I have a bunch of 1¢ stamps that are more than a dozen years old. At that time they were useful because fixed denomination stamps were issued and the rates changed frequently. I could add a few stamps to make up the difference. Now with the forever stamps those 1¢ stamps are irrelevant. I don't have enough of them to mail a single first class letter, i.e., 63, and even if I did they would not fit on the envelope. It would be nice if the post office would buy them back, but they won't.
It must be OK to decorate the mailbox because several folks around here put literally a ton of bricks around theirs. They look like an outdoor wood burning oven with only the flap of the mail box being exposed. The flag is not exposed or usable. It looks nice until the brick casket starts to lean after so many years sitting in the mud. I've not see that here, but I have seen a few leaning towers of mailboxes up north. LOL
Major Announcement
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Re: Major Announcement
Many years ago, the post office did buy back stamps. I know because folks used them instead of cash every so often.
Years ago, postage didn't change all that often, and when it did, it was only by a penny, so I always kept a whole role of 1 cent stamps, then 2 cent stamps, etc. Over time, I managed to collect all the prices of stamps and just stuck them in envelopes with the stamp price on the envelope.
I had lived here a good ten or more years before I finally opened a few more boxes that said Office on them, and found my bundle of envelopes with stamps in them. Even so, I still only used them when I had an overweight envelope that required more postage. But recently, I've tried to use up all of them I could. I had a whole roll of 60 cent stamps, so got to use up almost all of them, plus several 35 and 25 cent stamps, then some 39 and 21 cent stamps. Since they jumped to 63 cents, when I mailed my bills out, I used three 1 cent stamps on them along with a 60 cent stamp.
I still have a large 500 count roll of Forever Stamps I bought just before I found my bundle of stamps in envelopes, so have not touched it yet. Don't remember what I paid for them, but I'll bet it was at least half of what postage is now, hi hi.
I guess they didn't put a deep enough foundation in under those brick mailboxes.
Although they are not used for that reason anymore. Do you know the Flag on the mailboxes was supposed to be Flipped Up by the mailman when he put mail into the mailbox. I do think that was before you could put outbound mail in a residential mailbox though. Even so, today you still see the mailman flip the flags up on rural routes, those who are driving private vehicles.
In St. Louis County, at least for a time, it was illegal to fill your mailbox post with cement. This was being done because of the raft of kids running mailboxes over in their cars. So was mounting your mailbox on a thick iron plate on top of a post. Because they could come through the windshield. But it was OK to build a brick mailbox, I assume because the bricks were obvious.
In one subdivision, the builder of the subdivision made mailboxes that matched the design of the house. Those were cool! But they didn't last very long. Probably made of cheap pine that rotted away fairly fast.
I have seen some quite elaborate mailboxes that looked like Victorian houses and the like. And even a few with lighting in them yet.
Years ago, postage didn't change all that often, and when it did, it was only by a penny, so I always kept a whole role of 1 cent stamps, then 2 cent stamps, etc. Over time, I managed to collect all the prices of stamps and just stuck them in envelopes with the stamp price on the envelope.
I had lived here a good ten or more years before I finally opened a few more boxes that said Office on them, and found my bundle of envelopes with stamps in them. Even so, I still only used them when I had an overweight envelope that required more postage. But recently, I've tried to use up all of them I could. I had a whole roll of 60 cent stamps, so got to use up almost all of them, plus several 35 and 25 cent stamps, then some 39 and 21 cent stamps. Since they jumped to 63 cents, when I mailed my bills out, I used three 1 cent stamps on them along with a 60 cent stamp.
I still have a large 500 count roll of Forever Stamps I bought just before I found my bundle of stamps in envelopes, so have not touched it yet. Don't remember what I paid for them, but I'll bet it was at least half of what postage is now, hi hi.
I guess they didn't put a deep enough foundation in under those brick mailboxes.
Although they are not used for that reason anymore. Do you know the Flag on the mailboxes was supposed to be Flipped Up by the mailman when he put mail into the mailbox. I do think that was before you could put outbound mail in a residential mailbox though. Even so, today you still see the mailman flip the flags up on rural routes, those who are driving private vehicles.
In St. Louis County, at least for a time, it was illegal to fill your mailbox post with cement. This was being done because of the raft of kids running mailboxes over in their cars. So was mounting your mailbox on a thick iron plate on top of a post. Because they could come through the windshield. But it was OK to build a brick mailbox, I assume because the bricks were obvious.
In one subdivision, the builder of the subdivision made mailboxes that matched the design of the house. Those were cool! But they didn't last very long. Probably made of cheap pine that rotted away fairly fast.
I have seen some quite elaborate mailboxes that looked like Victorian houses and the like. And even a few with lighting in them yet.
Re: Major Announcement
Apparently it doesn't matter how old the postage stamp is. It can be used at any time. When I was collecting stamps as a hobby, back in my teen age years, I thought I would treat myself to buying a 100 year old US Postage stamp. The dealer had both new and canceled versions of the stamp, with the canceled versions being cheaper of course. So that is what I ordered. They put that 100 year old stamp on the mailing envelope, and the post office put their cancellation imprint on it as is customary. Thus I ended up with a canceled 100 year old stamp still on the envelope - which was a plus. However, that stamp was not on a 100 year old envelope. Plus, it was in new condition when it left the stamp company. I felt that I somehow got rooked on that deal, but I did get exactly what I ordered.
