And began an adventure that would see them grow-up to become some of the world's favourite comic-strip characters. Or to put in their own words: "Long, long ago, in a Smurf far away, there Smurfed, in complete Smurfiness with Smurf, a small blue people."
Over the decades, these Belgian elves who began life as "les Schtroumpfs", have sold tens of millions of books and starred in a hugely popular cartoon series in the 1980s. Yet despite their cult status, the Smurfs are unlikely to be taking much notice of their Smurfday. To start with, they are ‘timeless' creatures - they are 100 years old expect for Grandpa Smurf who is 500 - and they have other things to worry about,
such as how to defend their mushroom-made village against evil outsiders.
War in Smurfland
As Belgians reflect on these miniature national heroes - "just three apples high" - they will turn to a more troubling chapter in Smurf history as a disturbing reflection on the political crisis engulfing the country today. In Schtroumpf vert et vert Schtroumpf, published in 1972, a language dispute erupts, splitting the village into North and South.
"The Smurfs could not agree on when to use the word "smurf". So the Northern Smurfs would call an opener a "bottle smurfer", while the Southern Smurfs called it a "smurf opener,"
explains Willem de Graeve of the Belgian Comic Strip Centre, which is hosting a special Smurf exhibition.
"They went to Papa Smurf for help, refused to accept his compromise and they drew up a border. Eventually, the village went to war. It's really a reflection of the tensions we have now between the Walloons and Flemish."
"Pass the Schtroumpf"
The Smurfs happened by accident. Pierre Culliford, or Peyo, a Belgian comic strip artist, was having lunch with colleagues and when he forgot the term for salt cellar ("saliere"), he made up the word "Schtroumpf" instead.
"Peyo was amazed by the success of his Smurfs, who, lets face it, are not heroic types. They are small and vulnerable to attack and have all the human failings: they can been grumpy or work-obsessed or lazy. And Peyo was very careful to give each one its own character," says Mr de Graeve.
There have been plenty of conspiracy theories about Smurf society, including that it resembles Communism. The Smurf community is cooperative, sharing and kind and based on the principle that each Smurf has something he or she is good at to give back to society. In return, each Smurf appears to be given their necessities of life, from housing and clothes to food. Peyo's son, Thierry Culliford, though, said his father "wasn't interested in politics at all".
Smurf freak
In his later years, Peyo sometimes expressed bitterness that none of his other cartoon creations had done as well as his Smurfs, which by then had spawned their own industry and a cult following - even among adults. Kris Vanderlick is a Belgian in his sixties who has travelled the globe in search of Smurf figurines to add to his 6,000-strong collection.
"I got hooked when I was given my first Smurf as a child. Much later, when my own daughter shared my passion, I became determined to own each and everyone of them," he explains from his house on the outskirts of Brussels, where an army of PVC models line the shelves. The pride of place is dedicated to Moon Smurf, a very
rare model from the 1960s, but still Mr Vanderlick hankers for more.
"I am still missing from models from Portugal and other countries. I even went to New York to get American Smurfs but in the end the collectors there were after my own collection, which is more complete!"
To mark the anniversary, UNICEF is this week hosting Celebrity Smurf Auctions across Europe. A full-length Hollywood movie will be released next year as well as a new TV series, both using three-dimensional, computer-generated animation techniques.
"But these new Smurfs are not nearly are lovable as the original. Nothing can beat those," says Kris Vandelick.
Smurf-facts
• There are 101 Smurfs, including one rather charming if dippy girl, the Smurfette.
• The Smurfs are all three apples high and are constantly under attack by the wizard Gargamel, who symbolises the dark side of humanity.
• Since they cannot count on their physical strength or their extraordinary intelligence, Smurfs always rely on their solidarity to save them.
• The Smurf comic-strips were turned into a children's TV cartoon series by the Hanna-Barbera studio in Hollywood in the 1980s.
• Smurf comic books have sold 25,000,000 copies in 25 languages.
Vanessa Mock
Radio Netherlands
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Half a century ago, some tiny blue creatures with improbable names popped out of the pages of a Belgian magazine
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