Much less is known about Sergei Ivanovich Preobrazhensky than about all his colleagues in the role of “chief Santa Claus.” But it was thanks to him that Santa Claus became what he is now.

Preobrazhensky was not just a playwright, but also a talented teacher. He knew how to work with children himself and taught this to others. It was Sergei Preobrazhensky, who took over the position of Father Frost at the Christmas tree in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions, who formulated recommendations for artists performing in this role.

It's hard to believe, but at the end of the 1930s, when New Year trees first appeared in the USSR, the dominant role of Father Frost was not at all obvious. Moreover, this character did not even participate in the holidays everywhere.

Sergei Preobrazhensky formulated clearly: “Father Frost is the main manager, the first entertainer and the leader of all the fun.” He confirmed these words with many years of work on the Christmas tree in the Hall of Columns.
Some claim that he worked in this role until the early 1960s. But Sergei Ivanovich’s relatives say that in the mid-1950s he underwent a serious operation, after which he no longer performed.

Alexander Khvylya

In 1961, the Kremlin Palace of Congresses was opened in Moscow, where congresses of the ruling Communist Party were held in subsequent years. Soviet Union. In accordance with the slogan “All the best goes to children,” the country’s main New Year tree began to be held in the newly built Palace.

Actor Alexander Khvylya as Morozko in the film of the same name, 1964. Photo: russianlook.com
The Kremlin Christmas tree received the status of an important state event, and the candidate for the role of the country’s “main Santa Claus” was selected extremely meticulously.

Father Frost. Snegovei, Zimnik and Treskun. What did our ancestors call Santa Claus?
Everything was decided by the movie. In 1964, the fairy tale film “Morozko” was released on the screens of the country, where the role of the winter wizard was played by actor Alexander Khvylya. By that time, his credits included the heroic roles of Budyonny, party committee secretaries, the image of the stern Captain Gul from “The Fifteen-Year-Old Captain” and many other works.

In the image of Morozko, Alexander Leopoldovich turned out to be so organic that the people at the top decided: “ Best Grandfather You won’t find frost for the Christmas tree in the Kremlin!”

Khvylya coped well with the role of Father Frost, but since he took up his post as a rather middle-aged man, sometimes incidents occurred. For example, he could not master working with a radio microphone. Once, having finished his part of the speech in the Kremlin, Father Frost Khvylya went backstage and began to complain out loud about a number of problems. The voice of Father Frost, dissatisfied with his life, hovered over the Kremlin Palace, and the technicians could not catch the artist in the tangled corridors. However, Grandfather Frost did not have time to say anything truly seditious.

Roman Filippov

If Alexander Khvylya was elevated to the throne of the “main Santa Claus” by cinema, then his successor won the “kingdom” for himself.

Roman Sergeevich Filippov is one of the best masters episode in Soviet cinema. Tall and with a loud voice, Filippov was not suitable for the roles of the main characters, but he was memorable even in the short time that the directors allotted to him. Well, who doesn’t remember Nikola Pitersky from “Gentlemen of Fortune”, who was almost deprived of his sight with the help of a “goat” by Evgeniy Leonov? And the visitor from the restaurant in the Diamond Arm, cordially inviting Nikulin and Mironov to Kolyma?

Having already been the Kremlin’s Santa Claus for many years, Roman Filippov connected himself even more closely with the New Year holiday by playing Kamneedov in “Sorcerers.”

New Year's celebration in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions, 1973.
First, Filippov was invited to the Christmas tree in the Kremlin as an understudy for Alexander Khvylya. There were many understudies, but they all worked to Khvylya’s soundtrack (most of the performance was performed to a previously made recording). Filippov insisted that a soundtrack with his voice be recorded. Then the actor ensured that he and Khvylya worked in turns.

In general, when Khvylya retired, the question of who would become the most important among the Santa Clauses was no longer raised.

Roman Filippov played the role of Father Frost at the country's main Christmas tree for almost two decades. He became so comfortable with her that he asked his colleagues to replace him at the theater in early January. Children and parents adored him. And the latter became a problem over time.

The fact is that dads who brought their children to the Christmas tree began to greet Filippov with champagne (and not only champagne), wanting to drink with Santa Claus. As a rule, Filippov did not refuse.

