Ray Petersen founded this company in 1981 as a resource for stamp collectors who were tired of the traditional areas of philately. Connecticut Cinderellas specializes in the unlisted, uncatalogued and largely unknown fields of Cinderella stamps. Just as Cinderella was the beautiful princess who was not allowed to attend the ball, Cinderella stamps are the beautiful stamps that were, for many years
, not allowed in competitive philatelic exhibitions. The term "Cinderella Stamps" is an umbrella term that covers many different types of stamps that were not government-issued postage stamps. Included are Revenue (tax) stamps; Christmas & Easter & other Charity Seals; Poster Stamps - to promote events, advertise products & businesses, or spread propaganda. There are also locally issued postage stamps - either from towns or businesses or private citizens; Letter-seals issued by businesses and government offices; Savings, Trading, Premium stamps (like the old S&H Green stamps); Semi-Official Airmail and Military Franchise stamps. Many of these are collected by topic or theme - which are more varied and unusual than the topics found on traditional postage stamps. One particularly popular theme is poster stamps designed by well-known graphic artists, such as Berthold Löffler, Ludwig Hohlwein, Alphonse Mucha, Leonetto Capiello, Maxfield Parrish, Edward Penfield, and many others. Other collectors focus on a geographic area, just as traditional stamp collectors do; and some focus on particular categories of cinderellas. Whatever your field of interest, you are sure to find something of interest from Connecticut Cinderellas.
