Trading stamp

The practice of retailers issuing trading stamps started in 1891 at Schuster's Department Store, Wisconsin.

One example was L. H. Parke Company a Philadelphia and Pittsburgh manufacturer and distributor of food products that included coffee, tea and spices along with canned goods.

Parke established showrooms in their headquarters buildings in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh where customers could inspect and obtain premium goods.

[5] The intent was to get customers to be loyal to the merchant, so that they would continue shopping there to obtain enough stamps to redeem for merchandise.

[6] Books could also be sent to the trading stamp company in exchange for premium merchandise via mail order catalogs.

[3][13] Some merchant groups disliked trading stamps and actively worked to have them banned in their areas.

Gasoline service stations stopped offering them due to the energy crisis that occurred and many supermarkets started spending more money to advertise lower prices rather than issue stamps.

[19] Through the 1990s and early 2000s the majority of the remaining trading stamp companies either ceased operations or converted to an online format.

[24] The S&H Company began offering their stamps in the United Kingdom as well but with the color changed to pink.

[25] In 1965, the British co-operative movement began offering trading stamps as a new means of allocating patronage dividends to its consumer members.