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LOCAL POSTS OF THE WORLD

NEW ! LOCAL POST IMAGES

There are many types of local posts and cinderella stamps. Here is an attempt to clarify them.

1. LOCAL POSTS - five types.
a) PUBLIC, local delivery - Local stamps are used to prepay the delivery of mail within a city, island or region. Sometimes they prepay express mail (same day or overnight service). Only the local stamps are used and the mail is delivered by the Local Post's employees and does not go through the national Post Office system. Examples - Many 19th Century Local Posts, Hawai'i Post, Lord Howe Island Courier Post .These are genuine local posts as they provide a real service and the stamps and covers are very collectable.
b) PUBLIC, national or international delivery - Local stamps are used to pay for the transport of mail from an island or place (that has no branch of the national Post Office) to the nearest branch of the national Post Office or to the nearest Post Office in another country. National stamps are also attached so that the mail can be delivered by the national Post Office system or internationally. Local stamps in the past were often attached to the back of an envelope, nowadays they are usually attached to the left front (the law having been changed in the U.K. for example) - the top right front is usually reserved for national stamps. This kind of local post is available to the general public on the island or place. Examples - Christmas Island (Pacific Ocean), Herm, Hustadvika, Kaulbach Island, Rattlesnake Island etc. These are genuine local posts as they provide a real need for a small population and the stamps and covers are very collectable.
c) PRIVATE - Local stamps are used to pay for the transport of mail from a place (that has no branch of the national Post Office) to the nearest branch of the national Post Office. This kind of local post is a private service, usually restricted to one person, family or business and not available to the general public. (Very often operated by an individual from their own home with local stamps placed on their outgoing mail). These kind of Local Posts are purely philatelic and done for the fun of it. Examples - Pineapple Post, Shrub Oak Local Post etc.
d) RAILWAY (RAILROAD) POSTS - Railway (Railroad) stamps are used to transport mail from one railway (railroad) station to another along the railway (railroad) line. Also from one station to another station and then onto the nearest branch of the national Post Office, if national stamps are attached also. Examples - Snowdon Mountain Railway, Talyllyn Railway, etc. These railway (railroad) posts often provide a real service for the transportation of mail and the stamps and covers are very collectable.
e) AIRMAIL POSTS - Non-government airmail stamps are used to transport mail by plane from one place to another. Also they were often specially issued for an experimental or first flight. Examples - L'Aero Club Populaire de Nice et de la Riviera, Klondike Airways Ltd., etc. These airmail posts often provide a real service for the transportation of mail and the stamps and covers are very collectable.

2. CINDERELLAS - two types.
a) Real places.

These are often labels that look like stamps and used to advertise an actual place, event, charity, product or to make a political or religious statement and placed on envelopes together with the regular stamps of a nation. They are often called poster stamps. They do not prepay any local post. Examples - Ekko stamps. also a hotel, a town, a resort, a Stamp Show, an event, a politician running for office.

b) Fantasy places.
These are artistic creations made to look like stamps and with made-up names. These are also called "artistamps". Examples - Ailinglapalap, Bolt Post, Ittoqqoortoormit, Wotje. These are obviously not real postage stamps to anyone with even a little knowledge of stamp collecting and geography.

3. BOGUS LOCAL POSTS.
These are the most dangerous because they look like real stamps from an actual country or place. Upon closer inspection however, they are bogus because the name of the place is real, but:-
a) It has been changed slightly. e.g. Somaliland & Somalia etc.
b) The place is in some kind of turmoil (Russian republics in the Caucauses for example) where it is hard to find anyone in real authority who can attest to their validity or not. e.g. Abhkazia, Chechnya etc.
c) No genuine local post exists, as it is actually a very small uninhabited island or bunch of rocks. e.g. - Redonda, Steep Holm etc.
d) No genuine local post exists, even though it has a small population. e.g. Easdale Island.
d) No genuine local post exists, even though it claims to be a breakaway region of a country. e.g. Dagestan, Occusi Ambeno, Republik Maluku Selatan.

TYPE 1 LOCAL POSTS - these are the genuine ones.
A) Currently in operation.

If you know of any current genuine Local Post that is not listed above, please e-mail the information for the benefit of other viewers like you.

B) No longer in operation.

This list is not complete. I would appreciate input from viewers. Please e-mail me.


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TYPE 1 - OTHER LOCAL POSTS,
TYPE 2 - CINDERELLAS &
TYPE 3 - BOGUS LOCAL POSTS
(see top of this page for an explanation of all three types)


A few of the following may possibly be upgraded to the above column once more information is known. Your help is needed. Please e-mail me.

NEW ! LOCAL POST IMAGES


Additions and corrections to the above lists would be greatly appreciated.

e-mail your contribution


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