Josef Lada [part 02] | Czech Republic

Another postcard with illustration from Josef Lada. I like the simplistic design and basic colours. Born in the small village of Hrusice in a cobbler's family, he went to Prague at the age of 14 to become an apprentice binder. Entirely self-taught, he created his own style as a caricaturist for newspapers, and later as an illustrator. He produced landscapes, created frescoes and designed costumes for plays and films. Over the years he created a series of paintings and drawings depicting traditional Czech occupations, and wrote and illustrated the adventures of Mikeš, a little black cat who could talk.

Lada produced nearly 600 cartoons of the Švejk characters, depicting Austria-Hungary officers and civil servants as incompetent, abusive and often drunk. All subsequent editions of Švejk used Lada's illustrations, except for the 2008/2009 Czech edition illustrated by Petr Urban.

Rumcajs, Manka and Cipísek | Czech Republic

As I have written in a previous post, a while a a large number of old postcards came to my possession. Among them there are a lot with Czechoslovakian stamps [so I guess the cards were sent between 1918 and  1993] and most of the cards depict Czechoslovakian cartoons like Krtek [the Mole]. All the cards are written in Czech [which I don't speak] so it takes a lot of research to find out the name and origin of each cartoon character. If you know Czech and you can translate the writtings for me please let me know!

The following postcards depict Rumcajs, Manka and Cipísek. Rumcajs is the main character of the Czechoslovak bedtime cartoon from 1967. He is one of the most famous robbers of all times. Before he became an outlaw he was an ordinary shoemaker and the owner of the shop in a small town called Jicin. And if chance did not so ordain he would lead a quiet life sewing and repairing shoes. Unfortunately, he offended the local governor, calling his sizable feet elephant-like. That unflattering comment has become a cause for Rumcajs exile to the Rzacholecki forest and made him change his appearance and profession. From a quiet cobbler Rumcajs turned into a robber wearing a distinctive red hat, with a thick black beard and a revolver loaded with acorns. 

Despite his threatening appearance, Rumcajs was a robber of gentle nature, willing to help the residents of Jicin. He also stood up for forest animals frequently harassed by His Majesty the Prince, his capricious wife and servants. The robber always overcame all adversities because Rumcajs and his family - his wife Manka and his son Cypisek were favorable not just for animals, but also for magical characters like Rusalka (the water-nymph), Aquarians and Giants living in the neighborhood. 

The author of the origin of Rumcajs was Vaclav Čtvrtek who described the adventures of the robber in eight volumes of his book. In Poland, translations of four books from the series of the popular robber adventures were published. The animated series O loupežníku Rumcajsovi was directed by Ladislav Čapek and the project of the characters was created by a well-known painter Radek Pilař. In Poland, the first part of the 39 episode bedtime cartoon O rozbójniku Rumcajsie was broadcast on 3 July 1970 and it was narrated by Boguslaw Sochnacki. In 1974 the musical The Adventures of Rumcajs the Robber with music by Katarzyna Gaertner and libretto by Ernest Bryll, was first shown at the Polish Theater in Warsaw. The play enjoys a remarkable success and is still very popular.[source]

The bearded guy in the red hat is Rumcajs who as a bandit, constantly fighting with an unnamed degenerated aristocrat.

The Iron and Golden King | Czech Republic

This postcard was sent by Eva and Martin from Prague via Postcrossing [CZ 723885].

It is postmarked in 19 October 2015 from Praha, Czech Republic. I really like these stamps. The first one depicts the sign of Aquarius. The second one depicts Ottokar II (Czech: Přemysl Otakar II; c. 1233 – 26 August 1278), the Iron and Golden King, who was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until 1278. He also held the titles of Duke of Austria from 1251, Duke of Styria from 1260, as well as Duke of Carinthia and Margrave of Carniola from 1269.

