I received quite a response to my July 2021 editorial on S&H Green Stamps™ as I reminisced about a childhood ritual.

For those who don’t know about Green Stamps, the Sperry & Hutchinson Company (S&H), started by Thomas Sperry and Shelley Hutchinson in 1896, created stamps to use for its loyalty program and were named S&H Green Stamps. Green Stamps were popular from the 1930s through the 1980s.

With each purchase at a grocery store, gas station and other participating stores, each customer would receive Green Stamps based on the value of their purchase. Stamps were issued in values of 1, 10 and 50 stamps.

Customers would lick the stamps or wet a sponge and fill the pages of S&H redemption books. Each book contained 24 pages, and each page contained 50 stamps - so each book contained 1,200 stamps.

Books could be redeemed at either a local redemption center or through a 178-page mail order catalog.

Back in the day, green stamps were collected by 80 percent of households and were even used by communities to purchase things like firetrucks.

Following my editorial being published, imagine my surprise when I received a call from Carl Norloff, who received a copy of my editorial from a friend in California. Norloff was living in Boston, Mass., at the time. He was excited to tell me he had purchased the S&H Green Stamp™ brand and was about to launch the new company. We arranged to meet in Allentown when he took his plan on the road, which happened this past November.

The concept is similar. When you make a purchase at a participating merchant, you will receive 100 stamps that can then be redeemed in the online IdeaBook similar to the book we all remember.

Norloff’s trip in November 2021 was to visit merchants in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, New Mexico, Arizona and ending in Utah. Once local merchants are in place, folks can begin earning S&H Green Stamps™.

A unique feature of the program is that folks can also earn rewards for “doing good” in their community by engaging in discussions on the platform. Those making a difference can log their efforts and see how well they are doing via a leader board and earn e-Stamps for their work in the community.

The e-Stamps are different from the S&H Green Stamps™ but just as valuable.

Norloff has partnered with Stuckey’s, another iconic brand, which is also making a comeback. You may remember Stuckey’s for its famous pecan log rolls.

For those who still have some of the original S&H Green Stamps™, they are not part of this new program.

While work needs to be done to add local merchants and populate the IdeaBook with products, folks can join in and follow the journey. To learn more, visit greenstampsforgood.com, and while you’re there, create a free account and earn your first 1,000 S&H Green Stamps™.

For merchants interested in participating, visit greenstampsforgood.com/for-business.

I’m looking forward to earning stamps as part of this new loyalty program. I hope you are, too.

Debbie Galbraith

editor

East Penn Press

Salisbury Press