Detective Carrot and the district council with sweets: the most expensive Christmas tree decorations in the history of Russia. Detective Carrot and the district council with sweets: the most expensive Christmas tree decorations in the history of Russia A variety of Christmas tree decorations

Collector Sergei Romanov: "There are very rare items - Hold-Grab dog and Leek"

New Year is a holiday outside of time and politics. Seemingly. But everything that has happened in our country over the past hundred years is reflected in the Christmas tree decoration. Sergey Romanov, one of the most famous collectors of Christmas tree decorations in Russia, told us about the most unique specimens.

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From golden angels, homemade nuts and candy beads to colorful balloons "Glory to the USSR", glass astronauts and workers with collective farmers ...

“During the Civil War, at the end of the 30s, even a ball appeared on which a battle of our plane with a fascist one was depicted, and ours, of course, knocked out the enemy,” says Sergei Romanov, a toy historian, an artist-restorer. In his collection there are more than 3000 copies.

And if you add here also other Soviet toys that are not related to the New Year holidays, you get over 12 thousand. "But Christmas trees are a special topic!" - emphasizes the collector.

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Everyone remembers the anecdote about fake Christmas tree toys. Beautiful, shiny. But they are not encouraging - that's all! In fact, before we rejoiced not toys, but our childhood. What do you think, Sergei Gennadievich, is this so?

Love for Christmas tree decorations is special. In any home, they remain from grandmothers and grandfathers, they are also taken out only once a year, it turns out that this is also a kind of continuous connection between generations.

I was born in the 70th year, from childhood I remember that there was Santa Claus, reindeer. An unforgettable miracle! When I got a little older, busy parents often sent me to sit with a neighbor, the boy had to do something, and the neighbor, Aunt Olya, took out from under the sofa a large suitcase with antique Christmas tree decorations. Summer, heat - and these magical toys from my aunt's suitcase.

At home, I shared my impressions with my parents, and suddenly they tell me that we also have such beauty, grandmother's toys. "Why don't we hang them on the tree?" - "But they are already old ..." Dad climbed onto the mezzanine - and for the first time I saw things completely different in their aesthetics ...

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- That is, the neighbor is “to blame” for the fact that you became a collector of toys?

If not for Aunt Olya, there would have been something else, probably. Since childhood, I have been amazed by the world of old things and photographs from an old album covered with a calico.

In the life of any little person, one day a wonderful discovery comes - when he suddenly learns that both mom and dad, and even grandparents were also small ... “Here is your grandmother in the photo, she is 5 years old. And on the other she is already 25. ” How can this be? This is a delightful revelation! What was the time of other children and other toys ...

This is how my acquaintance with the history of the family began. I tirelessly asked to show things from that distant era, to find them, and indeed my grandmother had not only Christmas decorations, but also old dolls, perfect beauties with papier-mâché bodies and fragile porcelain heads, and much more.

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- Is that how your collection began?

Rather, it was the first push. I was fourteen years old when the kitten, who was then living in our apartment, knocked over the Christmas tree ... Much broke. And then friends and relatives simply brought us their toys so that the holiday would still take place.

People close to me both then and now were not indifferent to my interest. But in high school, many did not understand my hobby, I had to resist ridicule. The first pieces of the collection were selected according to the principle "like it or not." Of course, over time it grew into amateurism. I am actually forming a museum fund.

My collection is now of museum value. And at any moment it can become such a museum. Exhibitions are also held regularly. Right now, for example, in Kolomenskoye there is an exhibition “Another Childhood” - toys of the 1920s and 1950s are displayed there.

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They are antiques. Anything older than half a century is antiques. That is, all toys made before the 65th year are of interest to collectors. For some reason, jewelry made of cotton wool is considered especially expensive and rare, and even made in Leningrad, they were not supplied to Moscow during the Soviet era, they were sent only to the regions, and the Ukrainian toys of the Klavdiev factory are also valued. The cost of especially rare specimens reaches 25-30 thousand rubles, sometimes higher.

It happens that several dozen collectors fight for a rare toy at once. Of course, there are serious people, and there are those who collect according to the principle of "sandbox syndrome" - since a neighbor has a car, then I want the same one. Actually, nothing has changed - even though the children have grown up.

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- I want - that's all ?!