My first experience with a rural type mail box was on my grandpa's farm. He, like all his neighbors, had a few of them on a rack down by the main highway. It was a short walk from the house to the mailbox but I don't think it was visible from the house. I used to love to flip up the flags, just because I could. Kids do that kind of thing. Grandpa admonished me for doing it because the flag up was a signal to the mail man that there was something to be picked up inside. I suppose that would matter if the mailman didn't have anything to deliver that day, but there were four, maybe five, mail boxes on that rack. Somebody always was getting mail so that his time spent looking inside the boxes would not have been wasted. It was a lot easier in the city. The mail was delivered by a person walking with a 50 pound sack on his/her back. No flags were involved and I don't think we were allowed to send mail. Back then there was a mail pickup box on the corner where we lived. I am pretty sure they got rid of all the residential pickup boxes now so that if you need to send mail in the city you need to go to the post office or find one of the few boxes that still remain.
My first experience with a rural type mail box was on my grandpa's farm. He, like all his neighbors, had a few of them on a rack down by the main highway. It was a short walk from the house to the mailbox but I don't think it was visible from the house. I used to love to flip up the flags, just because I could. Kids do that kind of thing. Grandpa admonished me for doing it because the flag up was a signal to the mail man that there was something to be picked up inside. I suppose that would matter if the mailman didn't have anything to deliver that day, but there were four, maybe five, mail boxes on that rack. Somebody always was getting mail so that his time spent looking inside the boxes would not have been wasted. It was a lot easier in the city. The mail was delivered by a person walking with a 50 pound sack on his/her back. No flags were involved and I don't think we were allowed to send mail. Back then there was a mail pickup box on the corner where we lived. I am pretty sure they got rid of all the residential pickup boxes now so that if you need to send mail in the city you need to go to the post office or find one of the few boxes that still remain.
Re: Major Announcement
Barbara was into stamp collecting, but almost all of hers were first issue which came with first day issue envelopes and the like, and the whole set was sealed in a hard plastic case.
She gave a few of those to my son to get him started collecting stamps, along with some stamp collecting books.
But he never got into it, and basically just glued his bag of stamps into the books in any old fashion, hi hi.
Although we were considered Rural for years, you could not send outbound mail in your mailbox.
The florist would take all of their outbound mail over to a post office inside of Grupp's tavern building, it was separate from the tavern side. Later the post office moved into Linda's Variety Store, also a separate room from the store. Then after we got our own post office building, a lot changed. You could now put mail in your mailbox and put the flag up. And they got rid of the little post mounted outbound mailboxes at minor street corners, but put in free standing mailboxes at major intersections and in shopping areas. I remember when they put the one outside of Schinzing's store. That was considered a big deal back then.
The post office itself had only three tricycle type of delivery vehicles for around town, and had private carriers handling much of the rest. Almost all of the tricycle mail delivery units were sold to the City of St. Louis for use by the Meter Maids, hi hi.
Today, we have three free-standing mailboxes outside of the post office. They just moved them around the corner about four months ago, due to traffic congestion by them.
She gave a few of those to my son to get him started collecting stamps, along with some stamp collecting books.
But he never got into it, and basically just glued his bag of stamps into the books in any old fashion, hi hi.
Although we were considered Rural for years, you could not send outbound mail in your mailbox.
The florist would take all of their outbound mail over to a post office inside of Grupp's tavern building, it was separate from the tavern side. Later the post office moved into Linda's Variety Store, also a separate room from the store. Then after we got our own post office building, a lot changed. You could now put mail in your mailbox and put the flag up. And they got rid of the little post mounted outbound mailboxes at minor street corners, but put in free standing mailboxes at major intersections and in shopping areas. I remember when they put the one outside of Schinzing's store. That was considered a big deal back then.
The post office itself had only three tricycle type of delivery vehicles for around town, and had private carriers handling much of the rest. Almost all of the tricycle mail delivery units were sold to the City of St. Louis for use by the Meter Maids, hi hi.
Today, we have three free-standing mailboxes outside of the post office. They just moved them around the corner about four months ago, due to traffic congestion by them.
Re: Major Announcement
Post offices have come a long way since my childhood. Some are full service and can do many more things besides selling stamps. Our O'Fallon post office, for example, will also take your passport photo and process the application. They have a kiosk for viewing and buying commemorative stamps as well as a small rack for holiday greeting cards. The best feature of our post office is the area where you can bring in some small items for parcel post. They have standard size boxes, stuffing, tape, and labels all readily available. Once the label is printed you attach it to the package and put it on the scale where it calculates how much money it wants to send the package. There are two slots in the wall for sending your packages and all this can be done 24/7 without the need for the post office to be open. You can also package and label things at home and just bring it in to have it all weighed and shipped. There is a size and weight limit, but we never had anything that tested the system to that point.
Removing all those local mailboxes is a cost cutting measure. It's not too bad these days given most people have cars and shop at a mall which generally has a mail drop box in it. Where I live now everybody has curbside mail boxes which are used for pickup and delivery. Large packages still have to be taken to the post office, but It's quite easy to send all my bill payments out now.
I had a few first day issue stamps but didn't do much to preserve them. One in particular was a Valentines stamp from the Loveland, Colorado post office. I had occasion to visit Loveland once and was not impressed with the town. LOL. I guess their name suited the stamp theme but there was nothing else special about Loveland. Oh, well, HP has a big manufacturing facility there, but who cares about that?
