uk/seminarpapers/24-05-04%20-%20Background%20paper%20by%20Geoffrey%20Owen.pdf 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040721174741/http://cep.lse.ac.uk/seminarpapers/24-05-04%20-%20Background%20paper%20by%20Geoffrey%20Owen.pdf 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-date=2004-07-21 
 |date=February 2003 
 |accessdate=2008-06-19 
 |author=Geoffrey Owen 
 |title=Corporate Strategy in UK Food Retailing, 1980-2002 
 |quote=Tesco...signed up with Sperry & Hutchinson, issuer of Green Shield stamps, in 1963 and became one of that company’s largest clients. 
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web
 |url=http://www.co-operative.coop/aboutus/ourhistory/1951-2000/ 
 |title=Our history: 1951–2000 
 |publisher=[[The Co-operative Group]] 
 |quote=1965 Dividend Stamps introduced as an alternative to the traditional methods of paying the 'divi', and as a response to the adoption of trading stamps by other food retailers; individual societies operated their own stamp schemes. CWS launched the national Dividend Stamp scheme in 1969. 
 |accessdate=2008-06-19 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430073227/http://www.co-operative.coop/aboutus/ourhistory/1951-2000/ 
 |archive-date=2008-04-30 
}}</ref>

==== Hong Kong ====
{{Main|Trading stamp culture in Hong Kong}}

==See also==
* [[Big Bear Stores]] - chain of supermarkets with their own trading stamp program called "Buckeye Stamps".
* [[Blue Chip Stamps]] - US company that produced trading stamps.
* [[Carlson Companies]] - originally Gold Bond Stamp Company, issuer of Gold Bond Trading Stamps.
* [[Green Shield Stamps]] - first trading stamps issued in UK.
* [[S&H Green Stamps]] - US company that produced trading stamps.
* [[Thomas Sperry]] - co-founder of S&H Green Stamps.
* [[Two Guys]] - a chain of stores that issued its own trading stamps program.
* [[Federal Trade Commission v. Sperry & Hutchinson Trading Stamp Co.]]
* [[Canadian Tire money]] - a similar system at [[Canadian Tire]] stores in Canada, using [[scrip]] instead of stamps.

==References and sources==
;References
{{reflist|2}}
;Sources
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite news |last1=Campbell |first1=Scott |title=Licked Again: The Life and Times of Trading Stamps |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_boston-phoenix_1981-06-09_10_23/page/n37/mode/1up |access-date=30 March 2024 |work=The Boston Phoenix |date=9 June 1981}}
*{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7OpRAAAAIBAJ&pg=7166,1703027&dq=lawrence-crane&hl=en
|title=Trading stamp use falls
|first=John
|last=Cunniff
|newspaper=St. Petersburg Times 
|page=17-A|date=February 8, 1974|accessdate=August 9, 2011}}
* {{cite web
 |url=http://www.studioz7.com/stamps3.shtml 
 |title=THE TRADING STAMP STORY (or When Trading Stamps Stuck) Part 3 
 |first=Jeff R. 
 |last=Lonto 
 |year=2004c 
 |publisher=STUDIO Z•7 PUBLISHING 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716160253/http://www.studioz7.com/stamps3.shtml 
 |archive-date=2011-07-16 
}}

{{refend}}

{{Customer loyalty programs}}

[[Category:Customer loyalty programs]]
[[Category:Cinderella stamps]]