Catalog
1 Cent - Safeway Stores Spokane, Washington
| Issuer | Safeway Stores |
|---|---|
| Year | |
| Type | Vouchers |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | ONE CENT 1C 1C FOOD STAMP CREDIT Redeemable Only By Participant of U.S. Gov't. Food Stamp Program for Food Items on Authorized List . . . at any— SAFEWAY STORES IN COUNTIES OF WASHINGTON STATE APPROVED BY U.S.D.A. |
| Reverse description | Plain pale pink paper with an overall woven basket-weave guilloche underprint in a slightly deeper rose tone. A large violet rubber-stamp cancellation reading 'VOID' is applied at centre, and a handwritten manuscript notation 'Spokane' appears in pencil at the upper left corner. |
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| Comments |
Safeway Stores issued scrip in several Pacific Northwest locations during the early 1930s, when coin shortages and Depression-era cash hoarding made small-denomination change genuinely difficult to maintain at retail counters. This Spokane-specific piece reflects a practice common among regional grocery chains at the time: centrally designed scrip printed for individual store locations, redeemable only at the issuing branch.
Spokane was among the harder-hit inland cities during the Depression years, and local scrip from this period circulated more heavily than equivalent pieces from larger urban markets — which is why genuinely circulated survivors tend to show significant wear.