Memories - early or general

My dad had one of those plug-in electric lawnmowers and he regularly ran over the lead. Being my dad, he used thick tape to bind the ends together and went on mowing for many years. We used to stand in the kitchen, looking out of the window with our hearts in our mouths but the mower went on forever without any injuries. It was cleared out of the garage when he died.

Like Slim's dad, I was given a metal cased B&D drill for my 21st. I remember a Black & Decker shop (think it was in Trinity St) where you could go and buy replacement motor brushes. On my last visit (cannot remember when) I was told that my model was discontinued due to safety reasons.

The B&D shop certainly was in Trinity St, about half way down the hill. I think it was originally Sainsbury's, where I use to get taken as a nipper, before supermarkets came along, and Sainsbury's moved to the opposite side of the road, its present position.

Anyone remember "Green Shield Stamps"?

Certainly do. When my dad gassed his old car up, he'd always seek a garage that gave Green Shield stamps. You'd get a whole sheet of them which you stuck into a book. In reality, they were worth something like 0.00001d each, in other words worthless, unless you managed to collect at least several hundred thousand of the things. A good marketing ploy that conned many of the public. There was also a rival, the S&H pink stamps, but they never were a serious threat and didn't catch on. Remember them? In the US of A, they had (have?) green stamps, immortalised in the lyrics of Speedy Gonzales: "Hey, Rosita, come quick! Down at the cantina they're giving green stamps with Tequila!"

"Hey, Rosita, come quick! Down at the cantina they're giving green stamps with Tequila!" That's what you call a memory!!! I can remember that we had loads of those books in our house, but can never remember getting anything with them? Was there a catalogue where you could choose what you wanted?

Yes, there was a book and a shop, I think it was in The Burges, someone can correct me if I am wrong. Do you also remember Embassy coupons? We had a couple we called Auntie and Uncle who used to be our lodgers but always remained as part of the family after they left. They smoked so much that all their Christmas presents were bought with Embassy Coupons.

Hi Annewiggy, I have these vague memory of the Green Shield Stamps showroom being on Queen Victoria Road, a predecessor to the Argos store which took up residence there? Could be wrong - happy to be corrected. OddSock

To me Green Shield stamps were a life saver. Back in the seventies I was paid on a Thursday night and was broke by Friday night. No luxuries. However, my wife started a weekend job as a cashier on a motorway service area. A service area even then was very busy and people used to leave their stamps, rather than bin them, so my wife brought them home. It became my job to stick them in the books, this could take quite a while. After a while (two days) we went to exchange them. They supplied us with all our gardening equipment, birthday presents and a lot more. Also I would pick my wife up when she had finished her shift and take a walk around the perimeter of the area. It is amazing how many pound notes and the odd fiver was stuck in the fence or bushes where the wind had blown them. We could afford a bottle of wine and a Chinese meal on a good weekend. From a catalogue, radio cassette player 4 books, Halina 35mm camera 2 books, Pye 20in television 100 books.

That's right Anne, there was a shop in the Burges and another at the bottom of the City Arcade. Both became 'Argos' Shops IIRC. I suppose there was a link between the Two, (Green Shield Product Range and Argos Catalogue Products).

I remember Green Shield stamps as a little'un - only because Mum had a book and gave me the task of sticking them in. What I really remember is the little blue tray with a piece of wet sponge in it so I didn't have to lick the back of them all!

Hi Scrutiny. Can you remember how many stamps were in a book?

1,280 to a book Also, there were 2 shops, the other being in the City Arcade. Both became Argos.

You could also exchange them for cash (I seem to remember 50p per book in the mid seventies) or you could ask them for a quote for any expensive items not in the catalogue. Later on you could use a mixture of books and cash. Because of the cost they introduced IIRC a 40 stamp which was smaller and filled a complete page. Also mentioned in "Selling England By The Pound" by Genesis - "Knights of the Green Shield stamp and shout"