The legacy of S&H Green Stamps during the holiday season.
S&H Green Stamps had a significant impact during the Christmas shopping season in their heyday from the 1930s-1980s. Some key ways they influenced Christmas commerce and shopping patterns:
- They were very popular as rewards programs at gas stations, supermarkets, and department stores. Around holiday times like Christmas, these retailers would often offer extra stamps to encourage more spending. This drew in more Christmas shoppers.
- Families would collect the stamps all year and then redeem them just before Christmas to help pay for gifts, food, and other holiday items. The stamps essentially allowed people to save up throughout the year for their Christmas budget.
- Special Christmas-themed stamp redemption catalogs were published. Shoppers could save stamps and pick out home goods, toys, and other products from the catalogs to use as Christmas gifts.
- The stamps helped connect certain retailers to Christmas shopping. Places that offered S&H Green Stamps were seen as good places to do your Christmas browsing and buying because you could earn "free" items for gifts while shopping.
So, in many ways, from extra incentives to layaway-style saving programs, S&H Green Stamps became interwoven with Christmas commerce and the holiday shopping experience for families during their peak popularity. The stamps tapped into the desire for value and savings around the high-spending Christmas season.
HO HO HO -- Here we come again!