With Ottokar's rule, the Přemyslids reached the peak of their power in the Holy Roman Empire. His expectations of imperial crown, however, were never fulfilled. [wikipedia]

Josef Lada [part 01] | Czech Republic

As I wrote in my previous post, lately a lot of old Czechoslovakian postcards came to my possession. Apart from the Krtek ones, many of them belong to Josef Lada. Illustrator, painter, scenographer and writer Josef Lada was born on December 17th, 1887 in Hrusice, a small village in central Bohemia, not far from Prague. He grew up in the poor family of a local shoemaker, in house no. 15. The family also had a small piece of land, where they could grow vegetable for their own need.

Krtek, the Mole [part 01] | Czech Republic

Lately a large number of old postcards came to my possession. Among them there are a lot with Czechoslovakian stamps [so I guess the cards were sent between 1918 and  1993] and most of the cards depict Krtek [the Mole]. All the cards are written in Czech [which I don't speak] so it took a lot of research to find out who this cute little guy is.

The Mole (in the Czech original called Krtek, or, for little mole, Krteček; Slovak Krtko) is an animated character in a series of cartoons, created by Czech animator Zdeněk Miler in 1956. Since its inception, the cartoon won itself an enormous popularity in many Central European countries, as well as India, China, Kazakhstan, Russia and Japan, due its distinct lack of dialogue.

Krtek was first seen in 1956 in Prague, when Miler wanted to create a children's cartoon about how flax is processed. He wanted a strong Disney influence to the cartoon by choosing an animal for the leading role, and decided to pick a mole after stumbling over a molehill during a walk. The first film called "Jak krtek ke kalhotkám přišel" ("How the mole got his trousers") was released in 1956. Production for further episodes started in 1963 and since then, around 50 episodes have been created.

The first episode of the cartoon was narrated, but Miler wanted the cartoon to be understood in every country of the world, so he decided to use his daughters as voice actors, reducing the speech to short non-figurative exclamations in order to express the mole's feelings and world perception. They also became the bottleneck of the creation process as they were the ones who got to see the whole film first, thus Miler was able to decide whether the message of the movie was able to get to children or not. [wikipedia]

“ It took me a long time to realize it, but when I draw Krtek, I was drawing myself. ”

— Zdeněk Miler

The two ones you see here are - I think - from 'The Mole and the Car [Krtek a autíčko]' episode.

 

Kutná Hora | Czech Republic

Kutná Hora (medieval Czech: Hory Kutné; German: Kuttenberg) is a city situated in the Central Bohemian Region of Bohemia, which is now part of the Czech Republic. Kutná Hora and the neighboring town of Sedlec are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Among the most important buildings in the area are the Gothic, five-naved St. Barbara's Church, begun in 1388, and the Italian Court, formerly a royal residence and mint, which was built at the end of the 13th century. The Gothic Stone Haus, which since 1902 has served as a museum, contains one of the richest archives in the country. The Gothic St. James's Church, with its 86-metre (282 ft) tower, is another prominent building. Sedlec is the site of the Gothic Cathedral of Our Lady and the famous Ossuary. [wikipedia]

This card was sent in 1980, when Czechoslovakia still existed. Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia (Czech and Slovak: Československo, Česko-Slovensko) was a sovereign state in Central Europe that existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until its peaceful dissolution into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on 1 January 1993.

Prague | Czech Republic

Some very dear friends of mine went to Prague a few weeks ago and sent me this lovely postcard. Even though it was really cold, they had a wonderful time!

Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, is our most valuable historical city reserve. In 1992 the historical core of the city covering 866 hectares was listed in the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage Register.

Prague represents a unique collection of historical monuments dominated by the Prague Castle which towers high above the city. It is a display of all artistic styles and movements. The historical core of the city is situated on both banks of the Vltava river and consists of 6 parts - formerly independent urban units unified in the 18th century. They are as follows: Stare Mesto (Old Town), Josefov (the preserved part of the former Jewish Town - today a part of the Old Town), Nove Mesto (New Town), Mala Strana (Lesser Town), Hradcany and Vysehrad. Naturally, most of the historical monuments, museums and galleries are concentrated right there. [praguewelcome.cz]

Chech Republic

This one came from Czech Republic. Eva sent it to me via postcrossing [CZ-75250]! As you can see, it is a mini czech-dictionary :P