Green Shield Stamps – did you collect them?

Green Shield Stamps seemed to be everywhere during the sixties and seventies and the UK had never seen anything like it. But what where they?

The Green Shield Stamp scheme was introduced into the UK in 1958 by Richard Tompkins based along the same lines as the successful Sperry & Hutchinson Green Stamps in the US.

Essentially a sales promotion or incentive scheme designed to encourage shopping, Green Shield Stamps were given to shoppers with every purchase. It was widely adopted with most shops, supermarkets and petrol stations signed up to the scheme.

The number of stamps each shopper received depended on how much was spent in the store. The more money you spent, the more stamps you got. The stamps were then stuck into a book and with no easy adhesives like today, the back of each stamp had to be licked. There were 40 stamps to a page and about 32 pages to a book.

When the book was full it could be redeemed at a Green Shield shop for all manner of household goods chosen from their catalogue.

The scheme was administered from a tall newly built building in Edgware, London known as the Green Shield Tower.

Popular while it lasted, the scheme suffered when Tesco eventually stopped using it and cut their prices across the board instead. This simple value for money approach proved so popular with shoppers that other retailers were forced to follow suit and the use of Green Shield Stamps started to decline.

In order to retain business, Richard Tompkins reportedly had a brainwave while holidaying in the Greek city of Argos. He came up with the idea that his Green Shield shops should start to accept cash alongside stamps. Soon the catalogue shops became cash only and were rebranded as Argos from 1973.

Although Green Shield stamps are not in use today, did you enjoy collecting them and sticking them into their book? What did you buy with them?

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Melina - Assistant Editor

Hi I'm Melina, a mother of 3 teenage children and with a particular interest in all things health related. I run a busy household and smallholding alongside my work with Silversurfers, which currently includes dogs, fish, hens, ducks and pigs!

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