As a result, sometimes Santa Claus was late coming on stage, and his colleagues had to act out what was happening, which is not so easy, given that the performance is performed to a previously recorded soundtrack.

However, these pranks were forgiven to Roman Sergeevich for his ability to work with children and devotion to the New Year holiday.

As it happens, Roman Filippov held his last Christmas tree in January 1992, just a few days after the disappearance of the USSR. At his last performance, the presenter made a mistake: instead of the traditional phrase “Santa Claus does not say goodbye to you,” he said “says goodbye.” This turned out to be a bad prophecy: just a month later, Roman Sergeevich passed away.

Dmitry Nazarov

When the official residence of Father Frost appeared in Veliky Ustyug in the 1990s, the position of the country's main Father Frost also became official. A random person could not occupy such a high position. In addition, a large actor was required, not only in terms of talent, but also in terms of physical size, with a powerful male voice and charm.

Incognito from Veliky Ustyug

It is not known for certain who plays the role of the main Father Frost of Russia today. When journalists begin to pester the wizard with questions about who he really is, he logically answers: “Like who?” Santa Claus, of course!

Father Frost during a visit to St. Petersburg, December 22, 2013.
According to information from sources close to reliable, Dmitry Nazarov resigned as the main Father Frost. The star of the series “Voronin” and the disaster film “Metro” Stanislav Duzhnikov is named as his successor. According to external data, Duzhnikov is quite suitable for this role. However, the actor himself claims that he does not act as Santa Claus, since even his own daughter exposes him.

Whether this is true or not, only Santa Claus himself and his entourage know. That's probably right. After all, the incognito status of the acting New Year's wizard is part of his image. You can guess about something, but you can’t be sure. After all, this is part of the New Year's magic that neither children nor adults want to give up.

Every year on the eve of the New Year holidays, many children's performances are held in our capital. However, the Christmas tree in the Kremlin is still considered the brightest and most colorful. More than one thousand children and their parents are looking forward to this event. Therefore, it is not surprising that many are already interested in what the Kremlin Christmas tree 2018 will be like.

Historical reference

The first time this event took place was in 1954. The heroes of those times were not at all fairy-tale heroes, A real people- revolutionaries. A lot of time has passed since then and now on the Kremlin stage you can see cartoon characters, fairy-tale characters and, of course, Father Frost and the Snow Maiden.

It has always been prestigious to attend these performances. Previously, this event could be compared to a trip to Artek, since there were no tickets on sale, and only children of the party nomenklatura or heroes of socialist labor could attend the Kremlin Christmas tree. Nowadays, in order to visit the main Christmas tree of the country, it is not necessary to perform heroic deeds.

In the thirties of the last century, the main Christmas tree was held in the Hall of Columns, and only in the fifties did the Kremlin become its place of “registration”. The first role of Santa Claus was assigned to M. Garkavi, the husband of the country-famous artist L. Ruslanova. He was a very charming person and played many interesting roles, ranging from WWII soldiers to entertainers of jazz orchestras. Mikhail Naumovich, like no one else, approached the role of the main Father Frost of the country. The children of the Soviet country loved him very much for his sincerity and openness.

Since the nineties, the main post of Father Frost in Russia has been occupied by the famous actor D. Nazarov. He is known to many for his roles in such theater venues as:

• Maly Theater;
• "Sphere";
• Moscow Army Theater;
• Moscow Art Theater named after. Chekhov.

Some remember him for his roles in films, as Stalin and Yeltsin. He also starred in a number of television projects. His voice has been voiced in more than one popular cartoon.

What is remarkable about the Christmas tree in the Kremlin in 2018

The Kremlin Christmas tree has a rich history and traditions. Most children in the country still dream of visiting it. Over the many years of its existence, it has not lost its human face. Here everything is subject to the tastes and interests of the children. The Christmas tree in the Kremlin continues to amaze the public. Every year directors and producers do everything to new year event in the Kremlin remained in the memory of the kids for a long time. Every season, the writers come up with new and exciting stories so that interest in the Christmas tree not only does not fall, but also continuously grows. Children's show producers constantly change the scenery, making it even richer and more colorful. The creators of all kinds of special effects are not far behind them. What the performance will be this year is kept secret until the very last moment. Despite the intrigue, most viewers are confident that the next show will be even bigger and more impressive. After all, the best specialists in this field are working on the project. There is no doubt that the 2018 Kremlin Christmas tree will be the best in recent years.

