This battered sign for S&H Green Stamps hung outside Mishkin’s Pharmacy on West 145th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, along with old-school neon signs, for decades before a recent renovation.
S&H, which stood for the Sperry Hutchinson Company founded in 1896 by Thomas Sperry and Shelly B. Hutchinson, was the most prominent “rewards program” in which stamps were given out at checkout counters in retail stores, gasoline stations and even movie theaters around the country which could later be redeemed for goods in the Sperry Hutchinson catalog. S&H thrived for decades until the company was sold in 1981 and then gradually lost favor until 1999 when only 100 establishments around the country were offering them. S&H still maintains an online presence.
Entrepreneur Anthony Zolezzi has purchased the rights to S&H and hopes to revive the brand in 2015.
12/4/14