Top Value Stamps Ad – Nov. 11, 1958

Oakwood Shopping Center opened in Lorain back on November 12, 1958 with a whole slew of stores, including Foodtown Supermarket, W. T. Grant Co., Allen Cleaners, F. W. Woolworth and Gray Drug Stores.

And since Gray Drug gave Top Value Stamps with purchases, the ad above featuring our pal Toppie the Elephant ran in the Lorain Journal on the eve of the opening.

As I've mentioned many times, Top Value Stamps really utilized their goodwill promotional pachyderm to drum up interest. Besides the lunch box and thermos that is worth a fortune today (that the Brady family owned), there were many items with his likeness, including the clock below that's currently on eBay.

There was even a safety sign that schools could apparently acquire with enough filled stamp books.

There was even a toy cash register.

Many of us oldsters remember the laborious task of affixing the stamps to the pages of the books, some of which didn't get redeemed, and ended up on eBay, decades later. I remember the book design below, which dates from 1966.

 

Although Top Value Stamps has been out of business for decades now, Toppie is still recognizable to enough sentimental Baby Boomers that his image appears on such items such as T-Shirts and mugs.