Experience recent years shows that presentations with interactive content are the most popular. Surely the next one too New Year's performance in the Kremlin will meet these requirements, and young spectators will be able to participate in the development of events on stage. Kids will feel like they are in a real fairy tale with their favorite characters.

Already formed good tradition, when the New Year's holiday for children begins from the very threshold of the Kremlin Palace. Wonderful events take place right in the foyer before the main performance, where children can take part in all sorts of competitions and fun games. Animators dressed as favorite children's characters lead round dances with the children and entertain them as best they can. The duration of the variety and game program is 45 minutes. Before each performance, kids can also watch an interesting cartoon. The performance itself lasts one hour and ten minutes. The finale of the holiday invariably ends with the presentation of a tasty and sweet gift.

Dates for children's New Year's holiday in the Kremlin has remained unchanged for many years. This winter it will take place: from 17/25/17 to 01/08/18.

Schedule of New Year's performances

date	Time spending
From 12/25/17 to 12/31/17	10:00, 14:00, 18:00
01.01.18	14:00, 18:00
02.01.18	10:00, 14:00
03.01.18 – 08.01.18	10:00, 14:00, 18:00

Tickets

You can buy tickets for performances from 12/06/17. It is from this date that the official distribution of tickets starts. They act on children from 7 to 15 years old. One ticket entitles you to receive only one gift. During school performances, accompanying persons are not allowed into the hall, with the exception of one leader for every ten students, for whom a ticket must also be purchased. At performances held on December 25, 26, 30, 31, 2017 and January 1, January 2 and January 8, children are only allowed with adults. For other dates, this procedure applies only to 18:00. The exceptions are sessions:

• 25.12.17 — 10:00;
• 29.12.17 — 10:00;
• 30.12.17 — 10:00, 14:00;
• 31.12.17 — 10:00, 14:00;
• 01/02/18 - 10:00 and 14:00;
• 07.01.18 — 10:00;
• 08.01.18 — 10:00.

If two adults and one child are going to attend the event, you need to buy two sets of tickets; if there is one adult and two or more children, then you should purchase one set and the required number of children's tickets. This applies to events held at 10:00 and 14:00.

You can buy tickets for children in the stalls. Seats on the balconies and in the amphitheater are designed to be visited with adults, that is, you need to buy sets.
Adults without children are not allowed to attend the performance. They can only receive a gift for an already purchased ticket.

Morning and afternoon performances are attended exclusively by children, with the exception of 25, 26, 30, 31.12.17 and 01, 02, 08.01.18.

The gift stub must be kept until the end of the performance. It is for this reason that a gift will be given out in the foyer at the end of the performance.

Entry to the performance begins one hour and fifteen minutes before the time indicated on the tickets.

You can get to the Christmas tree by taking the metro to the Alexandrovsky Park station and then passing through the Trinity Gate, which is under the Kutafya Tower.

If you are yours baby is coming to the performance yourself, make sure that he has a mobile phone with your number.

Admission to the performance is carried out using tickets corresponding to the date and time of the performance.

Ticket price:

The ticket price includes:

• wardrobe;
• game program in the foyer;
• main presentation;
• New Year's gift.
• good mood.

Official site

In the Soviet Union, Christmas trees for children were first ignored, then banned, and then turned into a weapon of ideological propaganda.

At first, the tree, as an attribute of a religious relic - Christmas, was included in the list of class-alien elements. At the same time, for the time being there was no severe persecution of New Year’s celebrations. Soviet books for children even talked about how Vladimir Ilyich Lenin personally visited New Year's parties.

However, in 1928, at the peak of the anti-religious campaign, Christmas trees and New Year's celebrations were done away with. It seemed like forever.
But in 1935 everything miraculously changed. Candidate member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Pavel Postyshev, published an article in the Pravda newspaper in which he actually rehabilitated New Year and called for arranging merry New Year's holidays for children.

Already on December 30, 1935, in Kharkov, where Postyshev had shortly before worked as the first secretary of the regional party committee, the first New Year's ball-carnival in the USSR was held. About 1,200 schoolchildren took part in it.
Postyshev’s initiative was recognized as timely, and 11 months later the secretariat of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions decided: “Since the celebration of the New Year has become and is a national holiday and is celebrated by workers, this holiday needs to be legalized.”
From this moment on, both children's and adult New Year's celebrations received permanent registration in the Land of the Soviets.