Removing all those local mailboxes is a cost cutting measure. It's not too bad these days given most people have cars and shop at a mall which generally has a mail drop box in it. Where I live now everybody has curbside mail boxes which are used for pickup and delivery. Large packages still have to be taken to the post office, but It's quite easy to send all my bill payments out now.
I had a few first day issue stamps but didn't do much to preserve them. One in particular was a Valentines stamp from the Loveland, Colorado post office. I had occasion to visit Loveland once and was not impressed with the town. LOL. I guess their name suited the stamp theme but there was nothing else special about Loveland. Oh, well, HP has a big manufacturing facility there, but who cares about that?
Re: Major Announcement
Yepper on the post offices growing and offering more services.
Our downtown post office also offers packaging services. But not the satellite post offices.
I've been to Hell before, and even stopped in their post office, plus had some pictures taken outside the post office.
There was a sign on the road coming into town which said "Welcome to HELL" and the post office sign on the gable said "Hell Postal Agency" and right under that, "Grand Cayman."
I mailed out several of their post cards back then, but kept one for myself. It could be still packed away in a box somewhere, or possibly lost in the floods we had.
They have built a new post office since I was there many long years ago.
Our downtown post office also offers packaging services. But not the satellite post offices.
I've been to Hell before, and even stopped in their post office, plus had some pictures taken outside the post office.
There was a sign on the road coming into town which said "Welcome to HELL" and the post office sign on the gable said "Hell Postal Agency" and right under that, "Grand Cayman."
I mailed out several of their post cards back then, but kept one for myself. It could be still packed away in a box somewhere, or possibly lost in the floods we had.
They have built a new post office since I was there many long years ago.
Re: Major Announcement
I never stopped in, but I have passed by Hell, Michigan, a few times. A few years ago right here in O'Fallon I posted a joke picture online. It might have been here but I have a feeling it was on Facebook but it could have been Tumblr or Imgur. In any case the photo had two screen shots of the current weather conditions here in O'Fallon and there in Hell, Michigan. Yep, I captioned it to say we were colder than Hell, because were were on that particular day. I'd not be surprised if Hell had it's own commemorative stamp.
A few years ago we passed by Metropolis, Illinois. They have the Superman emblem on their water tower and a few tourist attractions to go with the theme. The USPS did in fact issue a first day stamp from the Metropolis post office and I'm pretty sure I had it sent to me. Unfortunately, like the rest of my stamp collection, all the first day issues I collected are now resting in pieces in some landfill.
A few years ago we passed by Metropolis, Illinois. They have the Superman emblem on their water tower and a few tourist attractions to go with the theme. The USPS did in fact issue a first day stamp from the Metropolis post office and I'm pretty sure I had it sent to me. Unfortunately, like the rest of my stamp collection, all the first day issues I collected are now resting in pieces in some landfill.
Re: Major Announcement
There was also a Hell Post Office in North Carolina, if I recall from my OTR days.
I've stopped at Metropolis, IL many times during my travels between St. Loo and Knoxville.
The place we stopped changed hands like three times in the few years I was making that trek.
I used to get the Yellow and Red Superman Sticker for my car, to replace the faded one.
You got a free drink if you had it on your car, hi hi.
Same holds true down here for Mast General Store, a glass bottle of Mexican Coke, hi hi.
Their employees are supposed to stop if they see someone parked with a Mast General Store sticker on their car, and put a $3.00 Coupon under your windshield wiper, or if they see the person who owns the car, to give them a $5.00 Coupon.
Because Debi parks by the road at Ace Hardware where she works, she's got at least 6 of the $3.00 coupons under her wiper.
I've stopped at Metropolis, IL many times during my travels between St. Loo and Knoxville.
The place we stopped changed hands like three times in the few years I was making that trek.
I used to get the Yellow and Red Superman Sticker for my car, to replace the faded one.
You got a free drink if you had it on your car, hi hi.
Same holds true down here for Mast General Store, a glass bottle of Mexican Coke, hi hi.
Their employees are supposed to stop if they see someone parked with a Mast General Store sticker on their car, and put a $3.00 Coupon under your windshield wiper, or if they see the person who owns the car, to give them a $5.00 Coupon.
Because Debi parks by the road at Ace Hardware where she works, she's got at least 6 of the $3.00 coupons under her wiper.
Re: Major Announcement
Metropolis IL is roughly half way between here and Knoxville. It makes sense you would stop there when trucking along between those two places. I suppose it's prudent for the shops in that town to do promotions. They are a tourist town after all. It's great that Deb can also take advantage of the Mast General Store discount coupons. When I first hired into Motorola many of the local shops would offer a discount to all Motorola employees. All you had to do was show them your badge. Sometimes it was trivial and at some places they took off 20%. That Motorola discount stopped being honored a few years after I started working there. I guess the company grew too large and too many people were taking advantage of the system. Now and days I get "senior" discounts. There probably are a ton of them I'm missing but I do get 20% off my water bill and $2.00 off my haircut.
Re: Major Announcement
I was normally towing a Utility Trailer back and forth, and there are not a lot of places you can stop, park, and have a bite to eat before hitting the road again.
I had about 100 50 cent tokens I got from stores in Kirkwood during the bicentennial.
I saved them up to buy something nice, and then I discovered the stores would only take ONE per purchase.
And naturally, the offer expired before I used more than a few of them.
Even so, I didn't lose out. I took them to the City Hall and got cash for them back. Full Price Too.
