Simon Says

You can see Anita Fritz’s article, originally published on 22 June 2007, in its entirety on the Greenfield Recorder’s page here)
We’re cutting and pasting a little, but Greenfield, the town where Simon’s Stamps is based, “is creating a program to help downtown building owners repair and restore facades with matching federal tax dollars.The program would target Main Street, as well as part of Federal and Hope streets.” (We’re located at 138 Main Street).

From the article:
”I don’t think something like this is going to bring us any more business,” said John Roberts, co-owner of Home Furnishing Co. ”We’ve actually been doing a lot of work on our building over the past seven or eight years.”

Home Furnishing Co. owns the building it is located in at 122 Main St.

”I do think there are buildings that could use this program,” said Roberts. ”Then again, if building owners kept up their buildings, a program like this wouldn’t be necessary. I think it would make more sense to put a stronger police presence in the downtown if you want to encourage people to shop here.”

Simon P. Alciere, president of Simon’s Stamps, agrees. He does not own the building where is business is located.

”It’s hard to turn down $15,000, but as a Massachusetts citizen I’m wondering why the money isn’t going to schools or libraries or police and fire.”

Alciere rolled his eyes as he continued, ”Fixing up the front of my store, painting or installing a new awning, isn’t going to draw customers. People aren’t coming to the downtown because they’re getting parking tickets or can’t find parking. Local merchants have to compete with malls and big boxes and the Internet. You don’t get parking tickets when you go to one of those.”

In researching a little bit about the history of rubber stamps, we found this really interesting website, who have information quoted from The Rubber Stamp Album by Joni K. Miller & Lowry Thompson, 1978, Workman Publishing, New York (which is apparently currently out of print). We here in the shop were particularly struck by this section:

The early days of rubber stamps and their creation are inextricably entwined with those of early dentistry. Around the same time that Goodyear received his patent on vulcanizing, anesthesia was patented by a fellow named Wells. Relatively speaking, Wells’s discovery made getting your teeth pulled a moderately painless experience, so teeth were being pulled left and right. This meant, of course, that the demand for false teeth was rising proportionately. Before vulcanization, denture bases had been made primarily of gold and were both costly and difficult to make. After vulcanization, denture bases could be made of vulcanized rubber set in plaster molds. This process did not demand a great deal of skill, and soon scores of dentists had small, round vulcanizers with which to ply their trade. These were called “dental pot” vulcanizers and would be used eventually to manufacture the first rubber stamps.

Interesting, no? This site has an overview of the various methods through which rubber stamps are manufactured as well as the varied history of the different components in rubber stamps, and this site has a timeline of the invention of those different items. And if you’re wondering what those components look like, and their other uses, have a look here.

In addition to our website, we do have a retail storefront located at 138 Main Street in downtown Greenfield, MA (you can find us through this Map). We stock a number of different things in our shop, from embossing powders to skin-safe temporary tattoo stamp pads (fun for summer!)

We have a full line of Color Box stamp pads in our shop, which are ideal for printing on paper, as well as the Ancient Page line, which is best for glossy papers.

But what we’re really excited about is that we’ve just added a whole bunch of new stamp designs for the shop, like this little robot guy here drawn by one of our employees). Stop in and see the selection of our stamps ranging from quirky to classic!

These are photos of two of the newest members of the Canine Taste Tester Squadron at Boston Baked Bonz (here’s the URL, in case the link doesn’t work: http://bostonbakedbonz.com/index2.html). They’re a new Boston-based company (and one of our customers) who make a wide range of healthy dog treats (using organic and vegan ingredients!). Gabe and Cooper (seen above, not the fellas in sweaters) are eagerly awaiting their Bōnz teste-test starter packs now that they’ve been accepted into the Squadron!

Now that our blog is up and running, we wanted to spotlight our affiliate program. It’s a program where you earn a 25% commission–after you join our program and place ads or text links on your site, each time someone clicks through that link and completes a sale on our site you’ll receive credit for that sale.

Many of our business buyers become regular customers, and since the commissions keep coming to you for a full year, the rewards really add up.

Who buys rubber stamps?
Everyone needs rubber stamps! We sell to large and small businesses, government offices, schoolteachers, graphic artists, etsy shops and other independent crafters, and even people making their own wedding invitations!

Here’s the really cool thing: Customers and affiliates do not need to be in the US! We pay commissions monthly through PayPal so affiliates located in the US or UK can also choose to be paid by check, in US Dollars, or UK Pounds.

How do I join?
We use FusionQuest, an independent, third party affiliate program provider. They keep accurate records of your sales, and provide you with reports. Join today!

Welcome to the new blog for Simon’s Stamps!

We’ve been in business since 1989. Originally located in the Amherst, Massachusetts train station, we’re now in a 5,000 square foot (465 square meter) manufacturing and retail space in downtown Greenfield, MA. We’ve grown in every year since we started, because of our dedication to 3 simple business principles:

* Fast Service
* No Mistakes
* Easy Ordering

Yes, Simon’s Stamps concentrates on those three simple ideas. So far, none of our customers have objected. We have hundreds of wholesale accounts (such as print shops and office supply dealers) as well as individual, business, and government customers throughout the world.

But now we’re expanding out into the blogosphere as well; this site’s going to be a place where we’ll introduce you to some of the custom products that we make, how we make them, and what we make them for, as well as a little about the people who work here and the community of which we’re a part.