Green Shield Stamps

Degsy

Whatever happened to these? they were huge back in the 1970's with hordes of middle-aged owl ones collecting them obsessively.
cant remember too much about them though myself..

stargazer 68

I remember my mum and granny collecting these. We used to fight over who was going to lick them and stick them in the books. It was great to watch the book getting filled up and then they would go and exchange them for dinner sets and kettles.
:D

kelle

I remember them too. This picture just brings back memories!

I remember Mum trying to save up for an electric whisk, but she never got there.

jos28

I remember going in to collect the items. They had a place in Henry St, where the entrance to Jervis St centre is now. Once you handed in your completed books, they sent your order to the office in one of those capsules that disappeared up a tube with a whoosh ! Very exciting when you are only 7

gipi

They were the shopping loyalty card of their day - I remember my father getting green shield stamps when he bought petrol!

Run_to_da_hills

These things were a classic example of Weimer inflation. Every time you wanted something big like a childs bicycle the amount needed would almost double by the time you saved up for it.

Fittle

We always bought those stripy flannelette sheets with them - I always associated those sheets with Green Shield Stamps!! I also remember the queue and that tube with the 'whooosh'...I can almost see my mother in her 'smock' standing beside me (many moons ago)..:(

merlie

I remember my mum collecting these. I think if I rightly recall, there used to be a booklet to place them in. My mum used to get things from another stamp company, "The Golden Goose". They are long gone as well now.

I recall my mum getting loads of fancy pyrex dishes complete with stands for them and bundles of towels from both Green Shield and Golden Goose!

Beasty

Green shield stamps were the forerunner of Argos. The catalogue idea was taken up in 1973, when the Green Shield stamps redemption shops were converted to Argos stores in the UK

whatswhat

Dovies wrote: »

I remember my mum and granny collecting these. We used to fight over who was going to lick them and stick them in the books. It was great to watch the book getting filled up and then they would go and exchange them for dinner sets and kettles.
:D

My granny used to save them all up each week until we visited her on Sundays. She knew it would take me and my little sister ages to stick them in the book, absolutley straight, so she could watch Racing or Wrestling on tv, in peace!

Judgement Day

I seem to remember that the Green Shield HQ in Ireland was on the Main Street in Dundrum - if I'm not mistaken in this building which now serves as the Permanent TSB. I grew in with my Grandparents and they no longer drove so very few opportunities to pick up Green Shield stamps as they were largely given away at filling stations.

Okay - I know when I'm beaten. I have the wretched place on Google Streetview but can't stick it on here after 4/5 attempts. I did it yesterday but I use it so infrequently. Help???

lord lucan

This it?

http://maps.google.ie/maps?q=permanent+tsb&hl=en&ll=53.290046,-6.244386&spn=0,0.010568&sll=53.291508,-6.243614&sspn=0.003534,0.010568&t=h&radius=0.26&z=17&layer=c&cbll=53.290196,-6.244624&panoid=r6ii3uVO_MIqmTQcghHixQ&cbp=12,71.85,,0,0

Judgement Day

The very place.

byte

I remember an alternative to Green Shield stamps. IIRC, they were red stamp books and nearly sure it said SMA on it somewhere.

Similar idea I think, though maybe less items to choose from in the catalogue.

I guess it's all Loyalty Cards nowadays.

LoanShark

My Dad was the last Green Shield Rep to be on the road for them.. He always said the end of the company came when people were expected to give money along with the book of the stamps..

I always remember loads of stamps being around our house for different men to come and collect for their shops..

My mam still has a food mixer that she got from them and it still works perfectly..

Degsy

They had a place in the Robinhood Industrial Estate if i remember,my granny got a folding table and had to carry it on two buses whilst it was wrapped in this hideous greenshield stamp paper.

kelle

One memory I have of the Green Shield stamps was they were so bitter and sticky to lick, very different to postage stamps. Even though I was only 6-7 when my mum collected them, this has remained in my memory!

Thomas828

The last shop I remember doing Green Shield stamps was Shukla's in the Antrim Road in Belfast. This was round about 1988, and the scheme had had its day.

My Granny used to collect Co-Op saving stamps and they worked on the same principle as Green Shield.