On January 1, 1937, a ball-carnival for excellent students was held at the Moscow House of Unions, which opened the tradition of the country’s main Christmas tree.
It's interesting that even on top level the term “main Christmas tree of the country” was very conditional. When Lazar Kaganovich asked the leader of the USSR Joseph Stalin where to put the main Christmas tree of the country, the leader of the people said:
- We have all the main trees!
Nevertheless, the “Kremlin tree” unofficially had the highest status. It should be noted that initially, as mentioned above, it was held in the House of Unions, located near the current building of the State Duma.

The first Soviet New Year trees had a rather politicized character. The performances touched on the theme of class struggle in one way or another, and children came to them dressed as Red Army soldiers or labor shock workers. The achievements of heroic pilots and conquerors of the Arctic were also glorified - in a word, it was popularly explained to boys and girls why it was so “good to live in a Soviet country.”
Time has affected not only the scripts New Year's performances, but also on the fate of the “father” of the Soviet New Year, Pavel Postyshev. In 1938, internal party struggle led to him being removed from all posts and arrested, and in February 1939 he was shot in Butyrka prison.

New Year's celebrations continued nonetheless. Even in wartime, despite all the difficulties, children's New Year's parties were held. And in 1945, the festive scope of the New Year tree in the House of Unions symbolized the approach of Victory. On the main staircase, the young guests were greeted by mummers playing musical instruments. The children especially liked the hare orchestra. The "hares" played carrots instead of trumpets. There were attractions in the lobby: swings, Ferris wheel, carousel. Puppet jazz played in front of the “magic room” under the direction of conductor Gutalin Gutalinovich. Snow Maiden-Stalinist and New Year - Communist On December 23, 1947, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR declared January 1 “a holiday and a non-working day.” Thus, the New Year in the USSR received not only recognition, but also official status. The main Christmas tree of the country was held in the House of Unions until 1954, when for the first time the New Year children's party was admitted directly to the Kremlin, or rather, to the St. George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace. The script for the festive performance was written by the famous Lev Kassil and Sergei Mikhalkov. At the same time, the ideological component has not gone away - for example, until Stalin’s death, Father Frost and the Snow Maiden did not forget to glorify the “leader of the peoples” in poetic form. And even after the change of Soviet leadership, the topic of achievements and “individual shortcomings” absolutely did not want to leave the New Year trees. In 1961, with the opening of the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, the country's main Christmas tree moved there. But here, at first, everything remained the same. So, after Nikita Khrushchev announced the plan to build communism in the USSR by 1980, the artist told the children: “I am the first year out of twenty, you should go to communism with me!”
Ideology was defeated by the creators of the Wolf and Cheburashka. A radical turning point in the situation occurred in 1964, when young authors Alexander Kurlyandsky and Eduard Uspensky, the future “fathers” of “Well, Just Wait” and “Crocodile Genes,” were brought in to develop the script for the Kremlin Christmas tree. Instead of the cruiser Aurora, Kukuruza, and similar topical subjects that were traditional for that time, they proposed a pioneer’s journey to the Land of Fairy Tales. Nevertheless, Kurlyandsky and Uspensky managed to bring the script to life, and from that moment the main Christmas tree of the country, like all others, began to evolve towards a magical children's party, not mixed with any ideology. The Kremlin Christmas tree was the most, as they say, “status” - in the days of winter New Year holidays the performance was shown on TV.
Tickets to the Kremlin Christmas tree were awarded to the best students in Moscow and other cities of the country. It was believed that the Kremlin Christmas tree had not only the best performances, but also the most best gifts. The peculiarity of the Christmas tree in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses was its mass character. The hall, which could accommodate several thousand people, was filled to capacity with children. Another nuance of the country’s main Christmas tree is connected with this. In order to avoid the loss of children by parents, who were not allowed to attend the performance itself, after the end of the Christmas tree, boys and girls were taken in formation to the Kremlin’s Cathedral Square, where they walked in a large circle, while parents standing around snatched their children.
Naturally, horror stories about this arose among children, beginning with the words: “Parents did not take one boy from Kremlin Christmas tree, And…". And then there was a horror story, depending on the strength of the narrator’s imagination. After the collapse of the USSR, the status of the “main Christmas tree of the country” dropped significantly. Numerous bright New Year's shows have replaced it in the eyes of children and parents. Nevertheless, the authorities do not want to completely abandon traditions modern Russia. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first New Year tree in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, now the State Kremlin Palace. For the anniversary it was set New Year's show based on Pushkin’s fairy tales - “Unspeakable Beauty”, which involves over 300 artists from theaters, universities, and creative groups. And this is right - after all, good traditions make this world a better place. And over the decades, the country’s main Christmas tree has warmed the hearts of hundreds of thousands of boys and girls with the light of its New Year’s lights. The material was first published on December 31, 2012 http://www.aif.ru/

