If you are a Winnipeg baby boomer, chances are you can remember your mother collecting trading stamps from the local I.G.A. and Loblaws grocery stores. But you might not recall the controversy around these little stickers.
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| A collection of vintage trading stamps [1] |
It’s a simple idea. Grocery chains buy stamps in bulk from a specific stamp company, along with stamp books, catalogues and premiums. The customer receives one stamp for every 10 cents she spends, and each stamp has a face value of one-fifth of a cent. These stamps are pasted into books that hold 1,500 stamps, and are redeemed at the store for catalogue items. Loblaws teamed up with Simpsons-Sears, which allowed customers to exchange stamps for the department store’s gift certificates.
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| Loblaws introduced Lucky Green Stamps in Winnipeg in 1959. [2] |
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| The Loblaws Lucky Green Stamps catalogue featured a wide array of products. |
Available merchandise was mostly kitchen and household goods for housewives, but included items for the whole family, such as clothing, sports gear, toys, radios, cameras, tools, luggage, and more.
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| A sampling of goods available from the Loblaws Lucky Green Stamps catalogue, c. 1960. The briefcase took 2¼ books of stamps, the Corning Dutch oven 4¼ books, the “telephone gossip bench” 7¼ books, the binoculars 9½ books, and the vaporizer 2¼ books. |
History
Trading stamps peaked in the 1950s and 1960s, but actually date back to the turn of the century. In the United States, Schuster’s Department Store in Milwaukee introduced the concept in 1890. Six years later, Sperry and Hutchinson began selling trading stamps and quickly grew to become the major player in the business. By 1964 S&H boasted it was printing three times as many trading stamps as the U.S. post office. [3]
The S&H Green Stamp became a pop icon, immortalized by Andy Warhol in the early 1960s.
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| Andy Warhol, "S&H Green Stamps," 1965 [4] |
In Ontario, about 95 Independent Grocers Alliance (I.G.A.) introduced Gold Bond trading stamps in 1956. The initiative was a great success; these retailers reported an average increase in sales of 40-45 per cent. Other grocery retailers ventured into stamp programs of their own, but in Manitoba they were most evident in Loblaw and I.G.A. stores. Winnipeg I.G.A. stores introduced trading stamps in 1959.
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M. Loeb, Ltd. brought the Gold Bond concept to Ottawa in 1956 after seeing its Minneapolis operation. [5]
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The rise of the trading stamp echoed that of the suburbs, the retail environment, and general economic growth. Competition grew along with the expansion of retail outlets, and trading stamps helped grocers lure customers.
Supermarkets boomed in the palmy postwar period and big manufacturers vied for the best shelf space. They began to offer bribes by picking up part of the tab for advertising. They offered gaudier packages, more sizes, more brands. The items in the average market doubled to six thousand, and the housewife found it hard to remember prices. So price became less important, except on staples, anti the era of gimmick promotion dawned. [6]
Trading stamp programs were promoted as a reward for customer loyalty, and appealed to young housewives in particular. Men were largely disinterested, but their wives embraced stamps and the top brand catalogue merchandise they were reluctant to buy otherwise. The lure of something for nothing was powerful, and some were quite addicted to the program, explained retail expert Dr. Persia Campbell. Housewives could avoid arguments at home, Campbell said, because “many husbands will let their wives spend as much as they like on food but will keep a close check on so-called luxury items.” [7]
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| The bottom of a 1963 full-page I.G.A. ad in the Winnipeg Tribune offered 50 extra stamps for cashing Family Allowance cheques. [8] |
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| Not to be outdone, the top of a full-page Winnipeg Loblaws ad featured extra stamps with the purchase of specific grocery items. [9] |
Stamp programs appealed to charities, sports teams, and other groups who could pool their collections to acquire merchandise for their schools, churches and clubhouses. But other civic-minded people saw things differently, and declared war on trading stamps.
With the possible exception of wartime rationing and price control, no consumer controversy in a generation has so aroused the interest—and the tempers—of shoppers and retailers alike. [10]
The trading stamp war received much attention in the press across the U.S. and Canada, including multi-page articles in major magazines like LIFE, Macleans, the Star Weekly, and the Winnipeg Tribune’s weekend supplement. Editors found the subject a hot topic that stirred passions on both sides.