Of course, the market dictates its own laws. There are also truly unique things. In general, the prices for toys rose sharply because of the American Kim Balashak, she specially came to in the mid-90s and just bought everything she saw at the Izmailovo opening day. The merchants figured it out right away.

In those years, there was also a famous flea market in the Tishinsky market. Christmas toys were seasonal goods on her, and the prices for them were quite affordable, then the first online auctions appeared - and the value of some lots skyrocketed.

Kim Balashak really got carried away with collecting our New Year's toys, but sometimes she simply did not know their history, our national mentality, balls with portraits of Lenin and Stalin could still be somehow identified, but the way she described some toys looks like an anecdote.

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So, Kim acquired a series consisting of several characters: a fox-football player, a hare-football player, a wolf-football player, a bear-football player ... And I look and understand: this is a fairy tale about a bun!

Or Nekrasov's "little man with a fingernail" was once called a mule driver. So it is not always possible for foreigners to understand our Russian toys and their meaning. This is part of our culture.

- They say that the first fakes of Soviet Christmas tree decorations appeared at about the same time.

Yes, these were primarily cotton toys. The manufacturing technology there is quite simple. It is almost impossible to counterfeit glass! If only to repaint the existing balls under the old patterns.

Kim Balashak paid well for anything, so this type of scam flourished. After Kim left, forging such things became unprofitable - it was much more profitable to make your own original remakes of old, sometimes even pre-revolutionary copies.

So the toys of the tsarist times survived? Probably, we are the only country in the world where the “Christmas tree” link between generations was interrupted by wars and revolutions. There was no time for toys ...

Not many glass ones survived. But there were different things in terms of technology. Firstly, from embossed cardboard, this is a thick-walled cardboard, which was made in a special way, there were surprise toys - there, like in a pencil case, you could hide something of your own. There were wadded ones, made of papier-mâché. There were also dolls with porcelain heads ... The tradition of glass Christmas tree decorations arose not so long ago - around the 60s of the 19th century.

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- And the Germans were the first to make them?

The following legend has survived: in the city of Laushe, where the glass production was located, one poor glassblower had no money at all to buy gifts for his children. And, in order not to return home empty-handed, he blew out figured toys, balls, pendants, they could be hung on a Christmas tree. On a holiday, neighbors came to him and were completely delighted with such beauty, they began to make orders.

The poor glassblower became rich, and glass New Year's toys appeared in the world. The factory in Lauscha is still in operation. The Germans captured in the First World War taught Russian craftsmen to make such jewelry.

Usually, toys were ordered from catalogs to wealthy houses. And those who could not afford it hung treats on the tree - cookies, sweets, nuts in gold foil. But the “tasty” toys lost out by the fact that they were immediately eaten. Remember Hoffmann's The Nutcracker: the kids burst into the hall with a Christmas tree with laughter, instantly cut off all the branches, and the bare trunk is thrown away at the same hour. But I wanted a longer holiday, contemplation of the tree, admiring it.

So, advice on how to make long-lasting jewelry appeared in women's magazines: weld a paste, take a wire, wrap it with cotton wool, sprinkle it with crushed mica on top - such "recipes" were published by all self-respecting women's publications in those days. Although the traditions of edible toys have been preserved for a long time. Remember the story of Mikhail Zoshchenko, written in the 1920s, about Lelia and Mitya, who ate the Christmas tree?

- But after the revolution, the tree suddenly suddenly turned out to be outlawed. As a bourgeois relic and class enemy.

Not right away. As we know, Lenin arranged a Christmas tree for children in Sokolniki. But from about the 27th year, the tree really fell out of favor, themed products were not produced, the celebration was not welcomed. The younger generation had to be brought up on completely different examples and ideals.

- How did the "repressed" toys survive?

They were hidden. After all, I wanted a holiday anyway. Few toys of that era have survived. My grandmother kept it - she was born in 1910. My grandmother got married at 31, from the 36th the Christmas tree was allowed again, Christmas was replaced by New Year, and since then my grandmother bribed new toys every year, put them in one box with the pre-revolutionary decoration of her childhood: heavy German balls that were hung close to the trunk where the branches were thicker; very thin Laush stars rustling like foil.

Many of my grandmother's ornaments are still alive. Several pieces, however, crashed, they are not just lying, but in constant use.

