Stories of Our History

The ninth and last silver medal from the Czech Mint cycle "Stories of Our History" is published in the year when we commemorate 100th birthday of Mr. Spejbl. The history of the puppet, which is the head of a famous wooden family and which brings joy to generations of small and large audience, is a story full of laughter and intelligent and crazy fun.

Mr. Spejbl was born in Pilsen in 1920, when he was carved by Karel Nosek according to the design of the puppet proposed by Josef Skupa. The puppet was given the head bare as a knee, a large nose and even larger ears, bulging eyes, the necessary tailcoat, clogs and gloves. Initially, Spejbl was a theatrical partner of the popular character Kašpárek and a caricature of a simple bourgeois became his ungrateful role. However, both characters did not suit each other, and the games with the lone Spejbl were also not the right fit. The necessary revival was brought about by Spejbl's reduced and technically more perfect copy. The new puppet with blond hair, which rolls its eyes, was named Hurvínek and eventually became Spejbl's naughty son, who makes jokes about his caring father, enriched the games with a proven intergenerational dispute and was suddenly embarked on a phenomenal success. Thus, the Spejbl and Hurvínek Theater in Pilsen was established in 1930.

Medal maker MgA. Martin Dašek dedicated the obverse side of the medal to the personality of Josef Skupa. He supplemented the portrait of the puppet actor with the name and life's dates, together with the original puppet of Mr. Spejbl. The reverse side then presents the complete wooden family of the S + H Theater - Mr. Spejbl, Hurvínek, dog Žeryk, Mánička and Mrs. Kateřina.

A special certificate of origin builds an integral part of the medal and tells its story.