I remember Funk and Wagnall’s at A&P but was that universal before we got computers?

    • @MrJameGumb
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      116 months ago

      It wasn’t a scam at all! They also had specials where you could get dishes and silverware sometimes! My mom still has an entire set of blue willow that came from the grocery store in the 80s lol

        • @smort
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          26 months ago

          Yeah I remember my parents would get a Muppets glass (like for drinking from) by buying 15 gallons of gas from the gas station. It was a neat time

  • @MrJameGumb
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    116 months ago

    When I was a kid we had a whole set of encyclopedias we got that way!

  • @reddig33
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    6 months ago

    Groceries were still doing this into the early ‘90s, but it wasn’t free anymore. It was just earning a discount on an encyclopedia volume every week.

    They also used to give away silverware sets a piece at a time. You could also get dishrags or drinking glasses in boxes of powdered detergent. And then there were S&H green stamps.

    We have similar freebies now, but it’s “join our loyalty points program and earn” or credit card points. Kohls cash, gas discounts, etc.

    • @Demonmariner
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      26 months ago

      I got a complete set of dishes, settin for six, from grocery rewards as recently as the early 2000’s. It was from Safeway I think. Not long after that they did cookware, and I got a few pieces before they stopped the program.

      I eventually gave away the dishes, but still have the cookware. It’s pretty good stuff.