I remember we had a completely unique Santa Claus in a hat, very carefully painted. And a bunch of grapes with a dragonfly on its side! Many people find something similar at home, and also give it to me, replenish the collection.

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In total, I now have more than three thousand toys, I have already lost count of them. From exhibition to exhibition, and dozens of them have passed, the assortment is updated. But you can't keep track of everything.

Many years ago, when I was just beginning to exhibit, in one of the museums, I will not say in which one, there was an accident. Part of the collection crashed. The show had already ended, the exposition was dismantled, everything was packed, the acceptance certificates were signed, and suddenly I was offered help - to bring the boxes to the car. I did not agree to any, but the lady employee insisted ...

The road was slippery, the woman slipped, fell and broke two boxes. It was very disappointing, because among the "dead" toys there were many rare Leningrad toys, which you can hardly find in Moscow.

- Were they insured?

At that time, no. This is the 90s. Being young, you somehow don't think about the possible risks. Many of the broken toys have been restored for decades afterwards.

And there are such sets that cannot be bought for any money. Simply because they are negligible. For example, they went on sale for a specific event in a certain year or were sold in certain cities.

Many collectors are chasing the Adventures of Cipollino series by Gianni Rodari. There are very rare positions there - detective Carrot or dog Hold-Grab, Leek. These heroes were sold by the piece in the 50s, when Gianni Rodari was just translated into Russian, a cartoon appeared - and a real boom in the heroes of the book began.

The set came out several times, the most extended version of it is bunk boxes, which contained about 20 fairy-tale characters. They were produced in accordance with GOST.

- Wow!!!

Do not think that the production of Christmas tree decorations was taken very seriously in those days. They were also part of the country's ideology. Stalin returned the tree to the children. But at the same time, the concept of their manufacture and the holiday has changed altogether, politics intervened, and even the toys themselves became political. Soldiers, cosmonauts, balloons with the inscription "Glory to the Soviet people."

After 1936, factories began to mass produce Chelyuskinites, Red Army soldiers, balloons depicting Lenin, Stalin, Marx and Engels, and even small bonbonniere boxes in the form of district councils, in which, as in the good old days, you could put candy and hang it on the Christmas tree.

Heroes of fairy tales continued to be made even then, but at the same time there appeared figures of children of all nationalities, representatives of working professions. When they began to be friends with in the 50s, they began to produce little Chinese. I already told you about toys about the war in Spain, and I also have a glass ball with a “happy” inscription “Since 1941!” ...

- And who decided what toys to be? Who chose their theme?

In the Soviet Union, there was a Toy Institute, where a specially created expert commission worked. All toy projects had to go through it. The idea could be rejected for aesthetic or ideological reasons.

Sometimes experts were late in making a decision, the toy was put into circulation, and later it turned out that it did not correspond to the party line, it happened that it did not pass according to sanitary standards - and then a whole series could be removed from production, and the author, who had taken liberties, was punished. So there are some toys that have survived in extremely limited quantities.

Today the All-Russian Research Institute of Toys does not exist; it was destroyed in the 90s. Therefore, the scientific approach to the production of toys is no longer there. But all the same, even in the "party" times, completely identical toys were not and could not be. That is, everyone had some basic background and idea, and then everything depended on the hand of the master. The toys were painted by hand. But everything depended on who made them, on what was in his soul. Even the region of manufacture often mattered. Everywhere there were traditions.

In Leningrad, for example, they approached the process more carefully, their toys came out with strict, deep shades, very restrained in color, concise, correct and clear lines, which I personally really like, but they did everything a little more crooked, lurid, but fun and warmly. So, I can easily distinguish toys from each other and find out the era in which they were made.

You know, on Poklonnaya Hill, my exhibition was once held as part of the festival of New Year's toys. There, each tree represented a certain historical period in the USSR: 30s, early 40s, wartime, 60s ... And each era has its own soul. Toys of one time cannot be confused with another.

- But for some reason you stopped at the "Brezhnev" era. There are almost no "Gorbachev" copies.

Something has changed already in the 80s. Gone is the care and tenderness that the previous jewelry had. Perhaps due to the fact that production has become cheaper.

