Coupon and IOU history

[Lady Day]

I was noodlin' around the google looking for vintage coupons and came across some relative brief histories of the coupon.

From this article.

In 1894, Atlanta businessman and co-owner of Coca-Cola Asa Candler used handwritten tickets for a free glass of Coca-Cola to help market his new soft drink. Within one decade Coca-Cola was in every state and within two decades one in every nine Americans had received a free Coca-Cola soft drink.
One year later, grocer C.W. Post began using coupons to help sell groceries. His coupon gave people a one cent discount on his new breakfast cereal, Grape Nuts.
During the dirty thirties clipping coupons had become necessary for many American families who struggled to afford groceries.
By the 1940s chain supermarkets, which were popping up all over the country, continued the tradition of using coupons that the smaller neighborhood grocery stores had developed.
In 1957, The Nielson Coupon Clearing House was established devoted entirely to coupon redemption.
Half of all American households were clipping coupons by 1965.
By the mid 1990s retailers began offering printable coupons which could be downloaded from the Internet. The new millennium saw internet retailers using coupons in the form of coupon codes to encourage shoppers to buy their products. These codes are also commonly referred to as "discount codes", "key codes", "promo codes", "promotional codes", "promotion codes", "shopping codes", "source codes" or "voucher codes". Most online coupons provided for a reduced cost, percentage discount or free shipping on orders.
By 2006 one of the most popular online coupons is the free shipping coupon which gives the shopper free shipping on their purchase. Free shipping has become one of the most important factors in determining where to buy online.

Then I went on a hunt for actual coupons and found a nice little site, showcasing mainly coupons from the 50s and 60s.

The ritual of the coupon is so embedded in our society, Im curious about coupons and IOUs from the 30s through war time. Can anyone site some good resources? Images of IOUs Id love to see. Did parents/grandparents of people here use them to their fullest extent? If so, did it make a difference in stretching a dollar?

Thanks
LD

 

[LizzieMaine]

The most common sort of coupons thru the '30s were premiums given away with purchases of various products, and redeemable for merchandise in an accompanying catalog. They tended to be very fancy and ornate, looking more like currency than advertising:

The most popular coupons were those given away by the United Cigar Stores chain, which began the program around the turn of the century and continued it for decades. Octagon soap coupons were extremely popular premium giveaways as well -- the coupon was part of the soap's printed wrapper, and would be clipped off and saved until enough had accumulated to redeem for merchandise.

Grocery chains would issue "Profit-Sharing Coupons," which were sort of like trading stamps in that you'd earn a given number of coupons per purchase and could redeem them later for merchandise.

 

[Elaina]

I remember Green Stamps. When they were going out of style in the 80s and closing stores, my dad I drove 4 hours to redeem the nearly 5000 books my mom had, including some from the 30s her grandmother had.

Not quite what you had in mind, but I remember them.

 

[Lady Day]

What great info, keep it commin' people!

LD

 

[John in Covina]

The use of coupons is a tremendous industry these days and counterfit coupons can cost a company a ton of money. The wording and layout of a coupon is carefully constructed to ward off many problems that have cropped up over time.

I recall an article that had a fake coupon item sting in the coupon circulars to catch supermarkets that were padding the redemptions.

 

[bd3]

The use of coupons is a tremendous industry these days and counterfit coupons can cost a company a ton of money. The wording and layout of a coupon is carefully constructed to ward off many problems that have cropped up over time.

I recall an article that had a fake coupon item sting in the coupon circulars to catch supermarkets that were padding the redemptions.

When I was a teen I worked for a locally owned grocery. During the evening hours when business was slow the owner had the cashiers go through old magazines cutting out the coupons to turn them in.

 

[DecoDahlia]

Green Stamps

I was curious about the old S & H Green Stamps too, as, I remember when you got the stamps then had to paste them into a booklet, so I Googled them, and found that they're still around, only, they're now called Greenpoints, and can be earned with online purchases from participating retailers, as well as some markets. This is what I found:

http://www.greenpoints.com/shopping/shp_shopat_gp.asp

Apparently, you can still redeem any old Green Stamps you have:

http://www.greenpoints.com/info/inf_help_faquse.asp#STAMPWORTH

 

[cassylynn]

I remember as a little girl going to Sunnyway Foods (a local grocery store) with my grandmother and waiting impatiently in line while the clerk rang our food up to see how many stamps we got that day. Then I would sit at the table while she put the food away licking and sticking the stamps in the book. The next time we had enough stamps we would visit the store's reception area where we would redeem the stamps for a Turkey at Thanksgiving, a Ham at Christmas & Easter. Of course they stopped handing out the stamps when the other grocery store's started giving out the plastic point cards, but I would hand over my plastic cards any day for the little books and stamps lol