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| The trading stamps craze headline shared the front cover of LIFE magazine with the Queen on March 4, 1957. The issue included a multi-page article on the trade stamp issue. [11] |
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| The Star Weekly advertised its upcoming examination of the controversy in several Canadian newspapers, like the Winnipeg Tribune, January 19, 1960. [12] |
Opposition arose from consumer groups, competing retailers, and industry organizations. Politicians were pressured from all sides. The idea never took hold in western Canada in particular. BC retailers were threatened with cancellation of their business licences if they introduced stamps. In Saskatchewan dozens of charges were laid against OK Economy stores (related to Loblaws) and the Attorney-General threatened to post police officers in stores and lay charges each time stamps were given out. In Alberta, anti-stamp campaigns were launched by organizations like the Retail Merchants Association, the Better Business Bureau, competing store chains, and the Canadian Association of Consumers (CAC).
The CAC of “twenty-six thousand strong and representing another half million housewives through its sixteen affiliated women’s groups” [13] was especially vocal in its demands that all governments ban trading stamps outright. They rallied for a reduction in prices, better service, good parking and honest advertising instead. Coupons and stamps, they insisted, were merely bribes that “tempt women to spend foolishly, make quality secondary and lower merchandising ethics.” [14]
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| Isabel Atkinson, president of the Canadian Association of Consumers and a force to be reckoned with, asserted that illegal stamps just increased the cost of goods. [15] |
The Associated Grocers admitted that although it took a lot of stamps and time to earn merchandise, “there’s some sort of hypnotic attraction in getting free stamps and pasting them in a book.” The collecting instinct lured women who felt thrifty and could “satisfy their desire for possessions without feeling guilty about buying something they can’t really afford” without needing to ask their husbands. [16]
In a 1960 Winnipeg Tribune article meant to be satirical and entertaining (but misfired badly on both counts), Eric Nicol wrote that stamps enable women “to obtain things like new toasters and cameras that their husbands would not otherwise let them buy out of housekeeping money.” His shocking and not-at-all-funny column then stated:
Legislation action, if any, should not be restrictive on the merchant who offers stamps but permissive for the husband to beat his wife if she uses them. Far from being the gullible victims of a merchandising gimmick, housewives are using trading stamps to pull the wool over the old man’s budget. Mama and the merchants are in cahoots.
The natural weapon, the flat of the hand administered briskly to the backside immediately upon discovery of the housewife’s fraternizing with a food retailer, may not be practical, particular for small husbands with large wives. [17]
More rational opponents charged that trading stamp programs gave the large retail chains an advantage over small independent businesses. Critics also asserted that the program overhead (estimated at 2% of sales volumes) led to higher food prices, and that stamps distracted shoppers from noticing this. A co-op approach awarding members dividends was suggested as an alternative. The CAC called stamps a bribe, noting that shoppers who didn’t use the stamps were, in effect, paying for those who did, or to the stamp manufacturer. Non-stamp grocery chains called the scheme “a cancer that just keeps growing” and said gimmicks were “parasites preying on customers’ gullibility.” [18]
Participating grocers countered by explaining the program costs were covered by increased business, profits on non-food items (which had higher markups), and the savings from reduced advertising budgets. These retailers reminded detractors that they still were competitive, no matter what. Studies were inconclusive and it was not proven that stamp programs alone increased food prices. In any case, merchandise earned with stamps would more than offset any price increase at the checkout.
The Long Arm of the Law
In Canada, the introduction of what seemed a simple customer loyalty plan was complicated by the Criminal Code. In 1905 legislation outlawed trading stamps after an unscrupulous American stamp agent had fleeced Canadian retailers and disappeared. Originally intended to stymie racketeers, the law remained in effect until 2017, when Bill C-51 repealed several outdated Criminal Code offences, including the issuing of trading stamps. [19]
The 1905 legislation was vague and confusing, but Canadian grocers determined that trading stamp programs could be offered legally if:
· Stamps had their value printed on them
· The place of issue was printed on the stamps
· Retailers had title to the merchandise in the catalogue
· Stamps could be redeemed only by the merchant who issued them
· Stamps could be redeemed at any time on presentation to the merchant [20]
In 1959, Canada’s Justice Minister Fulton declared that “only provincial legislatures can control, regulate or abolish trading stamps.” [21] This did nothing to clarify the legislation whatsoever.
When is a Trading Stamp not a Trading Stamp?
While the pros and cons of trading stamps were being volleyed back and forth, the legal question was tested in cases that went all the way to Canada’s Supreme Court. Arguments focused on whether the trading stamps were in fact “trading stamps” as defined in legislation. If the stamps could be redeemed on demand, they were legal.