The masters did not bother too much: they will make gold plating on a glass ball, draw some kind of curl - and that's it. It is possible that the changes taking place in our country then left their mark. No, the toys of those years are peculiar, but for their time, and for the current 25 year olds, they will undoubtedly cause nostalgia someday. But I limited myself to the Soviet period. He is closer to me, clearer, dearer.

Then I am afraid to even ask how you feel about the numerous Chinese fakes that have filled all the Christmas tree markets today. It seems that exact copies of even nineteenth-century rarities, beautiful, brilliant, but - as in a joke - are not encouraging. By what criteria do you decorate your New Year tree - after all, you can't hang all 3000 toys on it?

And when how. But I always try to maintain the same style: either it's a German Christmas, or sotsart, sometimes I hang exclusively toys from my childhood, 70s of the twentieth century. Neighbors wonder every time: what could it be? They come and are usually surprised that they have not guessed right again ...

To this day, Christmas tree decorations remind of our happy childhood, which many still adorn Christmas trees. But not everyone knows that these toys are mostly considered antiques and can cost decent money.

Of course, the price includes the rarest and most complete toys of the 40-70s. And here we will show what toys real connoisseurs of beauty and collectors are ready, without hesitation, to give a tidy sum.

1. New Year's abstraction.

These abstract icicles, airplanes and pendulums have recently begun to attract collectors, so they have almost doubled in price.

2. Christmas jewelry.

Beads for the Christmas tree are a rarity today. On modern holidays, they have been replaced by tinsel and rain. But true connoisseurs of the warmth of the holiday of a bygone childhood will buy such jewelry with great pleasure and offer an amount several times higher than their real value.

3. Antique lighting.

Today we are accustomed to seeing on Christmas trees the same type of diode lanterns flashing in different colors and speeds, but in the days of the USSR, there was a completely different approach to lanterns on a Christmas tree. Therefore, such a beautiful garland looks just like a work of art, for which it is worth paying a lot of money.

4. Symbols of the USSR in the price.

Collectors are diligently looking for airships with Soviet symbols and balloons with a communist red star. Such toys are not uncommon, but true connoisseurs will pay double the amount for their good condition.

5. Nice house.

Snow-covered huts are exactly what you can get a tidy sum of money for.

7. Clothespins with decor.

Toys on clothespins in the form of various figures were produced in small batches for a certain period of time, so today they are considered relatively rare. If their condition is satisfactory, then you can easily earn extra money. Take a look to see if something like that was lying around in grandmother's chest. For example, for such a Little Red Riding Hood, the seller may ask for at least 1.5 thousand rubles.

8. Clock for the Christmas tree.

No matter how strange it may sound, Soviet Christmas tree decorations in the form of clocks are in price today. Despite the fact that there are a lot of them, collectors are willing to pay for them, as they differ in design and color scheme.

8. The most expensive of the cheapest materials.

You will be surprised, but these handmade dolls made of corrugated paper and cotton wool are considered the most expensive Christmas tree decorations. These dolls were among the first to appear on New Year's trees in the USSR. Today they are very rare, as they are made of materials that do not last long, unlike glass or plastic. Their price starts on average from 4-5 thousand rubles.

9. Valuable steam locomotive.

Such locomotives of the 40s made of cardboard with a silver coating, a communist star and the inscription "I. Stalin steam locomotive" have gone not far in the price. These toys were produced in a limited edition, and very few of them have survived to this day.

Over the past 20 years, he has been collecting and restoring old children's toys, having a special love for Christmas tree decorations. His extensive collection contains about three thousand old New Year's toys, which have found their home in a small room in the Palace of Pioneers on Vorobyovy Gory. Among the rare exhibits of Sergei Romanov are toys made from the 1830s to the 1840s until the collapse of the USSR, as well as papier-mâché toys from the 50s. We invite you to plunge into the atmosphere of magic and look at old Christmas tree decorations from the past.