I had about 100 50 cent tokens I got from stores in Kirkwood during the bicentennial.
I saved them up to buy something nice, and then I discovered the stores would only take ONE per purchase.
And naturally, the offer expired before I used more than a few of them.
Even so, I didn't lose out. I took them to the City Hall and got cash for them back. Full Price Too.
Re: Major Announcement
There' nothing like cash back to act as an incentive to buy. Credit cards have been doing that for a long time as were the grocery stores with various rewards programs. The problem with those guys is that they collect personal data about you and sell it to marketers for profit. That profit covers the cashback and then some. Apparently those Kirkwood coins were issued by the city, which is how they could give you back the face value of the coin. The shop in which you use those coins do the same thing and likely get a premium as well. In any case, I'm glad there is something like senior discounts. It would be nice if they just cut my taxes or raised my SSA payout instead,
Last edited by yogi on 15 Feb 2023, 21:58, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Major Announcement
I heard the city of Kirkwood got into some trouble over the way they issued the 50 cent commemorative pieces. Stores were not giving them for free, they were counted as part of the change you got back. So technically, you paid 50 cents for them. This is why the city had to pay you back for the ones you had collected.
The city of Glendale did the same thing, only in their case, you got a token worth 10 cents, with a 10 dollar or higher purchase, and not counted as a part of your change. But you could use them to pay for items in the stores as money aka like a coupon for 10 cents off. For this reason, they did not have to buy back unused tokens, and most of the stores still took them long after the bicentennial celebration was over.
When I was working at Tradin' Times Magazine. They had coupons printed in their Magazines for the Octoberfest out in Herman, MO. Since I knew I would be going, I collected all the returned Magazines and took the page out of each with the Octoberfest coupons, before we sent them to the recycler. I must have had over 200 coupons, but only used about 40 of them, so handed out the rest to folks who were arriving as I was leaving.
I know it is the Stores who pay for that little bit of Cash Back we get on the Credit Cards.
Even so, if I can, I normally pay in CASH to all local stores, and only use a CC at chain stores.
That way they gain a bit to help their families, and not some rich CEO of a conglomerate.
The city of Glendale did the same thing, only in their case, you got a token worth 10 cents, with a 10 dollar or higher purchase, and not counted as a part of your change. But you could use them to pay for items in the stores as money aka like a coupon for 10 cents off. For this reason, they did not have to buy back unused tokens, and most of the stores still took them long after the bicentennial celebration was over.
When I was working at Tradin' Times Magazine. They had coupons printed in their Magazines for the Octoberfest out in Herman, MO. Since I knew I would be going, I collected all the returned Magazines and took the page out of each with the Octoberfest coupons, before we sent them to the recycler. I must have had over 200 coupons, but only used about 40 of them, so handed out the rest to folks who were arriving as I was leaving.
I know it is the Stores who pay for that little bit of Cash Back we get on the Credit Cards.
Even so, if I can, I normally pay in CASH to all local stores, and only use a CC at chain stores.
That way they gain a bit to help their families, and not some rich CEO of a conglomerate.
Re: Major Announcement
The cash back on credit card purchases is separate and apart from the in store "Rewards" programs they run. If you join their Rewards scheme you get slightly lower prices on some items. That's nice. However, they save that list of items you purchased and keep it in a file under your phone number so that they have a history of what you bought and on what days. This information can be used for targeted advertising but that phone number is way more valuable than just a bookkeeping entry for the store. It's part of a marketing ID that can be valuable to people other than those who own the store. It's a lot like Facebook, but the Rewards you get from the program essentially are payment for use of your private shopping information. Facebook offers no such compensation.
I understand what you explained about the bicentennial coins being used as legal tender. I didn't think that was legal. Then again, the people selling BitCoins these days are also manufacturing fake money to buy real goods. I guess it's all legal, but it sure sounds like a con game.
One of the grocery stores I patronized back in Chicago gave away stamps with your purchase. They must have been worth a dime or so in that the more you bought the more stamps you got. There too you had to sign up for the program and they gave you a card with a barcode. They scanned the barcode each time you made a purchase and kept a record of all your purchases. Once you filled up a card with stamps you could get some "free" cookware. There were several pots and pans and bowls to choose from. The program lasted about six months and I got a lovely 10" fry pad for the $1200 or so that I spent. However, I did not sign up for their card. My wife did, but I did about 90% of the shopping. So the checkout lady would ask if I had a card and I would respond with a "no, but my wife does." The first time I did that was just a statement of fact and a way to simplify the checkout process. Well, since my wife had a card and she wasn't there, they had a courtesy card for guys like me. They would scan that courtesy card and I would get the stamps. A few people felt like me in that the program was a scam and they wanted no part of it. Several times an old lady in front of me would collect her stamps and give them to me if I wanted them. I guess I conned the con, but it wasn't intentional. Old ladies are attracted to me, I guess.
I understand what you explained about the bicentennial coins being used as legal tender. I didn't think that was legal. Then again, the people selling BitCoins these days are also manufacturing fake money to buy real goods. I guess it's all legal, but it sure sounds like a con game.