At the end of his “Bibigon,” Korney Chukovsky promised: “And when the New Year comes, I will carefully hide my tiny friends in the pocket of my warm fur coat, and we will go to the Kremlin for the Christmas tree. And I imagine how glad and happy the children will be when they see with their own eyes the living Bibigon and his cheerful, elegant sister, his sword, his three-cornered hat and hear his perky speech.”

After being “on the shelf” for 10 years, “Bibigon” was allowed to be published around the same time as the first Christmas tree was held in the Kremlin Palace. Until 1954, the main Christmas tree of the country was a holiday in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions. After death, the doors of the Kremlin opened, and several thousand happy children gathered here on New Year’s Eve. To hold the New Year's tree in the Kremlin, they used the Great Hall of the Kremlin Palace, and the main tree of the country itself, richly decorated with airplanes, satellites, astronauts and sheaves of wheat, was installed in the St. George's Hall, which was completely unsuitable for this.

The heroes of the first performances, scripts for which were written by such aces as Lev Kassil and Sergei Mikhalkov, were Red Army soldiers, workers, peasants and Bolsheviks - these are “ours”. The main Baba Yaga of the 50s were the White Guards. But ours won, waving their swords and quoting paragraphs from the short course of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks).

After 10 years, the student theater “Our House” found new scriptwriters for the Christmas tree in the Kremlin Palace - Eduard Uspensky, Alexander Kurlyandsky and Arkady Khait. The “fathers” of the crocodile Gena and the parrot Kesha brought back the fairy tale for the New Year, making the main characters Father Frost, the Snow Maiden, wizards and sorceresses and, of course, the charming Baba Yaga.

Natalia Vishnyakova

For Soviet people, this was a special, most long-awaited holiday. They started preparing for it back in the summer. Although the main elements of a home holiday have been preserved from Soviet times, in those days preparing the New Year in the traditional form was almost heroic, and many now remember with nostalgia that painstaking work.

They prepared for the New Year in the USSR long before it arrived: due to the fact that it was difficult to get food, everything they needed was bought several months in advance and carefully stored until the right moment. It’s hard to imagine now, but in order to get the main ingredients, for example, Olivier salad, you had to try hard: there was no mayonnaise, green peas, or sausage on the open market - they started stocking up in October. With great difficulty, they also obtained the main drink of the holiday - Soviet champagne.

So we also decided to prepare in advance and remember in a nostalgic selection how it was.

At first, the New Year was not official public holiday, however, most families traditionally celebrated it along with Christmas, and the holiday was considered a family holiday.

For the first time, the New Year was officially celebrated only at the end of 1936, after an article by a prominent Soviet figure Pavel Postyshev in the newspaper Pravda.

“Why do our schools, orphanages, nurseries, children's clubs, palaces of pioneers deprive the working children of the Soviet country of this wonderful pleasure? Some, none other than “left” benders, glorified this children's entertainment like a bourgeois idea. This wrongful condemnation of the Christmas tree, which is a wonderful entertainment for children, must come to an end. Komsomol members and pioneer workers should organize collective Christmas trees for children on New Year’s Eve. In schools, orphanages, in pioneer palaces, in children's clubs, in children's cinemas and theaters - there should be a children's Christmas tree everywhere! City councils, chairmen of district executive committees, village councils, public education authorities must help organize a Soviet Christmas tree for the children of our great socialist homeland.”

1960 Costumes and Christmas tree decorations reflected the power of the country: divers and cosmonauts on the Kremlin Christmas tree. The first satellite has already been in orbit, but the film “Amphibian Man” has not yet been shot.

