“Do You Have Any Green Stamps?”
By
Gerry Niskern

Every day we all read about the turmoil at Disney World. According to a recent column by Ross Douthat in the New York times, the Magic Kingdom of family fun is still a great experience for the family. Granted it has become much more expensive and the lines are longer every year. When I hear once again about Florida’s battle with Walt’s World I’m reminded of our trips to Disneyland in California years ago. I’m glad we had the experience of enjoying Walt Disney’s” dream” with our kids and later on, grandkids. Please enjoy an essay I wrote about our trips.

The other day someone asked, “Do you remember S & H green stamps? Of course, I remember.
The first thing that comes to mind is Disneyland, but I’ll get back to that later.
Way back when I was a kid, and the earth was still cooling, my mother saved green stamps. The Sperry and Hutchinson company gave out the green stamps in partnerships with many supermarkets, gas stations and department stores.
The stamps were rewarded with the purchase from a business and based on the dollar amount of the purchase. Some stores enticed people in with double stamp days. The stamps were pasted into collector books that could be redeemed for valuable items from their catalogue or an S & H store.
One summer our family of five and my sisters family of five went to the Magic Kingdom entirely free. It took 39 books of stamps for each of our families to exchange for certificates that entitled each one a deluxe 15 ride package. We had saved for months and our mother chipped in to help out. We were still there at midnight for the fireworks when Tinkerbell flew across the sky and tripped the display. Our kids, all grade school age, had the time of their lives.
Of course, I have to admit, my first trip to Disneyland was sans kids. We hired a sitter and headed to San Diego one summer. “Let’s drive up to Orange County and look around,” my scheming husband suggested one morning. When we reached Anaheim he said, “Oh, look over there, at that little mountain. Do you think that is the Matterhorn at Disneyland?” When I responded, well, maybe it is!
Then as he intended all along, we spent a day at the Magic Kingdom. It was great.
The next summer, we took our two, five and seven year old. They loved it, but they made sure that every place we ate they told the waitress that they were going to Disneyland and with sad faces added, “They went last year without us!”
Of course, now you have to take out a small loan to make the trip to Walt’s World. There was a lot of satisfaction back when a whole family could have the adventure of a lifetime free; all on S & H Green Stamps.