New Year is a long-awaited holiday for many, invariably, year after year, pleasing us with gifts, good mood and fresh prospects. Both adults and children love this solemn event, filled with light notes of magic and fairy tales, and begin to prepare for it long before its onset.
Bright Christmas toys, silver tinsel and garlands appear on store shelves. And in every house and in many institutions in a hurry to install an elegant Christmas tree.
All these holiday attributes have long been familiar to us. And few people think about what is the history of a New Year’s toy and why there is a tradition to establish and decorate a festive tree.
To the roots: the custom of decorating a Christmas tree
There are many legends telling about why the evergreen tree has become an indispensable attribute of the beloved winter holiday.
The modern tendency to decorate the Christmas tree with various objects is directly connected with religious traditions.
However, the history of the New Year’s toy and decoration of the evergreen tree has long origins, originating long before the advent of Christianity. This tradition was born on the territory of modern Europe.
Germanic pagan tribes sacredly believed in the existence of evil spirits. These entities gained particular strength on cold winter evenings. And in order to appease the spirits, the Germans went to the forest to decorate the spruce, on which the evil forces supposedly lived. The fruits and various sweets that hung the tree became the prototype of modern Christmas-tree decorations. This is the story of the advent of the New Year's toy.
Subsequently, the tradition was transferred to the Christian religion, but it had a completely different context.
The tradition of the Christmas tree in Russia
The history of the New Year’s toy in Russia began in 1700, when the Great Reformer and pioneer Peter the Great brought the custom of decorating a Christmas tree from Europe to the country. In every house or yard in the winter, a conifer should now be standing.
“In the big streets, at the deliberate houses, put some ornaments from the trees and branches of pine, spruce and juniper trees in front of the gates,” read the decree signed by the hand of the first All-Russian Emperor.
Gradually, the tradition took root, and the history of New Year's toys in Russia has already received its own development.
Where did the glass toy come from?
If we talk about modern New Year's toys, the story of their appearance begins in Germany.
Even before the beginning of the 1800s, nuts, fruits, sweets, and cookies were used as decorations. The history of Christmas tree toys was in its infancy.
Glass Christmas decorations began to be made in the small German city of Lausch. Here was an old glass-blowing factory where glasses, glasses, vases, beads and other household utensils were made.
In 1848, the first glass ball was made - a prototype of a modern Christmas tree toy. And later, in 1867, a modern gas plant was opened in Lausch at that time. Using gas, glassblowers could blow balls with fragile, thin walls.
Thus began the story of creating a New Year's toy made of glass - the most popular Christmas-tree decoration today.
On the territory of our country, holiday decorations began to be made on an industrial scale only during the First World War. The Klinsky Fir-Tree Factory produced the first balls, which subsequently could be found in almost every house.
Pre-revolutionary toy
Fashion for Christmas decorations in Russia appeared in the 19th century under the Empress Alexander Fedorovna. It is with her name that the story of the emergence of New Year's toys in our country is connected. For the first time, she decorated a Christmas tree with bright decorations made specifically for this purpose, as was done in Europe.
Glass toys were available at that time only to wealthy citizens. Ordinary people decorated the tree with improvised means - nuts, wood crafts.
In pre-revolutionary Russia, New Year's toys made of thick paper were also popular - the so-called Dresden cardboard. They were voluminous products glued from two halves of painted cardboard.
Toys made of cotton wool were also used for decoration : figures of angels, children, sailors - with a metal frame inside.
Glass and porcelain balls were imported at that time to Russia mainly from Germany. They were unlike modern ones - they were made of thick glass and weighed much more than the usual jewelry for us.
Soviet Christmas toy
In many houses in boxes with New Year's decorations you can find Soviet-made products. The most popular options of this period were colorful icicles, plastic and glass vegetables and fruits, ears of corn as a relic of the Khrushchev era.
The history of New Year's toys in the Soviet period is closely connected with the ideology of that time. Jewelry of this period with portraits of leaders of the thematic orientation is valued by antique dealers no less than balls, whose age is more than a hundred years.
After the revolution and for a long period, decorating the tree was forbidden. This was considered a tribute to Western traditions, religiosity and was strictly forbidden.
The production of Christmas tree decorations on an industrial scale began after 1935, when the New Year tree was officially returned to the homes of citizens of the Soviet Union by decree of the Presidium as a holiday accessory.