Tickets to New Year tree It was also difficult to obtain for children. You also need a gauze snowflake costume or a bunny outfit. A gift that included caramels, apples, and walnuts, provided to parents by the trade union committee. The dream of every child was to go to the main Christmas tree of the country - first in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions, and after 1954 - to the Kremlin Christmas tree.

Only after the war did the traditions of celebrating the New Year in the USSR begin to truly take shape. Christmas tree decorations began to appear: at first very modest ones - made of paper, cotton wool and other materials, later - beautiful, bright, made of glass, similar to the decorations of pre-revolutionary Christmas trees. By the end of the 1960s, mass production of Christmas tree toys was established, and you could buy quite a few simple options made of plastic, usually with Soviet symbols.

Festive table

We prepared for the holiday in advance. Firstly, you need to buy food - that is, “get it”, stand in hour-long queues, get sprats, caviar, smoked sausage in grocery orders.

Those who had a familiar salesperson in a grocery store could afford cognac for the New Year for 8 rubles 12 kopecks, semi-sweet Sovetskoe champagne, and tangerines.

Or stand in line for a long time, like in this photo.

Outfits and gifts

Every Soviet woman absolutely needed something new. fashionable dress-it could be sewn with your own hands or in an atelier, in rare cases - bought from black marketeers; the store was the last place to find anything.

New Year's gifts are another obstacle for Soviet citizens in the process of preparing for the New Year. There was tension with any goods in the country, and with beautiful goods the situation was even worse, so our parents went to visit, taking champagne, sausage, preferably Cervelat, canned exotic fruits (pineapples), boxes of chocolates. For the holiday, women were given Soviet perfumes, which were in abundance in stores, and men were given colognes.

“Nothing makes a woman look better than hydrogen peroxide.” - this joke becomes relevant on the eve of every New Year's celebration in the Soviet Union. Even the most fashionable women did not know the phrase “beauty salon” then. People signed up for hairdressing salons several weeks in advance; preparing hair, makeup and the entire “New Year’s look” required Soviet women to have maximum time, ingenuity and independence - sometimes their hair was done by friends.

The last stage of preparation is to wipe (repair) the TV, which, as postman Pechkin claimed, is “ the best decoration New Year's table" “Carnival Night”, “Irony of Fate”, “ New Year's adventures Masha and Vitya”, “Blue Light”, “Morozko” - Soviet films, programs and cartoons in the morning, without which not a single Soviet citizen could imagine a holiday night.

They were carefully collected by our grandmothers and kept by our mothers. Because for some Soviet citizens, new toys were a luxury, while for others, old Christmas tree balls are associated with good memories and are treasured as a memory. Many toys have become the subject of private collections. People are happy to collect and exchange antique New Year's toys and display their collections online.

Bright Side presents a selection of Soviet Christmas tree decorations. They are not as bright and elegant as modern ones. But they evoke a warm wave of nostalgia for the times when we believed in Santa Claus and waited for the New Year as if it were a miracle.

Christmas tree decorations contain a special magic. Their fragility, thinness, and golden shine evoke a feeling of fragility and transience. The world can't always be brilliant. The holiday doesn't last forever. So these graceful trifles reflect the bright light on short term and... again find themselves in the depths of boxes and cabinets for the whole coming year. Until the new Year...

However, these glass-and-cardboard toys, which are unshakable for us, are, from a historical point of view, very young. Until recently, decorations were different. The wonderful Christmas tree, near which amazing events took place in Hoffmann’s beloved Nutcracker, carried other decorations on its branches. "The large Christmas tree was hung with many golden and silver apples. Candied almonds, colorful candies and other wonderful sweets hung from each branch like buds or flowers."

The first Christmas tree decorations were edible. Candies in silver-golden wrappers, curly gingerbread cookies, waffles, cookies, nuts, apples, tangerines, pears, grapes and even eggs adorned the Christmas tree branches in abundance. Although, if you look into the very depths of centuries, you can see completely unusual Christmas tree. The ancient Germans were the first to decorate coniferous trees. They used spruce trees for rituals, attached burning candles to their branches and laid out colored rags on their fluffy paws.

According to one version, the custom of using a Christmas tree as a Christmas tree was born in the first half of the 16th century in the territory of modern France, in Alsace. According to another, the first “Christmas” tree was cut down in his garden by the German reformer Martin Luther, impressed by the wondrous glow of the heavenly stars breaking through the spreading trees. fir branches. He lit candles on his fir tree, which from then on symbolized the stars of the Christmas night.

