Who are we? We are Spejbl and Hurvínek!

I recently bought these dolls on Australian ebay from someone in Melbourne. I was rather taken with their expressions - rather sweet and wistful. There are two men, and two boys:

They all have big ears, big eyes, a prominent nose, and very little forehead. The men are bald, while the boys have a tuft of hair in the middle of their heads.

The men are wearing black suits made of a synthetic knit fabric - they have coats with long tails, and white pointed felt collars. Their hands are white, which probably indicates gloves. The boys are wearing blue shorts and white shirts made of the same type of synthetic knit fabric, with green felt braces.

The dolls themselves are made of wood, with the arms and legs joined to the body with wire:

The men are 5 1/2" (14 cm) tall, and the boys are just over 4 1/4" (about 11 cm).

I don't know who made these dolls, or who they represent. Recently, when I was browsing vintage doll listings, I saw some dolls representing cartoon characters, and I wondered if that's what these dolls might be. Do you recognise the characters? Or perhaps even know who made them?

Update: Gil Bomber of Cestina's Dolls Houses has identified these characters - thank you very much, Gil! She says:

"You have here two sets of the iconic Czech puppets Spejbl and Hurvínek (the former used to be known as Špejbl, with the first letter softened to a "sh" sound).

Here is a link to a website with some background information: http://mujweb.cz/spejblhurvinek/england/hist.html and you can find videos on youtube. (Here's a nice one:  

Where did you get them from Rebecca?   You don't often see them outside the Czech Republic.   I have the father but sadly not the son..."

 

Well, I bought them from an ebay seller in Melbourne. I will ask her if she knows anything about where they came from - I would think most likely from Czech migrants to Australia.

Homemade Australian - Federation Bungalow, Chatswood NSW

My Federation bungalow has some inhabitants now! I was thinking about what kind of dolls would fit, and looking at various wooden and character dolls on the internet. Then I found some dolls my sister gave me a few years ago:


These are Deepings Dolls, hand-turned and hand-painted in Tasmania. It seems very appropriate that this house should have Australian-made wooden dolls in it - and dolls that look like very ordinary everyday Australians of some time in the mid-twentieth century. The boy is wearing overalls; the woman is wearing a skirt, blouse and apron; the man has his shirt sleeves rolled up, and an open collar with no tie; and the little girl has quite a long frock tied with a big bow.


So here they are in their new home:


Dad and the little boy have been out in the back yard working on the vege patch, and have brought in some carrots. (I'm not quite sure why they are still holding their tools!)
As you can see, some dogs have joined the household too - little pipecleaner dogs from the 20s-30s. One belongs to the little boy, and one is the little girl's:



She has been in the front yard with Mum, picking flowers. Mum has her little garden fork with her, ready to tend the potplants on the verandah - when she gets some!

Homemade Australian - ca 1970s yellow & red house, Darwin

This house, is, I think, the first I bought myself. When I moved to Darwin, I started frequenting the second hand shops here, and found this in one. I like it. It's pretty rough and ready - no stairs, and the little partition is flimsy, and just balances on the wooden support; the 'door' cut in this partition is really only big enough for the dog. But it's bright and cheery, and I like the beige vinyl flooring with the brown wildflower design.
It didn't really have furniture with it when I bought it - the shop assistant told me that she had collected all the dolls house furniture that was donated into a bag to sell with the house. I used some of it in the house for a while, but then refurnished it with furniture I bought on ebay. This furniture is made of natural varnished & red painted wood, and looks great in the house. Most pieces are not marked - one or two have a paper label saying 'foreign'. I bought some pieces in their original boxes, but even those don't give a maker's name or country! However, recently I've seen identical furniture listed on UK ebay by Marion Osborne and other sellers, and described as Tofa furniture, made in the former Czechoslovakia in the 60s and 70s.
The dolls are modern and German, and suit the house very well, I think. Again, their box doesn't name the maker! just the distributor, Dr. Rolf Ottmüller of Hamburg. I bought these dolls in 2003, at the Brighton Toy and Model Museum where my uncle is a volunteer, and where some of my grandmother's dolls houses are on display. The bathroom is soft plastic, marked Made in England.
This is another house I'm going to make bedding and cushions for!