Rumcajs

Rumcajs was a cobbler in Jičín and had to make shoes for the city mayor Humpál. Humpál was proud of his big feet, but Rumcajs brags that he saw larger ones, and Humpál expels him to the (fictional) Řáholec forest "for the insult of mayor's foot", so Rumcajs becomes a Robin Hood-like brigand.[1][3] Rumcajs settled in a cave in the forest and gained his signature attributes: a tall red hat, a beard with a bee swarm, and a pistol loaded with acorns.[4] The opponents of Rumcajs include the city mayor, the prince, the princess, their lackey, and even the Emperor. His helpers include his family, animals, and forest and water spirits.[5]

Although the time of the events is never explicitly stated in the stories, from several mentions of "Král Fricek" (King Frederick William IV of Prussia), one may assume the mid-19th century.[6] Also, in the book Manka Empress Bětka is mentioned, apparently Empress Elisabeth of Austria, wife of Franz Joseph I.[7][8]

During 1969-1996 a one-hectare patch of forest, somewhere between Jičín and the villages of Čejkovice of Podhradí municipality, Vokšice, and Šlikova Ves was labelled Řáholec in the local forestry stand map. Initially, this was an inside joke of local foresters, but eventually it went public.[9]

The city of Jičín is proud of this association with the fairy tale and its author. The Václav Čtvrtek Square and a bookstore are named for him, and there is a pub "At Rumsajs'". In 1975, a year before his death, Václav Čtvrtek was declared an honorary citizen of Jičín. In 2011, Jičín children planted a small forest named "Cipískův Řáholeček" [Cipisek's Little Řáholec].[10][11]

Jičín is the place of the annual festival "Jičín – město pohádky" ["Jičín is the City of the Fairy Tale"] established in 1991. The founders of the festival were well aware of the immense popularity of Rumcajs and did not want to turn the festival into a kind of "Rumcajsland"; therefore, for the first 10 years, little attention was paid to Čtvrtek and his literary heroes. Only in 2011 did organizers make Rumcajs and his authors, Čtvrtek and Pilař, prominent at the festival.[12]

Since 1967, the Jičín branch of the Czech Tourist Club has organized an annual walk across the Bohemian Paradise named "Pochod za Rumcajsem" ["Pilgrimage after Rumcajs"]. Initially the start of the walk was simultaneous, but due to increased popularity, the start was staggered. Annual participation peaked in 1982, with 10,831 attendees. Since then, participation has varied depending on the weather and holidays. With the collapse of Communism, attendance sharply declined as Czechs gained the right to unrestricted travel abroad, but interest later rebounded, and in 2019, there were 8,907 "pilgrims". [13][14]

Rumcajs stories became popular in a number of European countries, as well as in Morocco and Chile. At the height of its popularity in the mid-1970s, Rumcajs merchandise, such as Rumcajs dolls, also became highly popular and have been compared to those of Soldier Švejk (another popular Czech fictional character) or even to that of some of Disney's characters. Due to the popularity of Rumcajs stories in Poland, a Polish baby detergent was named after Cipísek.[15][16]

On April 4, 2011, the hundredth anniversary of Václav Čtvrtek's birth, Rumcajs and Cipísek featured in the Google doodle on the Czech-language Google home page.[6][17]

A minor character named Rumtzays (Redbeard in the English translation) appears in Blood and Wine, a 2016 expansion pack for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

In 2017, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Rumcajs series, the Czech Mint issued commemorative/collectible coins. The reverse side depicts either Rumcajs, or Manka, or Cipisek, while the obverse shows the attributes of the island country of Niue (which issued the Czech Mint the license to print commemorative coins): country name, the profile of Queen Elizabeth II, year of issue (2017) and the nominal value of 1 NZD (silver coin) or 5 NZD (gold coin).[8][4][5]

The prototype of Rumcajs may be found in a short story by Čtvrtek published in 1946. Rumcajs, as he is known now, first appeared in the children's magazine Mateřídouška ["Thyme"] in 1966, but gained major popularity with the release of the TV series.[18]

The Rumcajs stories have been translated into Polish, Bulgarian, German, Hungarian, Romanian, Estonian, Latvian,[6] and Russian.[19] Some of them were translated in English in the magazine Czechoslovak Life in 1987.[20]

• Series O loupežníku Rumcajsovi at vecernicek.com