One of the grocery stores I patronized back in Chicago gave away stamps with your purchase. They must have been worth a dime or so in that the more you bought the more stamps you got. There too you had to sign up for the program and they gave you a card with a barcode. They scanned the barcode each time you made a purchase and kept a record of all your purchases. Once you filled up a card with stamps you could get some "free" cookware. There were several pots and pans and bowls to choose from. The program lasted about six months and I got a lovely 10" fry pad for the $1200 or so that I spent. However, I did not sign up for their card. My wife did, but I did about 90% of the shopping. So the checkout lady would ask if I had a card and I would respond with a "no, but my wife does." The first time I did that was just a statement of fact and a way to simplify the checkout process. Well, since my wife had a card and she wasn't there, they had a courtesy card for guys like me. They would scan that courtesy card and I would get the stamps. A few people felt like me in that the program was a scam and they wanted no part of it. Several times an old lady in front of me would collect her stamps and give them to me if I wanted them. I guess I conned the con, but it wasn't intentional. Old ladies are attracted to me, I guess.
Re: Major Announcement
What was new to me moving south was, they don't use coupons down here, a few perhaps.
But every store down here gives you a small card that fits on your keychain, so you scan that when you go to pay for your purchases, and you get a reduced price on everything, and it also uses what coupons might be available without you needed to turn them in.
Now that could have been something new that appeared everywhere, and just happened to appear when I moved south.
I don't think it was legal either, which might be why Kirkwood had to buy them back from us at face value. While other towns didn't. A few stores down here give you credit vouchers for places like DollyWood, or places in Gattlinburg or Pigeon Forge. They usually have a Cash Value of 1, 5, or 10 dollars on any purchase at the named location. But they cannot be combined on the same purchase.
Ah Yes, the days of Eagle Stamps and S&H Green Stamps, I remember them well, hi hi.
We had an Eagle Stamps Store where you could go in and buy all kinds of things using their stamps.
There were these booklets you placed the stamps in, and when the book was full, you knew what value you had to make a purchase. And the checkout people would go through every book a page at a time to make sure each page was filled properly.
Mom also had several books of S&H Green Stamps she never bothered to do anything with. She was about ready to throw them all away when I asked if I could have them. There were just enough books I could buy a METAL Spud Gun. But it did cost me a bit to mail in all those books, and then the long wait for the toy to come.
It turned out, I became the envy of the other kids who were also getting spud guns from the 5 & dime store, theirs were plastic and mine was Metal, and it also packed a much harder punch than the plastic ones.
We had an old orchard where the pears turned into horse pears, not edible anymore, and those or what I used instead of potatoes. I often wonder what happened to that old toy, because I never threw anything away.
But every store down here gives you a small card that fits on your keychain, so you scan that when you go to pay for your purchases, and you get a reduced price on everything, and it also uses what coupons might be available without you needed to turn them in.
Now that could have been something new that appeared everywhere, and just happened to appear when I moved south.
I don't think it was legal either, which might be why Kirkwood had to buy them back from us at face value. While other towns didn't. A few stores down here give you credit vouchers for places like DollyWood, or places in Gattlinburg or Pigeon Forge. They usually have a Cash Value of 1, 5, or 10 dollars on any purchase at the named location. But they cannot be combined on the same purchase.
Ah Yes, the days of Eagle Stamps and S&H Green Stamps, I remember them well, hi hi.
We had an Eagle Stamps Store where you could go in and buy all kinds of things using their stamps.
There were these booklets you placed the stamps in, and when the book was full, you knew what value you had to make a purchase. And the checkout people would go through every book a page at a time to make sure each page was filled properly.
Mom also had several books of S&H Green Stamps she never bothered to do anything with. She was about ready to throw them all away when I asked if I could have them. There were just enough books I could buy a METAL Spud Gun. But it did cost me a bit to mail in all those books, and then the long wait for the toy to come.
It turned out, I became the envy of the other kids who were also getting spud guns from the 5 & dime store, theirs were plastic and mine was Metal, and it also packed a much harder punch than the plastic ones.
We had an old orchard where the pears turned into horse pears, not edible anymore, and those or what I used instead of potatoes. I often wonder what happened to that old toy, because I never threw anything away.
Re: Major Announcement
When I was a kid living at home I recall mom saving S&H green stamps. I don't recall what all she got for them, but as you mentioned there was a store where you could trade stamps for goodies. And I always thought it was funny to see the till tarts paging through every single leaf of the stamp book to make sure you didn't leave out a single stamp. They took their job very seriously I suppose. The stamps I talked about in the last response were something internal to that store. You could only trade stamps for whatever they had on display inside the store. I don't know if the parent company ran that promotion or if it was an outside ad agency, but it was pretty sophisticated for it's day. That same store also offered those key chain plastic tabs with a barcode on them. It was an option you could use instead of the credit card sized one they scanned manually. It's hard to say what the purpose of that ad campaign was because I didn't buy any more food than I usually would even though stamps came with the purchase. In fact I rarely looked at the prices and just bought what looked good or was a personal preference. I never collected coupons just for that reason. I don't want to be forced to buy a particular item just because they dangle a carrot in front of me. There are people I've known at the opposite end of the spectrum. They only buy what is on sale and what can be had with coupons. I suppose that's frugal, but it is also very limiting as far as selections go.
Chicago is a huge city and has many tourist type attractions. It was rare that any shops gave discount coupons to any of those attractions. It was rare for me at least. Perhaps other folks were more industrious and found more discounts. The only promotion I recall was to one of those 7 Flags amusement parks that was located about twenty miles north of Chicago. When they first opened the park there were lots of free passes handed out by local merchants in the city. Then it got to being a discount off the entry fee. After a few years all that disappeared.
