# You could do ANYTHING with Green Stamps **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [July 20, 2001, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-could-do-anything-with-green-stamps/73243 "2001-07-20T20:59:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Threadkiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@Threadkiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Threadkiller)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2001, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-could-do-anything-with-green-stamps/73243/1 "2001-07-20T20:59:16Z")
In the article [Whatever happened to Green Stamps? (24-Jul-2001)](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgreenstamps.html) is the following: > [@](#): > > Not everything was listed in the catalog, but you could negotiate with the company for pretty much whatever you wanted. One school in Erie, Pennsylvania even saved up 5.4 million Green Stamps to **but** a pair of gorillas for a local zoo! (emphasis added) I _hope_ that was a typo! (edited to fix vB tag) [Edited by Arnold Winkelried on 07-20-2001 at 04:11 PM] ---
**Author:** ![Michelynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Michelynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michelynn)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2001, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-could-do-anything-with-green-stamps/73243/2 "2001-07-22T13:06:53Z")
In the sixties in central Illinois, Gold Bond Stamps were Green Stamps’ biggest rival. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2001, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-could-do-anything-with-green-stamps/73243/3 "2001-07-25T23:44:11Z")
ANYTHING?? I hear tell thats how a certain president got elected…😉 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-could-do-anything-with-green-stamps/73243/4 "2001-07-26T01:50:38Z")
I’m surprised **Eutychus** didn’t point out the today’s Green Stamps, the ubiquitous _frequent flyer miles_; they have really become the same kind of promotional gimmick. Now, any marketer or retailer can purchase FFM’s from the airlines and award them to their own customers. Moreover, FFM’s can be redeemed for practically anything, from electronics, to fine wine or furniture. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-could-do-anything-with-green-stamps/73243/5 "2001-07-26T05:51:28Z")
I worked at a chain grocery store that was still offering Green Stamps in the mid/late '80s. Quite often, as I’d be handing the stamps to a customer, she (or he) would say something like, “Oh no, dear, I don’t save those. Does your mother save them? Just take them home to her.” We got a new coffeemaker out of that deal 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-could-do-anything-with-green-stamps/73243/6 "2001-07-26T12:09:31Z")
We used to have a whole drawer full of S&H Green stamps, plaid stamps, and Two Guys stamps (named after the huge chain store “Two Guys from Harrison”, which had a store in nearby East Brunswick NJ). There was also one other variety of Green Stamps besides S&H, but I can’t recall the name now. I’ve never done the calculations, and I don’t have a catalog now, but I got the impression that the more stamps you needed to obtain an item, the less each stamp was worth. In other words, if you divided the actual cost of an item by the number of stamps required, you wouldn’t have the same result – more expensive items would actually have smaller “per stamp” values. Has anyone ever looked into this? Do I have it backwards? ---
**Author:** ![Scotticher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scotticher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotticher)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-could-do-anything-with-green-stamps/73243/7 "2001-07-26T16:17:15Z")
Ohhhh…I want some plaid stamps! ---
**Author:** ![Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myron_Van_Horowitzski)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2001, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-could-do-anything-with-green-stamps/73243/8 "2001-07-31T13:40:43Z")
Hey, don’t forget Betty Crocker coupons. My SO and I got a 16 place silver plate flatware set for less than half price. (We eat a lot of Wheaties and Cheerios) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2001, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-could-do-anything-with-green-stamps/73243/9 "2001-07-31T16:18:02Z")
So, do they still have Raleigh coupons on packs of Raleigh and Bel-Air ciggies?