DEAR SUN SPOTS: Among my souvenirs I found an old book of S&H Green Stamps. They must date back to the 1950s or 1960s. I’m wondering if anyone knows if it has any value. You may call me at 207-784-9610. — J.M., Lewiston.
ANSWER: Thomas Sperry and Shelley Byron Hutchinson founded the Sperry and Hutchison Co. in 1896. They sold their stamps and redemption books to retailers, then accepted the stamps in exchange for products from S&H catalogs and their redemption centers. S&H Green Stamps were very popular nationwide by the 1960s but started to fade away by the late 1970s.
Sperry and Hutchinson no longer has redemption centers but they do offer online redemptions. The company is now called S&H Greenpoints and its website is www.greenpoints.com, which launched in 2000. While they do accept stamps in exchange for “greenpoints,” it takes a minimum of 26 full books of stamps for them to make a conversion for you, then those points can be saved up and exchanged for gift cards.
People also still sell these stamps online on websites like eBay, where collectors can find them and purchase them, but the prices vary. If anyone has more information, please contact J.M.
DEAR SUN SPOTS: I would appreciate any help finding siblings and/or descendants of Roland Croteau, son of Frasiere and Leda (Letourneau) Croteau. Roland died in 1977 in an accident at the Lewiston Canal. My phone number is 207-212-3535, email [email protected]. Thank you. — Bertrand Blais, no town.
ANSWER: Sun Spots was able to find some information. According to the 1940 census, Roland Croteau was born in 1926, making him 13 years old at the time of the census. Also living in the same household as him were his parents and three older siblings: Lucien, Fernande and Alice Croteau.
Roland L. Croteau passed away on Nov. 24, 1977. The article about his accident was in the Lewiston Daily Sun on Nov. 25, 1977 and his funeral announcement was in the newspaper on Nov. 26, 1977. In the article it said that Roland was survived by one daughter, Linda Croteau.
For more information, try familysearch.org, Archives.com or Ancestry.com. These services may have membership fees, but often have a temporary free trial period to test out the service.
If anyone has any information to offer Bertrand, please contact him.
DEAR SUN SPOTS: This coming Saturday, March 25, 2017, our organization, Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 1044, will be conducting our 5th annual Vietnam Veterans recognition ceremony. At this ceremony we would like to give each Vietnam veteran a 50th Anniversary Commemorative pin as well as the State of Maine Honorable Service coin and certificate.
If you are planning on attending this ceremony and have not received the pin, coin and certificate it is very important that you send me an email with your name and date of birth no later than Friday, March 24, 2017, so that we can have a head count of how many veterans will be attending.
Email me at [email protected] or call me at 207-490-2094. — Joseph Armstrong, president, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1044, Sanford.
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