Chicago is a huge city and has many tourist type attractions. It was rare that any shops gave discount coupons to any of those attractions. It was rare for me at least. Perhaps other folks were more industrious and found more discounts. The only promotion I recall was to one of those 7 Flags amusement parks that was located about twenty miles north of Chicago. When they first opened the park there were lots of free passes handed out by local merchants in the city. Then it got to being a discount off the entry fee. After a few years all that disappeared.
Re: Major Announcement
I had an aunt who was a heavy coupon lady and belonged to groups where they could exchange coupons with each other.
She always managed to get the coupons for the things she did buy, and always hit the store on double coupon day, hi hi.
Most of the stores down here have two prices on their shelves, one price is the retail price, and under it is the price if you have a Store Card they can scan.
But the good thing about those scan cards is, if there is a coupon for one of the things you bought, it shows it on the receipt and deducts it from the price, so you don't need to turn in coupons.
Our favorite store does not have that gimmick going, but then too, they have the cheapest prices in town all the time.
Every time they have a new ride at one of our amusement parks here, they give out coupons to ride it for free, and like you said, then half price, then no more coupons for it.
I do not go to indoor movie theaters for any reason. So I guess that is why I get so many coupons for them, hi hi. I just give them all way to Debi's niece and she takes them to where she works, where somebody always wants them.
If I do go to a show, it is at one of the Drive-In Theaters we still have here. And even that is rare now that I'm on O2.
She always managed to get the coupons for the things she did buy, and always hit the store on double coupon day, hi hi.
Most of the stores down here have two prices on their shelves, one price is the retail price, and under it is the price if you have a Store Card they can scan.
But the good thing about those scan cards is, if there is a coupon for one of the things you bought, it shows it on the receipt and deducts it from the price, so you don't need to turn in coupons.
Our favorite store does not have that gimmick going, but then too, they have the cheapest prices in town all the time.
Every time they have a new ride at one of our amusement parks here, they give out coupons to ride it for free, and like you said, then half price, then no more coupons for it.
I do not go to indoor movie theaters for any reason. So I guess that is why I get so many coupons for them, hi hi. I just give them all way to Debi's niece and she takes them to where she works, where somebody always wants them.
If I do go to a show, it is at one of the Drive-In Theaters we still have here. And even that is rare now that I'm on O2.
Re: Major Announcement
That is exactly the argument I have against coupons, stamps, and any other sales increasing gimmicks. The most effective way to get people to buy something is to offer the lowest price. In my view it's an insult to only give certain barcode carrying customers a discount. Why can't everyone be treated equally? Either we all get the discount or we all pay full price. The answer, of course, is not to give the customers any value, but to increase profits. Those ad gimmicks typically pay back more than the store has to give away. Each coupon they collect gets the store the face value plus a handling premium. Thus it doesn't cost them anything for the discount coupon, but it does in fact give them a higher profit margin. I figured all that out many years ago and decided it's not possible to beat the marketing any store engages in. That's the main reason I seldom look at prices to determine if I should buy or not. I would rather peruse the nutrition label than get my Rewards.Our favorite store does not have that gimmick going, but then too, they have the cheapest prices in town all the time.
My guess is that over the last thirty years or more I've been inside a movie house twice. One of those times was to view the movie "Chicago" and we went with a couple friends. They decided the best way to view the movie was from the second or third row of seats away from the screen. The sound was thunderous and I could feel the vibrations in my bones. I watched about the first five minutes of it and was ready to walk out, but I didn't want to create a scene for my friends. I simply kept my head down and looked at the floor during the entire movie. Those movie houses have the dirtiest floors of any business I've ever been to. Fortunately I didn't see anything moving between the bits of trash under the seats in front of me. I would have walked out for sure if I did see such a thing.
The other movie I recall was one Johnny Depp became a pirate in the Caribbean. We attended that one with another friend from out of town who was a big Depp fan. I actually watched most of that movie and the sound didn't hurt my ears. Then again we sat in the seats furthest from the screen, under the projectionist's balcony. LOL
When I was dating movies were not a big attraction then either, but it was an easy date. Drive-in movies were popular back then and there had to be four or five of them close enough for us to patronize them. One in particular seemed to operate all year round. During the Chicago winters they had heaters you could hang onto your window next to the speaker. I recall doing that a few times, but got my warmth by other means than that heater.
Re: Major Announcement
There's a difference between manufacturers coupons, and the coupons the individual stores print.
Yes, manufacturers coupons do pay a handling fee to the stores, but only for those returned for refund to the store.
And there is even a couple of gimmicks in that, some must go back to the manufacturer in set amounts of coupons.
Others can go to a coupon clearing house who then takes half of the handling fee for themselves, and the store only gets half.
But store generated coupons do not net the store any more and in fact cost them, not only for the coupon, but for the discount.
Stores that offer double coupon days, do so to move more of that manufacturers merchandise, so they get a volume purchase discount on the order ahead of taking the coupons for double coupon days.
Right around high school football final game season, FTD would promote the football mum corsages with a coupon.
We already had the letter K for Kirkwood, and the letters WG for Webster Groves to go in the center of the mum, so there was no room for the little FTD logo to fit on there with them, but we still gave the discount anyhow, even though we could not collect the fee back from FTD for taking them.
Then I came up with an idea so we could get our money from FTD for the coupons. Their rules stated the FTD logo had to go in the center of the football mum which it did. Then we gave the customer the big letter K or WG with an adhesive back in a separate package to stick over the FTD logo, hi hi. This meant that the mum we sold with the coupon did in fact have the FTD Logo dead center when they accepted the mum and used their coupon, hi hi.