Nothing could create such a festive, magical atmosphere as a fluffy Christmas tree decorated with colorful sparkling toys. The first Soviet New Year celebration took place in 1937 at the House of Unions.
Often at this time, home-made toys made of paper, cardboard, papier-mâché were used as jewelry.
However, already in the late 1930s and early 1940s, their industrial production began to develop and even in the difficult years of World War II did not stop. Christmas toys were made from various wastes: wires, medical bandages, cotton wool.
With the coming to power of Khrushchev during the thaw in Christmas tree decorations, there was much less propaganda. But now agricultural and household-themed toys are starting to be produced. On Christmas trees you can see carrots, cucumbers, ears of corn, samovars and felt boots. During this period, Christmas tree toys, icicles, became popular.
The history of New Year's toys for children in the Soviet period developed very actively. At this time, many decorations were produced in the form of fairy tale heroes: Humpbacked Skates, Little Red Riding Hoods, unprecedented animals and towers decorated a Christmas tree in almost every Soviet house.
Post-Soviet Christmas toy
After the collapse of the USSR, the history of the New Year’s toy received a new round of development. Imported goods began to crowd out domestic products from the market. Now more and more often on New Year's trees one could see colored balls and cones of foreign manufacture.
Glass toys began to lose their relevance due to the high price. They were replaced by more practical and cheaper plastic and acrylic products.
In the 1990s, thematic toys of domestic production became significantly less. There was a fashion for horoscopes, and often in stores one could find jewelry with stickers-images of animals, symbols of the coming year.
In the early 2000s, a fashion for minimalism came, and more and more often European ascetic tendencies were seen in Christmas tree decorations.
Today, as such, fashion for Christmas accessories does not exist. When decorating, Christmas trees in most cases are guided primarily by the general style in the interior, as well as their own taste preferences.
Interesting facts about Christmas toys
- During the First World War, it was forbidden to establish a Christmas tree: tradition was associated with German culture; therefore, given the political situation in the country and in the world as a whole, the custom of installing a Christmas tree has temporarily lost its relevance.
- It is curious that with the advent of Soviet power, during the period of the general reformation in Russia, it was undesirable to establish a New Year tree at home and dress it with toys; this attribute was considered a “religious relic”, which did not fit into the general concept of building a communist system in the country, free from Christian dogma.
- The story of the emergence of New Year's toys for children is invariably associated with fairy-tale characters: the heroes of Pushkin's children's works embodied in the images of New Year's toys already in the early 19th century.
Popular design options for Christmas trees
One of the most popular Christmas tree decoration options is decoration with toys in a combination of two colors: blue and silver, red and gold, white and blue. For such options, monophonic balls are used. Use of toys in the form of bows or candles is allowed.
However, monophonic design options gradually fade into the background, being replaced by bright multi-colored ornaments. Eclecticism combines a variety of styles and textures.
Rain and tinsel, popular in Soviet and post-Soviet times, today have lost their relevance. A common option is to decorate the Christmas tree with beads and balls in the same style.
One of the most relevant modern trends are New Year's toys made by hand. In modern trends - decorating the Christmas tree with various sweets: cookies in bright glaze, gingerbread cookies.
Fans of warm and cozy notes in interior design will appreciate toys made of felt.
What are New Year's toys talking about?
Modern toys are very diverse and often do not carry any meaning. A huge selection of shapes and colors pleases the eye and makes it possible to create a vivid composition.
However, initially each toy carried an image in one way or another connected with Christianity.
Christmas toys symbolize:
- candles - spiritual light, Christ's sacrifice;
- balls - Adam's apple;
- vegetables and fruits - fertility in the coming year;
- bell - a charm that protects against dark forces and misfortunes;
- curly gingerbread cookies and cookies - unleavened bread used in the sacrament;
- the star on the top of the tree is the Star of Bethlehem, which showed the magi the way to the newborn Jesus.
Collectibles
Today, Christmas-tree decorations are not only accessories that serve to decorate the New Year tree. Some toys are exclusive and are made in a single copy.
These jewelry cost a lot of money and are the subject of envy and desire of many collectors.
Toys made of thin transparent glass, hand-painted, are considered valuable. They look very sophisticated and elegant and are suitable not only for decorating the Christmas tree, but also as a festive interior decor.
The tradition of presenting expensive Christmas-tree decorations as a gift for the New Year is becoming increasingly popular. Such toys will decorate any Christmas tree and become the undisputed pride of their owner.