Right until the mid-1840s, the Russians didn't have Christmas decorations. Christmas trees were considered a German tradition and could only be seen in foreign quarters as well as in Czars' palaces because, since the 1700s, many Russian monarchs had German roots.
Antique Christmas Decorations: Mementos from Tsarist Russia
In the mid-1840s, however, the country finally opened up to Western Christmas traditions. Most well-off households had Christmas trees put up, in order to have children's parties -- the "Tree Parties" ("Yolka"), as they were called. The first Christmas tree decorations were imported from Germany, but already in 1848 the first fireworks factory was opened, as well as workshops that produced modest ornaments out of papier maché, depicting various animals -- horses, rabbits and squirrels, later followed by the figures of Father Frost, Snegurochka and popular fairy-tale characters, like Puss in Boots and Little Red Riding Hood.
As Russia found herself at war with Germany in 1914, all "German cultural influences" were officially banned, and that included Christmas tree parties. In 1917, the Socialist revolution attempted to restrict all religious activity and finally banned it completely by Stalin's orders in 1926. No Christmas tree decorations were produced in the country from 1914 until 1935 when the Soviet leaders decided to give the winter holiday season back to children.
Collectible New Year Tree Decorations from the Soviet Era
As Christmas was banned, in 1935 the country's leaders decided to move the official winter holiday to New Year's Day. The Christmas tree was renamed the New Year Tree, and Father Frost (not Father Christmas any more) had to reschedule his gift-giving visits to Russian children to January 1.
The new tree decorations depicted objects that were as far from religion as possible. Airplanes and zeppelins, paratroopers and frontier guards complete with their dogs, schoolchildren and ethnic minorities in their picturesque costumes were the most popular themes for new tree ornaments. Usually, they were made with pressed cotton wool, painted by hand and covered with starch to preserve their shape. Colorful glass balls and figurines were also made.
Still, as factory-made tree decorations were expensive, many families made their own, starting in early December. Children would glue lengths of colored paper into chains and make garlands with little flags and cutout shapes. They also prepared little treats to decorate the tree with, especially walnuts, gingerbread figures, apples and lollipops.
Wartime New Year tree decorations are especially valuable for Russian Christmas ornaments collectors. Produced at armaments' factories, often with little else but lengths of leftover wire, they were quite remarkable in their quality and artistic work: tiny gift baskets, birds' houses and red five-point stars. Other tree decorations depicted war characters and scenes, paratroopers being especially popular.
In the late 1950s and the 1960s, as Nikita Khrushchev drew inspiration for his country's future in the revival of agriculture, especially sweet corn production, New Year tree ornaments were often shaped as various fruit and vegetables: apples, tomatoes, loaves of bread and countless corn cobs. At the same time, as most Russians were moving out of bombed-out houses and crowded communal apartments into new prefabricated flats with not enough room to swing a cat, let alone put up a New Year tree, sets of miniature tree decorations became popular, as well as small fake trees to put on the festive New Year's table.
Russia-themed Christmas Tree Ornaments and Decorations
Today, hand-made decorations are more popular than ever. Russian-themed tree ornaments like nesting dolls, Faberge eggs, hussars, samovars and such are not popular with Russians themselves: they view them as clichéed souvenirs for the Westerners. Local collectors prefer the vintage charisma of battered homemade decorations that used to belong to their grandmothers.
The biggest collection of Russian and Soviet Christmas and New Year tree decorations belongs to the expert Kim Balaschak, who took interest in the subject after relocating to Russia in 1995. The images illustrating the article are taken at Mrs. Balaschak's exhibition in Khimki, Moscow during the festive season of 2005/2006. The author expresses her sincere gratitude to Mrs. Balaschak and the photographer, HitMan.
Additional Reading:
Ghosts of Holidays Past (last accessed Nov 13, 2010)
Merry Christmas, Comrade (last accessed Nov 14, 2010)
Irene Woodhead - Irene Woodhead is a bilingual English/Russian freelance writer and translator. After years of working as a professional opera/jazz singer, ...
Join the Conversation