File:Blue-US-Food-Stamp-1939.jpg

Design for the blue 25 cent non-transferable surplus food order coupon issued in 1939 by the Department of Agriculture as the first food stamp in the United States

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  "A March 14, 1939 article in the Washington Post described the food stamp program as a farm recovery program — the unemployed would eat the Nation’s surplus food. Under the sub-headline '$1.50 in Food for Dollar,' the Post explained:
  The plan provides the grant by the Government of $1.50 in food orders to the beneficiaries for each dollar of the WPA wages or dole money they expend. For each cash dollar, an unemployed person would get $1 in orange stamps and 50 cents in blue stamps.
  Orange stamps are good for any grocery item the purchaser elects, except drugs, liquor, and items consumed on the premises. Blue stamps, however, will buy only surplus foods — dairy products, eggs, citrus fruits, prunes, fresh vegetables, and the like."