Set Summary

Issued by S & H Green Stamps Co. of New York City

Composit of players from Pittsburgh Pirates team of 1909

Contains same pose found on famed T206 Honus Wagner

Wagner and some other poses credited to photographer Carl Horner

Postcard back design with S&H stamp printed in stamp box

Lists Waynesburg, PA businesses that gave S & H stamps

References:
"1909 Pirates Commemorated on Rare Postcard Issued by S&H Green Stamps," Old Cardboard eMagazine, Issue #183 (2021), Item #2

1909 Pirates Commemorated on Rare Postcard Issued by S&H Green Stamps

This unique and very rare postcard featurs 23 portraits of the much-celebrated 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates World Championship team, including Honus Wagner, Fred Clarke, Vic Willis, and team owner Barney Dreyfuss.

The postcard was issued by S&H Green Stamps Company of New York City.

The standard (3-1/2 by 5-1/2-inch) postcard is printed in black and white with the portraits inside a black frameline and relatively wide white borders. An example S&H stamp is positioned in the center of all the portraits.

Text along the left border reads "The Two Champions" with Pittsburg Base Ball Club and "S. & H." Green Trading Stamps" along the right.

Each of the players on the postcard is identified in very small letters at the bottom of their portrait (click on the postcard image to enlarge). Of particular interest is the image of Honus Wagner, which uses the same Carl Horner pose used for his famous T206 White Border card. Horner, a well known photographer of the period, is also credited with other portraits used on the postcard.

Many younger vintage baseball card collectors may not be aware, but S&H Green Stamps were at one time an integral part of America's culture. They peaked in popularity in the 1960s (see company profile below).

The card backs are printed with a typical postcard template for mailing and use an image of an S&H stamp to fill the stamp box block at the upper right. As illustrated in these examples, most of the card backs also have an advertising block printed in the message area. As seen, several different ad blocks have been found. In general, the message blocks identify and provide the addresses of retailers that participate in the S&H Green Stamp program.

At least one card back variation has also been reported without the printed message block and without the S&H stamp printed in the stamp block used for mailing.

Note: A Set Profile, Checklist of players featured on the card is provided on the Old Cardboard website.

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The company founded by Thomas Sperry & Shelly Hutchinson (S&H Green Stamps) began offering stamps to USA retailers back in 1896. The retail organizations that participated in the program bought the stamps from S&H and gave them to customers as reward bonuses with every purchase based on the value of the goods purchased. The stamps were then collected by customers and redeemed for a wide variety of merchandise.

Typical scene of the 1960s: Hundreds of S&H Green Stamps Pasted into Redemption Books

According to Wikipedia, S&H Green Stamps (also called Green Shield Stamps) were a form of trading stamps popular in the United States between the 1930s and early 1980s. Customers would receive stamps at the checkout counter of supermarkets, department stores and gas stations, among other retailers, which could be redeemed for products in the catalog.

During the operation's peak in the 1960s, the redemption catalog printed by the company was the most widely distributed publication in the United States. Further, the company issued three times as many stamps as the U.S. Postal Service. WOW!

The company closed its redemption stamp operations in 1999, ending its redemption program with operations that lasted more than a century. The concept survives and flourishes today, however, in the form of the countless "rewards" programs found on the Internet today.