19. The First Recipient Was A World War I Veteran
People couldn’t wait to receive the first batch of food stamps, but the most eager person was Ralston Thayer. An unemployed machinist was also a World War I veteran who decided to head to the old post office building in Rochester, New York, that day in 1939 because the surplus food program seemed simple enough.
All that is known of Thayer is he gave $4 from his unemployment check to the clerk, and she handed him $2 of blue food stamps for free along with $4 of orange food stamps. While reporters tried to talk to Thayer, he kept to himself.