This Nostalgic Life Issue #8
Green stamps, nostalgic podcasts, and more!
You’ve got a fresh issue of This Nostalgic Life to enjoy now, and in this issue, we’ve got some fun nostalgia to relive, so let’s get right into it!
Looking Back at Green Stamps
by Mick Lee
Raise your hand if you remember S&H Green Stamps. For those of you without telepathy, my hand is high in the air. That’s because I certainly remember Green Stamps. Now, for those of you who don’t remember them, or aren’t old enough to know about them, let me give you a brief summary of what they were.
I guess the easiest way to explain them would be to say that they were like bonus points you get when you use your credit card or frequent flyer miles that you can rack up with the airlines but for everyday things. The most common place you would get them was at grocery stores. How much you spent on your grocery shopping trip determined how many green stamps you earned. The stamps were issued in denominations of one, ten, and fifty points.
There was a little machine next to the register, and the cashier would dial up how many stamps you had earned and it would spit them out. The actual green stamps themselves were about the size of a postage stamp, and worked in much the same way, as you had to lick the back of them to stick them in the green stamp books. They were so popular that at one time, S&H claimed they issued three times as many stamps as the U.S. Postal Service.
Now those books, once they were filled, could be used to buy all sorts of stuff from the Green Stamps Catalog. It was usually the type of merchandise you would find at a Dollar General store, but they also carried some nicer items as well. So for just doing what you normally would by doing your weekly grocery shopping, you earned some free shopping spree money! These things were so popular, that the grocery stores used them as a way to bring in folks. They would often run “double stamp day” promotions where you would earn double the amount of green stamps that you normally would. This was a big deal in my house, and shopping day always lined up with double stamp day.
My Mom had a drawer in the kitchen set aside for just her green stamps. Nothing else was allowed in there, and when it was emptied, we would start the slow process of filling it up with books once again.
Unless something really caught her eye in the catalog, she wouldn’t spend any of her stamps until Christmas each year. She kept track of how many stamps she had and would pour over the green stamp catalog looking for Christmas presents in much the same way us kids did with the Sears Wish Book. She would make out her list, gather her stamps, and we would head off to the Green Stamp Store.
Did I forget to mention the Green Stamp Store? I guess I did. See, not only could you use your stamps to order from their catalog, but they also had full-blown stores around the country as well. The closest one to us was an hour away, but we would make the trip once a year for her to use her stamps to buy some Christmas presents. It was usually the same trip where we went to the mall for Christmas. Yes, when I was growing up, I only got to go to the mall once a year. We’d also stop by a few other places I only saw once a year.
But anyway, we would load up and head off to the Green Stamp store with all of her stamps in tow. I had somewhat of a vested interest in this whole process because I am the one she entrusted the responsibility to get all the stamps into the books. This meant that after each trip to the store, I would lick the backs of all the stamps we had gotten and paste them into their books.
The gifts she used these things on were usually for those people on the fringe of your gift-giving list. Like at the family Christmas party, we didn’t give gifts to everyone there, just the person whose name you had ended up drawing a month before. So with two family parties and 4 names drawn for each, she would look hard to find eight suitable gifts that could be bought with her stamps. It was frugal, but it was a good way to get folks a gift, but still not crush the budget by spending cash on them.
Green Stamps started losing steam and popularity in the 80’s. As their popularity peaked, the retailers themselves took notice and began programs of their own. Things like frequent flyer programs and points back on credit cards stemmed directly from the popularity of the Green Stamps program.
I can’t recall exactly when we stopped getting them, but I know we were still getting and using them as late as 1988. It’s not a concept that would work in our world today, but S&H tried to make them a thing again recently and failed, but it sure is fun to think back on them now.
by Eric Vardeman
This week we have some audio nuggets for you. I'm a huge fan of podcasts and I've have a gaggle of retro-themed podcasts that I enjoy and thought you might too so I'm passing them along! I get all my podcasts via Spotify but they're all available wherever you get your podcast content. Here we go!
"Everything '80s" - a look back at movies, music, games, TV and more from the greatest decade ever.
"Children of the 80s" - similar to "Everything '80s" but more conversational and humorous. I just discovered this one and I've only heard four or five episodes but I really enjoy it.
"Walks With My Dog, Laska" - a stream of consciousness podcast hosted by Mr. "Sunglasses At Night" himself, Corey Hart. He tells stories about his career and songs while he walks his dog. He just started but I've enjoyed all the episodes so far.
"9021OMG" - a re-watch podcast of one of the most iconic shows of the '90s hosted by Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth. I was a HUGE 90210 fan so this has been highly entertaining.
"The Real Brady Bros" - another re-watch podcast hosted by Greg and Peter Brady themselves, Barry Williams and Christopher Knight. I watch The Brady Bunch to this day and this one is way to funny at times.
"Still The Place" - yet another re-watch podcast of a 90's classic hosted by show stars Daphne Zuniga, Laura Leighton and Courtney Thorne-Smith. They just started this so there is much content yet but it's going to be as good as it's 90210 counterpart.
"Hey Dude...The 90's Called" - David Lascher and Christine Taylor, stars of the cult classic show "Hey Dude" rewind the 90's and interview just about everyone you can think of from 90's TV and movies. One of my favorites, they've had some great interviews on this show.
"The Greatest Lists" - hosted by yours truly and my friend, Jason. We had nearly completed two seasons when my friend (and co-host) suddenly passed away last October. To that point, we had a great time recording these shows and they're worth the listen just for the laughs, in my opinion. 😊
by Eric Vardeman
This week in 1984: Again, another INCREDIBLE set of songs making up the Top Ten. One song making it’s way up the chart is “State of Shock” from The Jackson 5 and Mick Jagger. It was written by Michael Jackson and originally a duet with Freddie Mercury. It was slated for the Thriller album however, due to schedules difficulties, Jackson ended up recording it with his brothers and Jagger instead.
This week in 1990: This week’s biggest jump is Poison’s “Unskinny Bop” which vaults from #70 into the countdown at #36. The meaning of songs title has always been shrouded in obscurity. C.C. DeVille has stated that the phrase has no particular meaning: he invented it as a temporary measure while writing the song because it was phonetically suited to the music. The song was later played for producer Bruce Fairbairn, who stated that, although he did not know what an "unskinny bop" was, the phrase was perfect.
Playlist: This Week In 1984
Playlist: This Week In 1990
In every edition of This Nostalgic Life, we like to share a curated list of nostalgia-themed articles, stories, and posts that we’ve come across recently. It gives you a chance to discover great content and remember things from your past that you may have forgotten. With that in mind, here are some things we wanted to share with you this week. (All links will open in a new tab.)
DVDs and Blu-Rays Are Dying As Most Americans No Longer By Them (Cord Cutters News)
10 Great Olympics Movies (Mental Floss)
When Ralston Ruled the Cereal Aisle (Geekster)
The Quest For the Real-Life Treasures of Atari’s Swordquest (Atlas Obscura)
21 Things People Learned in School That Have Since Been Debunked (Cracked)
Ranking Every Original Nintendo Zapper Game (Paste Magazine)
High Fidelity Film Celebrates Two Decades of Music and Misery (The Retro Network)
Sitcoms From the ‘90s Barely Anyone Remembers (Screen Rant)
Wendy’s SuperBar (Retro Ramblings)
That’s going to do it for this issue of This Nostalgic Life. If anything you’ve seen here jogs a memory for you, leave us a comment with your thoughts.