In philately, a Cinderella Stamp is anything resembling a postage stamp, but not issued for postal purposes by a government postal administration. There is a wide variety of Cinderella stamps, such as those printed for promotional use, political or non-profit groups. The term excludes imprinted stamps on postal stationery.
Named after Cinderella, a folk-tale underdog heroine who was treated as inferior within her family. Cinderella stamps similarly were considered inferior to postage stamps. The different types include poster stamps, propaganda labels, commemorative stickers, charity labels, railway stamps or merely some decorative items created for advertisement. Revenue stamps may be considered Cinderellas, but as they are normally issued by an official government agency, they tend to be classified separately.
Local Stamps. These began to be issued soon after the invention of postal stamps. Zemstvo stamps were issued in rural areas of the Russian Empire (1860-1917). Local stamps have been issued in many other countries. Many local stamps such as hotel stamps or local carriage labels, used to pay for transport of mail to the mainland by ferry have been commonly used.
Political and propaganda stamps. These have been attached to letters for prisoners of war, or troops serving abroad. Sometimes these have been issued by breakaway governments in exile, maybe to give them legitimacy. The Indian National Army (Azad Hind) produced ten stamps as part of their campaign. The Jewish National Fund had been publishing its own stamps since 1901, promoting the ideology of Zionism.
Non-official Railway Stamps. In the UK, the railway letter service, a special facility offered by most British railway companies since 1891, produced a great variety of labels and stamps.
The design Cinderella items follow are similar to postage stamps, but they may lack a country name, often replaced by the organization or cause being promoted, or a denomination. These are not normally listed in the main stamp collecting catalogues. They are usually in a separate appendix within the publication. However, there are Cinderella stamp collectors and Cinderella stamp clubs in many countries. Cinderella philately has a specific name in many countries, such as Erinnophillie in France and Germany or Erinnofilia in Italy.
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