Angel, early XX century

Boat. Late 19th - early 20th century

Christmas grandfather. Glass. Late 19th - early 20th century

Boy skiing, glass balls. Late 19th - early 20th century

Children on sleds. Wadded toys with porcelain faces. Late 19th - early 20th century

Christmas grandfather. Cotton toy, chromolithography. Late 19th - early 20th century

Star. Mounted toy. Glass. Late 19th - early 20th century

Christmas grandfather. Chromolithograph. Late 19th - early 20th century

Ball in honor of the 20th anniversary of the October Revolution. Glass. 1937 year

Letter from Santa Claus. New Year card. Mid XX century

Father Frost. Wadded toy 1930-1940

Snow Maiden. Cotton toy. 1930-1950 years

Locomotive. Embossed cardboard. 1930-1940 years

Airships. Glass. 1930-1940 years

Clock. Glass. 1950-1960 years

Hare with a drum. Glass. 1950-1970 years

Clown with a pipe. Glass. 1950-1970 years

Glass toys 1960-1980

Lady with a snowball. Porcelain doll. End of XIX - beginning

Christmas tree with wadded toys. Second half of the 1930s

For several years now, he has been collecting a collection of special Christmas tree decorations: old ones, brought from travels, or just those that you want to keep for many years. In this article, she will talk about the history of the appearance of toys in Russia, how she herself selects jewelry, where to buy them, how much they cost and how to create her own unique collection.

In the world of things that surround us every day, Christmas tree decorations have a special place. The New Year's holidays are ending, the tree is dismantled, the toys are packed in boxes and sent for storage until next December. From a practical point of view, a Christmas tree toy is a completely useless thing, it is designed to serve a different purpose: to evoke nostalgia, revive memories and the brightest images from childhood.

The hero of Stephen King's novel "The Dead Zone" (1979), John Smith, said very rightly: “That's how funny it is with these Christmas tree decorations. When a person grows up, little remains of the things that surrounded him in childhood. Everything in the world is transient. Little can serve both children and adults. You will exchange your red stroller and bicycle for adult toys - a car, a tennis racket, a fashionable console for playing hockey on TV. Little is preserved from childhood. Only toys for the Christmas tree in the parents' house. The Lord God is just a joker. A big joker, he did not create the world, but some kind of comic opera, in which the glass ball lives longer than you. "

Each historical era created its own Christmas tree decorations. Pre-revolutionary Christmas tree decorations, for example, were fundamentally different from Soviet ones. The Russian Christmas tree was a product of German culture, because it is Germany that is considered the first European country where they began to decorate the Christmas tree - this was in the 16th century. In the second half of the 19th century, spruce became a common German tradition. A description of the decorated classic German Christmas tree of the 19th century can be found in Hoffmann's fairy tale "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" (1816): sweets and all sorts of sweets. " In Russia, the tree appeared after the decree of Peter I of December 20, 1699, but the tradition spread everywhere only at the beginning of the 19th century. In tsarist Russia, the tree was an attribute of a privileged noble culture and decorated the houses of merchants, doctors, lawyers, professors and civil servants. The presence of a Christmas tree in the house testified to the involvement in European culture, which greatly raised the social status. From the second half of the 19th century, the Christmas tree appeared in the provinces, especially in those county towns where the German diaspora was strong.

The Christmas tree decorations that went on sale were only imported and were very expensive. Therefore, it was not easy for an ordinary city dweller, albeit an intellectual, to decorate a Christmas tree. Due to the lack and high cost of Christmas tree decorations, and then due to tradition, even in aristocratic families, toys were made at home. True, there were public charity trees that allowed children from low-income families to attend the holiday.

Christmas decorations in tsarist Russia contained religious symbols: the top of the tree was crowned with the Star of Bethlehem, angels and birds soared here and there, apples and grapes hung - symbols of "heavenly" food, garlands, beads and wreaths - symbols of the suffering and holiness of Christ. At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, the Christmas tree was decorated with toys made of papier-mâché, cotton wool, wax, cardboard, paper, foil and metal. Glass decorations were still imported, so the main place on the tree was occupied by “homemade” toys and edible decorations. It was they who endowed the tree with that festive smell that remains in the memory for a lifetime.

The absence of its own toy production in tsarist Russia made the Russian Christmas tree absolutely apolitical and devoid of any national flavor. Russian toys during the reign of Nicholas II were manually carved from wood, blown out of glass and painted in a few handicraft industries. Now these toys are kept in museums and private collections of successful collectors. After the October Revolution, after 20 years of oblivion and prohibitions, the tree will be revived as a symbol of the new Soviet era and will become one of the main tools of the new ideology and education of patriotism.

