Today there are a number of reward schemes on offer at supermarkets that we can sign up to, from Clubcard points at Tesco to Nectar points at Sainsburys.
But many will remember the days of collecting Green Shield Stamps - a sales promotion scheme that rewarded shoppers with stamps that could be redeemed. Stamps could be collected in books that could later be exchanged for a range of household goods such as toasters, garden furniture and toys.
In the early days, you could get the stamps at small businesses like corner shops and at petrol stations. But in 1963, Green Shield stamps were introduced in Tesco, which meant shoppers could then use the stamps to buy products at Green Shield Stamps catalogue stores.
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There was something exciting about collecting them and sticking them into your book and the number of stamps you collected depended on how much you spent. Introduced in 1958 by Richard Tompkins, the scheme was inspired by the success of the long-established Sperry & Hutchinson Green Stamps in America.
By the 1960s, Green Shield had become a leading brand in the UK. And with that, lots of shops and most supermarkets and petrol stations, including Tesco, signed up to the scheme and gave away stamps with every purchase.
Many in Manchester will remember shopping locally and using the stamps. Unearthed by our archive, Mirrorpix, one image shows a worker stacking shelves at a Tesco store in Middleton in October 1972.
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But, if you look closer, it offers a fascinating glimpse of Tesco's branding, the items on offer and pricing fifty years ago. On offer in the Middleton store, back in 1972, was family-size Weetabix for 11.5p, Pearce Duffs blancmange - which came with Green Shield Stamps, condensed milk for 7p, twin toilet rolls for 8.5p - and there's loads of big cans of Birds Custard.
But it wasn't only food items on the shelves at Tesco back then, as the brand had started selling household goods and clothing in stores in the sixties. On December 12, 1973, the Rochdale Observer published a Tesco advertisement, which described it as "the store with so much more than grocery."
The illustration shows all the family with the new items on offer at Tesco just in time for Christmas, with Green Shield stamps available at the Rochdale branch on Silk Street. Men's clothing included dressing gowns for £3.75, printed cotton winceyette pyjamas for £1.95, terylene cotton shirts at £2.25, polyester ties for 95p and nylon short socks for only 20p.
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At its height, Green Shield Stamps were also immortalised in music. For example, Genesis in the song Dancing with the Moonlit Knight, mention them, as well did Jethro Tull in the song Broadford Bazaar.
In 2016, The Guardian reported how the growth of Green Shield Stamps gave its founder, Richard Tompkins, an idea: what if customers could use cash to buy products from its catalogue as well as stamps? They reported: "So, in 1973, he started rebranding Green Shield Stamps as Argos, named after the Greek city where Tompkins had been inspired and because it would feature high up in alphabetical listings."
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But, over the weekend of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977, Tesco’s boss, Ian – now Lord – MacLaurin, made a decision to scrap the Green Shield Stamps scheme and used the money saved to lower prices across the chain. Tesco kept its shops closed for an extra day over the bank holiday weekend so it could update its prices and without Tesco, Tompkins was free to convert the entire Green Shield Stamps business to Argos and cash purchases.
Argos was acquired in 1979 by the sprawling conglomerate BAT Industries, now just British American Tobacco. Soon afterwards, they stopped issuing stamps entirely.
Green Shield Stamps are now just a memory to the British consumer. But, retro stamps and booklets can be found on eBay today.
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