S & H Greenstamps

the s & h greenstamp redemption center in west barrington, rhode island was a magnificent place, a long time ago.

when i was a kid they gave out s & h greenstamps at almacs, the grocery store in downtown barrington. i don't know what the ratio was between dollars spent and stamps issued, but after the total purchase amount was determined, the cashier would tap in the dollar amount of our purchase in the fancy stamp dispenser on top of her register, spin the wheel, and like magic strings and strings of tiny green stamps would swirl around her hands and into ours (mom's).

in the very olden days the stamps came out like teeny tiny green rectangles, all in perfect sheets of perforation-- red-"s" stamped splendor. in the nearly not so olden days, an innovation resulted into larger green stamps worth 10 each. so instead of filling an entire page with tiny stamps you could lick one column of the tenners for the same value. genius!

when i was ten and less, big sister susie and i would spend rainy saturdays in front of the tv. small dishes of water with scraps of clean sponges in them...empty "books", and plastic bags filled with stamps as we sat on the couch with tv trays licking and sticking.

the monkees and hr puffenstuff and katherine hepburne entertained us as the stickly sweet smell of glue filled those pages and turned our tongues green.

you could get almost anything you needed or wanted with greenstamps. electric blankets, silver plated candleabras, tiny backyard grills, stuffed animals, tablecloths, china and flatware, an amazing array of household goods -- all for a price. 10 books, 150 books, 3 books...

just before 6th grade i turned in my books for a floppy stuffed dalmation with a bell in his ear and i named him floppy. a few weeks later i came down with an odd and scary case of bronchitus, almost died. i spilled orange soda on him during a coughing fit and stained his left hind rump. felt bad about that. not sure what happened to him.

years later, when i married the first time ,my mom turned over a basketful of greenstamp books to me and my groom and off we went, my new husband and i. we selected stoneware dishes (service for four), an electric blanket, flatware with woodgrain handles, and, of course a toaster.

all the things i thought you were supposed to have once you became a grownup.

all my work paid off, those saturdays. i had everything i needed to be a true grown up.

all from the redemption center in west barrington, rhode island.

turns out (30 years later) that s & h didn't have quite everything i needed to be a grown up.

but there might be another redemption center someplace,

i'll keep looking.