Top Value Stamp Ad – June 15, 1960

Back here, I waxed nostalgic (whatever that means) about Top Value Stamps, one of the original customer loyalty rewards programs. Well, here's another ad for the trading stamp enterprise that ran in the Lorain Journal on June 15, 1960.

Besides featuring good ol' Toppie the Elephant, the ad is interesting because it lists the addresses of the various redemption centers, including addresses in Elyria and Lakewood. I tried to figure out where the Elyria redemption center was, but that address – 2023 Lake Avenue – seems to have disappeared. It's not on the Auditor website and it's unGooglable.

I'm guessing that Mom must have picked up our Toppie lunchbox at Krogers.

Speaking of Toppie, I found an undated image of him that looks pretty different from the familiar version shown in the 1960 ad. The tin sign (below), which is listed on Hake's is undated.

Here's a closeup of Toppie.

So it's either an early version of the friendly pachyderm, or an image of him all grown up with an appropriate middle age spread.