The most vivid memories for the majority are a beautiful Christmas tree, which is decorated with the whole family, bright costumes that mothers sew at night and gifts, gifts, gifts. We have collected amazing photos from the Soviet past, looking at which you can hardly refrain from emotions!
In the 1920s, the Soviet authorities banned the celebration of the New Year, declaring this holiday “bourgeois” and “religious”. However, they did not stop celebrating it, people tried to preserve family traditions and arranged modest home gatherings with gifts for children. Often they continued to decorate the Christmas tree, but they carefully concealed it: they tightly curtained the windows or closed them with shutters.
Kremlin tree (1938)
They began to celebrate the New Year again only in 1935 after an article by a prominent Soviet figure Pavel Postyshev in the Pravda newspaper: “Why do we have schools, orphanages, nurseries, children’s clubs, pioneer palaces depriving children of the working people of the Soviet country of this wonderful pleasure? Some, not otherwise than “leftist” bendingists, denounced this children’s entertainment as a bourgeois venture.
Follow this misjudgment of the Christmas tree, which is great fun for children, to end it.
Komsomol members, pioneer workers should arrange 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 tree everywhere! City councils, chairmen of district executive committees, village councils, and public education authorities should help arrange a Soviet Christmas tree for the children of our great socialist homeland. “
It was considered the highest chic to wear a mask to a suit!
In the Column Hall in 37, the first public Soviet Christmas tree was erected, which was decorated with 10 thousand Christmas tree decorations.
Only 20 years later, the holiday became widespread. Only since 1947 did January 1 become a day off. With the return of the holiday, Christmas trees officially appeared on the streets of cities and in apartments, and Christmas tree decorations and decorations began to be produced in factories. The holiday returned even to schools and kindergartens. Now the New Year has become an all-Union holiday. The New Year tree became a symbol of the new system, even outwardly it resembled the Kremlin with its five-pointed star.
The Soviet government worked hard to create an ideologically defined image of the Soviet New Year tree. At the end of the 30s, numerous instructions of the People’s Commissariat for Education were published, where it was written in detail how to decorate an exemplary Soviet Christmas tree: what should be on the top of the head, what toys where to put and hang, how to decorate the foot of the Christmas tree.
Even in wartime, people did not forget about the holiday. The best products were set aside for a festive dinner and at least something was prepared that could be presented as a gift to loved ones.
Early 50s, everyone dreamed of space!
In the 50s, the traditions of celebrating the New Year changed dramatically – televisions appeared in many Soviet families. This miracle of technology is becoming an irreplaceable festive attribute. Soon, New Year’s Eve could no longer be imagined without the chimes on the Kremlin tower.
It was on New Year’s Eve that the long-awaited film premieres were broadcast. So, in 1956, the soon-to-be-loved “Carnival Night” was released. Since 1964, “Blue Light” has become an annual New Year’s program, it was the songs and jokes from this TV show that accompanied the Soviet New Year’s holiday.
New Year in one of the Moscow clubs. In the yard in 1961
By the 70s, the deficit began to be felt more and more acutely. It became more and more difficult to get food for the festive table and gifts. During this period, the main source of products was “orders” that were issued at the place of work. Traditionally, the “order” consisted of one or two jars of sprat, a box of chocolates, a bottle of “Soviet Champagne”, a loaf of boiled smoked or uncooked smoked sausage, a pack of Indian tea “with an elephant”, “Lemon Slices” and sometimes a jar of red caviar.
At the same time, tangerines began to be perceived as a purely New Year’s delicacy: the USSR received the bulk of these fruits in the form of export deliveries from Morocco, where the main harvest ripens in November-December.
In the early 70s, such a suit was considered gorgeous!
1966 year. The photo was taken in Siberia, behind the back – a gorgeous Siberian spruce!
The New Year was usually celebrated in a wide friendly circle. On the table there was always at least a couple of bottles of “Soviet Champagne”, salad Olivier, the ingredients for which were bought several months in advance and carefully stored, as well as “custom” sprats and sausage. The table, as a rule, was gathered together, some of the treats were brought by guests.
Children’s New Year trees and matinees became another New Year’s tradition.
The gray wolf, Snowflake and Matryoshka are the main images of children 40 years ago and now
At matinees, children were always dressed up in self-made costumes. Boys were usually bunnies and girls were snowflakes. In the senior classes of the school, New Year’s evenings were organized with festive concerts.
From mid-November to mid-December, theatrical performances for schoolchildren were held in city recreation centers. The most enjoyable for children at such events were gifts – pastry sets packed in elegant cardboard boxes.
Such group photos are, perhaps, in all children of the USSR.
The main Christmas tree was considered to be the Kremlin one, which was held in the Palace of Congresses. Tickets for it were practically not available for sale, but were distributed among the enterprises, going to the managers and foremost workers of production. The performances on this tree were the best, and the gifts were the richest: every year new unique plastic packaging was made for them, often representing approximate copies of the Kremlin towers.
Soviet children of the 80s already knew that at matinees they would have not only a Christmas tree, but also color photographs as a keepsake. This means that the costumes can already be seen in all their glory.
Little Red Riding Hood. Thanks to the color photo, you can see the hat perfectly!
By the way, the faces in the photo are worthy of special mention. It is now children who are almost from the cradle know how to pose, pull their legs, turn their heads and smile at the camera. And then the kids were so tired of looking into the lens, waiting for the bird to fly out that the faces turned out to be dull, puffed up and not at all festive. But sometimes there were good shots!
Let’s remember together how it was – leaf through the photo gallery!