South African Cinderellas of WW2: Jamie Smith
This is a very useful and entertaining introduction to the non-postage Cinderella labels used in South Africa during WW2. These propaganda and charitable labels adorned covers for the purposes of raising awareness about security issues, as well as funds for the War Effort. As such they supported a wide variety of related causes, like servicemen's welfare, Navy Week and POWs. They provide an interesting and colourful insight into the divided mindset of White South Africa during WW2, a time when Empire Loyalists stood firm with Smuts, Britain and the Western Allies against the Nazis while Afrikaner Nationalism equivocated, bided its time, kept memories of British 'barbarism' alive and its powder dry, all the while plotting for republican power and a final solution to the Native Problem.
Uploaded files:I enjoyed that, especially your reference to Navy Week. Here are two pages from my Simonstown display as PDF.
Uploaded files:I enjoyed your post on Navy week just now - I am learning all the time!
I would point out that there are three points which I picked up when I showed my presentation yesterday which have since been rectified. One of the things pointed out was that on the SWA cover was that the censor's lable was tied with the coat of arms 'L' cachet for Nysna but under magnification it is an 'S' so it was censored in Port Elizabeth. Anoher interesting point is that the 'Russian' 3d cinderella has the combined logo of the Red Cross and The Red Crescent, which I have never seen before. The last alteration was the use of a 4d Red Cross stamp to make up the postage, I had that one completly wrong - put it down to senior moments!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is is quite nice because it includes a letter written from a farm in SWA.
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One of the easiest philatelic frauds is to stick a Cinderella label onto a cover that has already been posted without one. A dealer I used to see at fairs grinned as he told me that when he did this he called it "historical embellishment". The fact that he could now ask more for the item he could not previously sell had nothing to do with it!! I am sure that most of us have bought such 'improved' envelopes at one time or another. The more experienced collectors among us will always attempt to buy covers where the Cinderella label is 'tied' to it by a cancellation or franking. This should guarantee its bona fides. However, a Cinderella standing in glorious isolation on a cover will always be suspect. In the preceding SWA cover we can see three WW2 labels standing all alone. We know their use is genuine because the letter describes their purpose - "medical aid for Russia" - to the addressee in the USA. This cover is unique in that most covers do not include the original contents and few of those that do describe the Cinderella. The bottom line is that any cover with a stand-alone label not tied to the cover by a cancellation could be something affixed later. Caveat emptor.
I found this rather large Cinderella while I was putting up a Post on Tied and Untied Christmas / Easter labels. It is on a philatelic cover of sorts. The contents are an exchange of seasonal greetings between two stamp collectors, one in SA and the other in England. As this is a thread on Cinderellas, I will not show the front here which you can see in the Post on 'Christmas / Easter labels Tied and Untied'.
Cover from JOHANNESBURG '1 XII 39' to GB. Bilingual pair of Christmas ('Kersmis') labels of 1938.
The caption reads "Buy Voortrekker stamps and ... support the Monument Fund".
To see the front, CLICK HERE.