Jelly Beans, Cupcake Liners, a Safety Pin and the Supreme Court
The situation seemed absurd, but was taken seriously by law enforcement, who tested this technicality in actual store visits in 1959 and 1960. In Regina, a policewoman entered two O.K. Economy Stores (a subsidiary of Loblaws) and was able to redeem trading stamps on the spot for jelly beans, a folder of matches, and two sticks of gum. [22]
In Winnipeg on November 17, 1959, a detective bought a 10-cent tin of sardines from the Loblaws at 1445 Main Street, and received a single stamp. It was immediately redeemed for two paper cupcake liners. At an I.G.A. on Niagara Street a single “Thank You” stamp was redeemed for a safety pin.
In another instance, a pair of detectives bought a 69-cent plastic jug at a Loblaws store and received six stamps. Because the manager said he could not redeem them on the spot, he contravened the Criminal Code of Canada and was convicted. In defence, a divisional manager testified that store staff had been told they could redeem even a single trading stamp with items like matches or chewing gum.
Not redeeming a stamp upon receipt, if requested, meant that the trading stamp was indeed a “trading stamp,” and charges of “issuing stamps and providing only token premiums of a paper drinking cup and safety pin when issued stamps were turned in for immediate redemption” could be laid. [23]
Manitoba Magistrate C.W. Tupper dismissed charges against I.G.A. and Loblaws, but the Crown appealed the ruling. The case went to the Supreme Court and a unanimous decision [24] was announced on December 19, 1960:
The legality of trading stamps issued by two of Canada’s largest chain food stores was upheld today by the Supreme Court of Canada. The court in a unanimous decision dismissed an appeal by the attorney-general of Manitoba against lower court judgments ruling that stamps issued by Loblaw Groceteria Company (Manitoba) Limited and an Independent Alliance [I.G.A.] store are not illegal trading stamps within the meaning of the Criminal Code. [25]
A safety pin saved the day. The ruling was a welcome relief to retailers, who finally had some clarity and could carry on with their programs.
The use of trading stamps declined in the 1970s. Because so many different chains used them, they no longer assured customer loyalty. The energy crisis at the time led gas station and supermarket customers to focus on lower prices instead, and coupons came to the fore. Today branded digital loyalty cards and phone apps like Air Miles and PC Optimum Points Reward Card programs are the norm.
Sources
- Canadian Stamps and collectables of Bwdavis, http://bwdavis.ca/canada---trading--savings-stamps.html
- Ibid.
- Miss Cellania, “Free with Purchase: The Age of the Trading Stamps,” Neatorama Blog, https://www.neatorama.com/2015/03/17/Free-with-Purchase-The-Age-of-Trading-Stamps
- Artspace, “S&H Green Stamps” by Andy Warhol, 1965, https://www.artspace.com/andy_warhol/sh-green-stamps-feldman-schellman-119
- Canadian Stamps and collectables of Bwdavis, http://bwdavis.ca/canada---trading--savings-stamps.html
- Alan Phillips, “Is anybody winning the trading-stamp war?” Macleans, January 2, 1960, https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1960/1/2/is-anybody-winning-the-trading-stamp-war
- Robert McKeown, “Trading Stamps: Gifts of Gimmicks?” Winnipeg Tribune, January 16, 1960, Weekend supplement, p2.
- Excerpt from I.G.A. ad, Winnipeg Tribune, February 20, 1963, p15.
- Excerpt from Loblaws ad, Winnipeg Tribune, September 11, 1963, p11.
- Robert McKeown, p2.
- LIFE magazine, March 4, 1957, https://books.google.ca/books?id=rUEEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA114&pg=PA126#v=twopage&q&f=true
- Star Weekly advertisement, “Trading stamps—bait or bonus?” Winnipeg Tribune, January 19, 1960, p3.
- Alan Phillips
- Ibid.
- Robert McKeown, p4.
- Alan Phillips
- Eric Nicol, “Fuel Added To Battle Of Sexes,” Winnipeg Tribune, March 25, 1960, p24.
- Alan Phillips
- Department of Justice, https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/pl/cuol-mgnl/c51.html
- Robert McKeown, p2.
- “Stamp Laws To Be Amended,” Medicine Hat News, November 3, 1959, p1.
- “Stamp Case Judgement Reserved,” Medicine Hat News, December 1, 1959, p1.
- “Stamp Decision Reserved,” Winnipeg Free Press, March 18, 1960, p2.
- “The Queen v. Loblaw Groceteria Company (Manitoba) Limited / The Queen v. Thomson,” https://decisions.scc-csc.ca/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/6364/index.do
- “Jurists Approve Trading Stamps,” Winnipeg Free Press, December 19, 1960, p12.
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