Vintage USSR Salvo Karlsson Wooden Figure (60s-80s)

Here's Karlsson, the "handsome, perfectly plump" highly controversial character straight from the rooftops of Stockholm. While Karlsson was beloved as a free-spirited hero in the USSR, he had the reputation of a selfish mischief-maker in his native Sweden. 

This wooden souvenir was produced in Tallinn, Estonia, in the 1960s-1980s. 

Height: 20 cm

Producer: SALVO

Based in Soviet Estonia, the SALVO factory produced mass-market wooden souvenirs, including hand-painted folk dolls and pop culture figures like Karlsson. Founded as a small cooperative in 1948, it grew into a major enterprise making a variety of consumer goods. These inexpensive items were popular with tourists and locals alike, offering a glimpse of Estonian identity within the Soviet system. Today, they are nostalgic collectibles valued for their history and design. 

SALVO wooden souvenirs were produced from the 1960s throughout the Soviet period until the early 1990s. Items like the Karlsson figure, based on the character by Astrid Lindgren, were part of a diversified production starting in the 1960s, with peak production likely between the 1970s and late 1980s. Read more in "Salvo Dolls. A Case Study in Soviet Estonian Vernacular..." at leidykla.vda.lt.