During lunch today, some coworkers and I were talking about things from back in the day, when the topic of Top Value and S&H trading stamps came up. Needless to say, we felt old when a coworker had no clue what we were talking about. It reminded me of this TWIT post from 2004.
My co-worker Adrian and I were discussing the Planet Lunch Points on his individually packaged bags of Frito Lays products. The Planet Lunch Points can be redeemed for merchandise. We decided to try and save enough points to get a $25 Pizza Hut gift card. This discussion led us to the topic of the frequent flyer miles and old school trading stamps. When I was growing up in the 60's (damn, that sounds old) stores and gas stations in our area would give their customers Top Value stamps. Some stores here gave out S & H Green stamps, but in keeping with the family tradition, we only saved Top Value.
When Dad would put gas in the car, the attendant handed him Top Value stamps. When we bought groceries, the cashier would give us stamps from a dispenser that sat beside the cash register. When Mom and Grandma changed purses, a few Top Value stamps would fall out, stuck to a Kleenax or a Certs wrapper. When I would go with my family to get gas or groceries, if I behaved and didn't act up in the store, I would get the stamps. That was incentive enough to be on my best behavior. As soon as we would get home, I would run and get the cigar box from underneath my bed that held the priceless stamp books, and the pasting would begin. I still remember what was at the top of each page - "Paste one single stamp in each of the fifty blocks on this page or paste one Top Value 50 here." The coveted 50's!! I usually had singles, but they all added up. I remember how if I didn't move fast enough, the stamps would start to dry after I licked them, and then I'd have to get the glue. You had to be very careful when using the glue, because it would seep through the little perforations on the stamps and before you knew it, you'd glue the pages together.
When I thought I had "enough" books, Mom and Grandma would take me to the Top Value catalog store, where I could buy something with my books of stamps. The store clerk carefully inspected the books, counting points per page to catch any attampts to defraud Top Value. I still have one item I bought with my books of stamps - a shiny copper cookie press.
Shopping with stamps wasn't the only way to acquire sixtie's era stuff without paying for it. We had a set of drinking glasses from the gas station whose value rested on the number of gallons purchased. At today's prices, they should hand out Bacarat crystal. And we owned quite a few towels that were included in boxes of Breeze detergent, so happily advertised by Dolly Parton on "The Porter Waggoner Show." People went after this stuff the way kids paw to the bottom of a box of Cracker Jacks looking for "the prize."
I like remembering that I was once so young that my most immediate goal in life was to fill five books of Top Value stamps. I'd like for things to be that simple again, even for just a little while.
