The initial Food Stamp program in the United States began in the 1930s and served two purposes -- (1) relief for the poor, and (2) providing price supports for agricultural products by keeping surplus foods off the market. Participants in the program bought a book of Orange Stamps (they were actually called Food Orders but looked like postage stamps) which were in 25 cent denominations. These could be used to purchase any food products. They also received a book of Blue Stamps at no cost. The Blue Stamps were also in 25 cent denominations. Blue stamps could only be used to purchase certain food products which were identified as surplus foods. The benefit to the participant was getting the Blue Stamps for free. The problem was that most items were not sold at prices in even 25 cent increments and the merchant was prohibited from giving money back as change. If someone bought items totalling $1.42 they had to present $1.25 in stamps and $.17 in coin. What if they did not have coin? They would have to present $1.50 in stamps and receive nothing for the overage. Merchants quickly became wise to this and issued their own credit slips, tokens and chits with the approval of the Department of Agriculture who oversaw the program. Since the change given back was only redeemable by the same merchant, it also assured the customer came back to the store. Here are a few examples of the store credits. This was a generic type used mostly in the Northeast. The merchant stamped the name of the store on the back. These were issued by A&P for use in its stores nationwide. They also issued 1 cent pieces. Most of the scrip and tokens used for this part of the Food Stamp program are scarce. This phase of the Food Stamp program ended in the 1940s. The modern Food Stamp program began in the early 1960s. Similar items were used for this part of the program as well. They will be saved for another day.