In addition to candles, the tree began to be decorated with fruits; they represented gifts to the baby Jesus. Apples were the first among fruits, since spruce was considered a tree of paradise that bears fruit. New customs came in the 17th century. As a matter of fact, it was then that the “ancestors” appeared modern toys. And even though, according to today’s understanding, they were “home-grown”, some of them were not lacking in grace. At first, the materials used were those that were always at hand - empty eggshells were covered with a thin layer of hammered brass, ordinary fir cones- gilded. The tin wire was rolled up, twisted into a spiral, and then flattened to create silver tinsel. Artificial roses were made from paper, stars and snowflakes were cut out from silver foil. Even from sheets of brass, some craftsmen managed to cut out figures of fairies and elves.

Gradually, artificial fruits and sweets made from glass and cotton wool appeared. It is believed that the glass balls that are indispensable on modern spruce trees appeared due to a poor apple harvest. It’s as if there wasn’t a single apple left in the local cellars until Christmas, and the forest beauty would be left without the traditional fruit. But no! Glassblowers in a small German town took a chance and made a replacement - round balls. So in the middle of the 19th century, in 1848, in the town of Lauscha (Thuringia), popular in subsequent years were born Christmas balls. They were made of transparent or colored glass, coated on the inside with a layer of lead, and decorated on the outside with sparkles. Almost two decades later (1867), a gas plant opened in Lauscha and, using gas burners with flames, very high temperature They began to blow out large thin-walled balls. The lead reflective coating was replaced with silver nitrate. Around the same time, glassblowers moved beyond the spheres themselves.
Birds and animals, pipes and bunches of grapes appeared. Finished goods covered with gold and silver dust. Women and children were engaged in coloring. Lausch remained in history as the first major global manufacturer Christmas tree decorations.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the “glass toy craft” was picked up by Bohemia, which was then part of Germany. And a new address appeared on the “Christmas tree” map - the city of Jablonec. The Japanese, Poles and Americans mastered this business much later. There was a period when the fashion for decorating the Christmas tree suddenly changed. At the turn of the century, glittery tinsel was relegated to the shelves. A Christmas tree in silver and white tones was welcomed. Later, figurines made of paper, cardboard and straw came into fashion. The factories of Dresden and Leipzig became famous for the production of these toys.

Leipzig was proud of its toys, made of embossed gilded and silver cardboard, which seemed to be made of the thinnest sheet of metal. Dresden - an unprecedented variety of "subjects" - numerous animals, musical instruments, spinning wheels, steamboats and even horse-drawn carriages!

Apparently similar toys decorated the Christmas tree described in the poem by A. N. Pleshcheev.

Toys attract a child's eye...
Here's a horse, there's a top,
Here's the railroad
Here is a hunting horn.
And the lanterns, and the stars,
That diamonds burn
And the nuts are golden,
And transparent grapes!
Christmas decorations in Russia

In Russia, the first toys were German. Later they opened their own production - in St. Petersburg and Klin. In addition to glass, papier-mâché was used - paper pulp mixed with glue, plaster or chalk. Then the products were covered with Berthollet salt, which is why their surface acquired shine and became denser. In the middle of the 19th century, numerous artels proliferated, which began producing garlands and chains made from thin foil in the form of pine needles, long thin threads from the same foil, later nicknamed “rain”.

To make Christmas tree decorations, cardboard and wood, metal sheets, straw and paper were used. Such toys were produced by special cardboard workshops. Cotton toys were very popular. The wire frame was lined with cotton wool, and the dolls' faces were made of papier-mâché or porcelain and painted. Christmas trees were decorated with wax figurines of angels; alas, they were short-lived as they melted from the heat.

In the twentieth century, carved wooden figurines also appeared - they also found a place on hospitable Christmas trees. In some families, the Christmas tree was not only decorated, but also its trunk was “ennobled” - they were wrapped in white paper, cloth or pharmacist’s cotton wool, sprinkled with Berthollet salt. They also “hid” the crosspiece to which the tree was attached.
Practical advice was published for its readers in 1909 by the Niva magazine: “The foot of the Christmas tree can be arranged as follows: lay a cross into which the Christmas tree is embedded, with green moss, dry grass and Christmas tree branches, among which you can put pebbles here and there; then install cardboard ones or cotton mushrooms with a small family, and if among this green pile you put a stuffed hare, which can often be found among children’s toys, then it will be very beautiful under the tree.”

