Q: I found these stamps in a trash bin and can’t find any information about them. Each one says “Burr’s Discount Gas House, Discount Gas, 10.” Where are they from and how old are they?

A: Burr’s Discount Gas House was a chain of gas stations in western Massachusetts owned by Richard A. Burr. According to a newspaper account written when Burr died in 2003, Burr owned the gas stations for more than 20 years. He was 75 years old when he died, so the gas stations probably were operating sometime between the 1960s and 1990s. Burr’s Discount Gas House offered a 10-cent discount for each stamp. The stamps are similar to trading stamps, like Eagle or S&H Green stamps, which were popular in the mid 1900s. Stamps were given out as rewards for purchases and could be pasted into a booklet and redeemed for cash discounts or goods. Most trading stamps were phased out in the late 1980s.