We have no control of what a customer does with the corsages once they leave the flower shop.
I worked part time at the Osage Theater as a janitor of all things. They had the opposite of a vacuum cleaner, their blew air out of the hoses, and we started at the back and blew all the trash down to the front, where we swept it up and put it into the barrels on wheels, and then outside to the dumpster. When that was done, we had this yellow soap powder we sprinkled lightly down around every fifth row. Then at the very top of the theater, behind the highest row of seats, there was a steel pipe with spray nozzles on it. It dumped one heck of a lot of water when we kicked it on for roughly five minutes. It had to stay on until the water flowing down was no longer green from the soap, but clear where it went into the drain down under the front of the stage.
Then the three aisles, which had an indoor outdoor type of carpet, we had to first use a squeegee on, and then run the suction machine, which was on like 2 wheeled cart, but also had a squeegee on its front where the air went in.
Once a month we used a long handled scraper and Freon to freeze gum that was stuck to the floor, scrape it loose, then let the water flow again for a few minutes. You would have loved the little buggy that held the tank of Freon. There was a trigger at the top of the single handle on the unit, which had two wheels, but the whole thing was no wider than 8 inches, and the nozzle stuck out about 10 inches. It was still a pain to do this, because even though the seats were up, you still had to go between each of the arm rest supports to get to where they often stomped the gum down. Plus we had to check under the seats for wads of gum and shoot them with the hand held wand that was also on the same cart, it had a built in scraper.
At the Drive-In Theater, they had a truck with a vacuum, sorta like what picks up leaves on the street, except this was just a pickup truck with a big tank on the back, and a sweeper nozzle on the front. Just strong enough so it picked up all the junk without picking up the gravel the parking area was made from.
The playground area was covered with pecan shells, so we had to pick all the mess up down there by hand, and rake the pecan shells out level again.
Our Manchester Drive-In Theater operated year round and had in-car heaters so you stayed nice and toasty warm during the show, plus the old post hung speaker you hung on your window. Drive-ins today use an channel on your radio in the car.
Yes, manufacturers coupons do pay a handling fee to the stores, but only for those returned for refund to the store.
And there is even a couple of gimmicks in that, some must go back to the manufacturer in set amounts of coupons.
Others can go to a coupon clearing house who then takes half of the handling fee for themselves, and the store only gets half.
But store generated coupons do not net the store any more and in fact cost them, not only for the coupon, but for the discount.
Stores that offer double coupon days, do so to move more of that manufacturers merchandise, so they get a volume purchase discount on the order ahead of taking the coupons for double coupon days.
Right around high school football final game season, FTD would promote the football mum corsages with a coupon.
We already had the letter K for Kirkwood, and the letters WG for Webster Groves to go in the center of the mum, so there was no room for the little FTD logo to fit on there with them, but we still gave the discount anyhow, even though we could not collect the fee back from FTD for taking them.
Then I came up with an idea so we could get our money from FTD for the coupons. Their rules stated the FTD logo had to go in the center of the football mum which it did. Then we gave the customer the big letter K or WG with an adhesive back in a separate package to stick over the FTD logo, hi hi. This meant that the mum we sold with the coupon did in fact have the FTD Logo dead center when they accepted the mum and used their coupon, hi hi.
We have no control of what a customer does with the corsages once they leave the flower shop.
I worked part time at the Osage Theater as a janitor of all things. They had the opposite of a vacuum cleaner, their blew air out of the hoses, and we started at the back and blew all the trash down to the front, where we swept it up and put it into the barrels on wheels, and then outside to the dumpster. When that was done, we had this yellow soap powder we sprinkled lightly down around every fifth row. Then at the very top of the theater, behind the highest row of seats, there was a steel pipe with spray nozzles on it. It dumped one heck of a lot of water when we kicked it on for roughly five minutes. It had to stay on until the water flowing down was no longer green from the soap, but clear where it went into the drain down under the front of the stage.
Then the three aisles, which had an indoor outdoor type of carpet, we had to first use a squeegee on, and then run the suction machine, which was on like 2 wheeled cart, but also had a squeegee on its front where the air went in.
Once a month we used a long handled scraper and Freon to freeze gum that was stuck to the floor, scrape it loose, then let the water flow again for a few minutes. You would have loved the little buggy that held the tank of Freon. There was a trigger at the top of the single handle on the unit, which had two wheels, but the whole thing was no wider than 8 inches, and the nozzle stuck out about 10 inches. It was still a pain to do this, because even though the seats were up, you still had to go between each of the arm rest supports to get to where they often stomped the gum down. Plus we had to check under the seats for wads of gum and shoot them with the hand held wand that was also on the same cart, it had a built in scraper.
At the Drive-In Theater, they had a truck with a vacuum, sorta like what picks up leaves on the street, except this was just a pickup truck with a big tank on the back, and a sweeper nozzle on the front. Just strong enough so it picked up all the junk without picking up the gravel the parking area was made from.
The playground area was covered with pecan shells, so we had to pick all the mess up down there by hand, and rake the pecan shells out level again.
Our Manchester Drive-In Theater operated year round and had in-car heaters so you stayed nice and toasty warm during the show, plus the old post hung speaker you hung on your window. Drive-ins today use an channel on your radio in the car.