At the end of the 19th century, I was waiting for a Christmas tree new surprise. English telegraph operator Ralph Morrison decorated it with a garland of electric light bulbs. Here the Americans have already “taken” the championship - the first electric garland decorated the New Year’s tree in front of the White House in 1895.

Rich in various events, the XX brought new stories for Christmas decorations. In the USSR, the crowning Christmas tree " star of bethlehem" was replaced by a red five-pointed one with a hammer and sickle. Parachutists and hockey players appeared, a polar bear delivering mail to the explorers of the Arctic, children different nationalities. Later they were joined by paramedic dogs, airplanes, and astronauts. The year 1937 was marked by balloons with portraits of Lenin and Stalin.

The appearance of cardboard mailboxes for New Year's letters dates back to the early 40s. XX century, at that time glass and cotton wool became an unaffordable luxury. The mailbox, no larger than a matchbox, contained candy or small coins. Amazing snowflakes were made from crystallized salt crystals! The wire frame was dipped into a saturated saline solution, and after a few hours the toy was taken out and dried. During the Great Patriotic War, glass balls were also made at home. Burnt out regular light bulbs or those taken from a New Year's garland were painted or pasted over with multi-colored paper...

Today toys self made again at the peak of popularity. Some of them demonstrate the skill of professional artists, others, although not so magnificent and exclusive, carry the warmth of a home. A dear, cozy home, where, as in previous Russian homes, adults and children literally made the holiday with their own hands...

It's no secret that many residents of our country associate the New Year with Moscow, or more precisely with the striking of the chimes on the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower. As the chimes strike, we make wishes and see off old year and we hope that next year will be more successful. Let's see how the New Year was celebrated in Moscow before.

Christmas tree in the St. George Hall of the Kremlin, 1950-60. The most important Christmas tree in Moscow and the country is still in the Kremlin, and the second most important tree has always been in the column hall of the House of Unions, next to the current State Duma.

We still owe the celebration of the New Year in the form in which we celebrate it now to Stalin. Before the revolution, as in other countries, in Russia Christmas was celebrated with a tree and gifts, which was immediately banned by the Soviet government, but only in 1935, before the new year of 1936, it was decided to put up Christmas trees again, make holidays for children, and call Santa Claus and the Snow Maiden, but all this was prescribed to be done exclusively on the secular New Year, which we still do.

It’s hard to imagine now, but this is Arbatskaya Square in 1959. In the background you can see the lobby of the Arbatskaya metro station on the blue line, which we continue to use now, but we enter it from the left side, through the new building, and not through the original large main entrance . The fact is that under Brezhnev, a huge complex of the Ministry of Defense was built around this lobby, and the Stalinist lobby still stands in his courtyard, which is very clearly visible on the satellite map.

Outbound sales of "Children's World" - another, probably, the most New Year's place in Soviet Moscow.

And this is how “Children’s World” itself looked on Lubyanka in the late 1950s.

In those years, Muscovites, even low-income ones, tried to put up a Christmas tree in their house for children, decorating it with cardboard and glass toys, mushrooms, balls, tinsel, “beads”, even multi-colored light bulbs; they put Santa Claus, the Snow Maiden under the tree, and the children put their own favorite toys, etc., and the “top of the head” was crowned with a star or a spire. They also hung sweets, chocolate medals, and tangerines.

Vechernyaya Moscow newspaper: “A few hours remain until the New Year. There is a lot to do: visit the hairdresser, go to the store, and send a congratulatory telegram. In short, we must hurry. In the photo you see Muscovites in the center of the capital - on Gorky Street the day before New Year 1961."

New Year's decoration of "Children's World", 1970-71.

"Children's World" in the 1970s

Christmas tree in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, 1971

Tin chests from the Kremlin Christmas trees still gather dust in many mezzanine apartments. Grandmothers loved to store threads, buttons and other household items in them.

Christmas tree in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, 1971. Tin chests from the Kremlin Christmas trees still gather dust in many mezzanine apartments. Grandmothers loved to store threads, buttons and other household items in them.