GREEN SHIELD stamps

How we all became stuck on one of the original loyalty schemes

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Before the days of reward cards and supermarket apps, there was the savings scheme called Green Shield Stamps. These tiny green rectangles were handed out in shops and petrol stations. The more you spent, the more you received, and the bigger the reward.

In the beginning

The scheme was launched in 1958 by Richard Tompkins, who later introduced us to that other British retail institution, Argos. The idea was simple: collect stamps while shopping, stick them into designated booklets, and exchange the completed booklets for an item from the Green Shield catalogue. In the early days, stamps were handed out at corner shops, grocers and petrol stations. Then in 1963, Tesco signed up, and Green Shield became a household name. By the 1970s almost every home in the UK had a collection of stamp books stashed in a kitchen drawer.

A sticky business