Re: Major Announcement
That's an interesting story you tell about the way you cleaned movie theaters. I had an idea that they used something like a power washer and never thought that the entire room would be flooded like a waterfall. It seems quite elaborate but very effective and probably the best approach. Cleaning up the gum left on the seats has to be the most difficult and disgusting part of the job. As a kid I enjoyed going to the matinee movies because they were discounted and showed a lot of cartoons. I had no second thoughts about tossing the garbage on the floor, and I probably stuck some gum on the seats too. Truth is that I didn't think I was doing anything unusual at the time. Everybody did the same thing. Most businesses don't operate that way, throwing trash on the floor. It seems counter intuitive now as an adult. If I ever go to a movie house again, I'd be taking my own trash out with me and not leaving it on the floor for some janitor to find. I hope you got paid a lot to do that dirty work.
No matter who is giving away the coupons it's always a gimmick to get you to buy something you normally would not consider purchasing. I don't like to be manipulated like that, although it's pretty difficult to avoid it in our modern age. Ads are everywhere and schemes to increase sales abound. That's what retail sales is all about I suppose. It's still manipulation and I do what I can to ignore it, such as ignore prices and never buy anything on display at the front door. Well, unless it's watermelons. But even then I'd buy them no matter where they placed them or how much they hyped them. And as an aside this year was sans Black Diamond watermelon. Previous years saw a time when that type of melon was featured and easy to locate. This past summer I saw some very small sized Black Diamond melons that looked more like a honey dew than what I'm used to seeing. There might have been a crop failure or something due to the drought we are experiencing. I missed the opportunity to indulge. And speaking of droughts, I read recently where Lake Mead and the Colorado River are lacking so much water that they don't expect it to return to normal within a given lifetime.
No matter who is giving away the coupons it's always a gimmick to get you to buy something you normally would not consider purchasing. I don't like to be manipulated like that, although it's pretty difficult to avoid it in our modern age. Ads are everywhere and schemes to increase sales abound. That's what retail sales is all about I suppose. It's still manipulation and I do what I can to ignore it, such as ignore prices and never buy anything on display at the front door. Well, unless it's watermelons. But even then I'd buy them no matter where they placed them or how much they hyped them. And as an aside this year was sans Black Diamond watermelon. Previous years saw a time when that type of melon was featured and easy to locate. This past summer I saw some very small sized Black Diamond melons that looked more like a honey dew than what I'm used to seeing. There might have been a crop failure or something due to the drought we are experiencing. I missed the opportunity to indulge. And speaking of droughts, I read recently where Lake Mead and the Colorado River are lacking so much water that they don't expect it to return to normal within a given lifetime.
Re: Major Announcement
Every movie theater I have been in, it is expected to toss your trash on the floor.
Except at the upscale theaters like the Fox Theater with live actors. There the floors are carpeted.
I probably only got like 35 to 50 cents an hour when I worked at the Osage Theater.
I've been in more modern theaters that have some interesting floor cleaning systems, much better than we had.
General Cinema Corporations theaters have air-blast guns at the floor of every fourth seat.
You don't see them, because they are just a hole in front at the floor of the arm rest stand that holds the seats.
I've only seen the cleaning system in operation one time, and it has to be computerized the way it works.
It works side to side one row at a time blowing everything forward, and without raising much dust.
Then like at the Osage, the last thing was a floor wash, which used about 1/4th of the amount of water ours used, if that much.
If the coupon is for something we buy, we do keep them, but with most of the stores here using the little keychain card, we don't have to. But we do keep the $ or cents of anything in the store. Debi has a whole stack of $5.00 off purchase they send us for birthdays, anniversaries, etc. They are treated just like cash at the register. A couple of times at UGO, our name was selected for $50.00 off our purchase. A couple of times we didn't even know about it until we were checking out with a small purchase, and the cashier said thanks, I debited your available store credit, and you still have 28 dollars left for the next visit.
What they call Black Diamond Melons today are nothing like the Black Diamonds I was raised eating.
How they can sell a 70 to 90 day melon as a Black Diamond is beyond me. Black Diamonds are 120 day melons.
Except at the upscale theaters like the Fox Theater with live actors. There the floors are carpeted.
I probably only got like 35 to 50 cents an hour when I worked at the Osage Theater.
I've been in more modern theaters that have some interesting floor cleaning systems, much better than we had.
General Cinema Corporations theaters have air-blast guns at the floor of every fourth seat.
You don't see them, because they are just a hole in front at the floor of the arm rest stand that holds the seats.
I've only seen the cleaning system in operation one time, and it has to be computerized the way it works.
It works side to side one row at a time blowing everything forward, and without raising much dust.
Then like at the Osage, the last thing was a floor wash, which used about 1/4th of the amount of water ours used, if that much.
If the coupon is for something we buy, we do keep them, but with most of the stores here using the little keychain card, we don't have to. But we do keep the $ or cents of anything in the store. Debi has a whole stack of $5.00 off purchase they send us for birthdays, anniversaries, etc. They are treated just like cash at the register. A couple of times at UGO, our name was selected for $50.00 off our purchase. A couple of times we didn't even know about it until we were checking out with a small purchase, and the cashier said thanks, I debited your available store credit, and you still have 28 dollars left for the next visit.
What they call Black Diamond Melons today are nothing like the Black Diamonds I was raised eating.
How they can sell a 70 to 90 day melon as a Black Diamond is beyond me. Black Diamonds are 120 day melons.