The History of Coupons

1894: Asa Candler, the druggist who bought the formula for Coca-Cola, gave out the first handwritten coupon for a free glass of his new fountain drink.

1895: C.W. Post, the local grocer, distributed the first grocery coupon worth one cent towards his new health cereal, Grape Nuts.

1930's: The Depression caused American households to become "Coupon Conscious." Everyone needed to save money whenever, and wherever, possible. Coupons helped to make grocery bills a little more manageable during economic "Hard Times."

1940's: Supermarkets sprang up all across the country and continued the coupon tradition that had begun in neighborhood grocery stores.

1957: A new Industry was created! The Nielsen Coupon Clearing House became the first Clearing House devoted to coupon redemption.

1965: 50% of all American households were using coupons.

Think about it - EVERYBODY BUYS GROCERIES!



1975: Coupon popularity continued to grow. Over 35 billion coupons are distributed, and 65% of all American households now use them!

1995: First coupons found on the Internet!

1997: Consumers redeem 4.8 billion coupons, and saved $1.7 billion! An amazing 90% of all Americans are using coupons in some form or another!

1999: iCanShop4Less takes the country by storm!!!

2002: American families save more than $3.6 billion using Grocery coupons!

 
 

2005: Savings from Grocery Coupons hits
$5.2 Billion!

Think about it - EVERYBODY BUYS GROCERIES!