My collection of Christmas tree decorations is not an object of worship for a fragile material thing. Each of them personifies memories, emotions, unfulfilled hopes and dreams that still have a chance to come true someday. Already as an adult, I admired the ballet dancers, admired their grace and grace. In my collection there is a weightless crystal dancer from Vienna and an antique glass ballerina with singed velvet legs, which I found on the eve of Christmas at Le Puce in Paris. Over the past few years, I have assembled a Russian ballet troupe from cotton wool - all these ballerinas come from pre-revolutionary and Soviet Russia. "Wadded" toys in our country appeared much earlier than glass ones, because the production of Christmas tree decorations from glass was incomparably more expensive than the production of papier-mâché, cotton wool and shreds. Now the situation has changed dramatically: a glass ball of the late 1930s can be bought for 300–500 rubles, but the price of cotton figurines from this period starts at 3,000 rubles.

In my collection there is a clown from the "Circus" series (colored batting, painting, mica; 1936) and a reindeer herder (stearin, colored batting, painting, mica; 1930). By the way, circus performers appeared on the Soviet Christmas tree thanks to Stalin, who liked the film "Circus" with Lyubov Orlova in the title role. After the film was released in 1936, the tree was rapidly decorated with acrobats and circus performers. The development of the North Pole also did not pass without a trace for the tree: deer, polar bears, Eskimos and skiers - all this was embodied in cotton wool, glass and cardboard. Soviet Christmas tree decorations reflected the events taking place in the country: red stars burned on the Christmas tree, cosmonauts and rockets flew into the sky in the footsteps of Gagarin, agricultural products grew, and especially the queen of the fields - Khrushchev's corn. Heroes of fairy tales celebrated in 1937 the centenary of the death of A.S. Pushkin - now the Old Man with a seine, Tsar Dadon, Shahamanskaya queen, Alyonushka, Chernomor with heroes and other fairytale heroes are coveted trophies of collectors all over the world. In 1948, Christmas decorations on clothespins appeared, and in 1957 in the USSR, sets of mini-toys were released, which made it possible to decorate a Christmas tree even in a small space of a Khrushchev apartment with low ceilings. From the second half of the 60s, the production of Christmas tree decorations in the USSR was put on stream: with the development of factory production, Christmas tree decorations were standardized as much as possible and practically lost their artistic and stylistic originality. By the decision of the International Organization of Collectors of Christmas tree decorations Golden Glow, toys made before 1966 are recognized as vintage.

I advise you to look for the most interesting papier-mache toys of the Soviet period at flea markets (for example, on Tishinka in December) and from sellers on the sites Molotok.ru and Avito.ru. The price of toys varies from 2,000 to 15,000 rubles, depending on the rarity and degree of preservation.

However, I do not pursue the goal of making my Christmas tree vintage, I want it to be unique and reflect the history of my family. And this story is happening right now! Now we can safely talk about a true revival of the production of Christmas tree decorations in our country: there has been a return from the use of glass blowing machines to a unique manual method of blowing toys, filling them with special content and meaning, using the best traditions of domestic folk craft. And I am very glad that today fewer and fewer people are decorating the Christmas tree with monochromatic faceless balls. The tendency to replace a speckled and multi-colored Christmas tree with a pretentious designer Christmas tree "for adults" seems blasphemous to me! A laconic and discreet Christmas tree, which forms a sense of stylish luxury, can hardly impress anyone, leaving memories in their souls for years to come. In my opinion, the bright diversity of Christmas tree decorations never seemed to people either annoying or vulgar: it is at the sight of a multi-colored and shining Christmas tree that I feel that special Christmas smell, which consists of the smells of a pine forest, wax candles, baked goods and painted toys.

My childhood was spent with my grandmother in the village, so I have a special weakness for Christmas tree decorations with rustic motives. Hand-made Christmas tree decorations made by Russian glassblowers and artists look wonderful, but still a rare exception among the Chinese abundance: unique figurines from Pavlova and Shepelev's majolica workshop, hand-painted balls and figurines from Ariel. Unique balls from the series "Russian Traditions" by SoiTa are painted using the technique of miniature painting by the artists of Palekh, Fedoskino, Mstera and Kholuy. Each of these balls is unique, made by hand (craftsmen spend from two to four weeks to make) and can rightfully be called a work of art! In my collection there is a ball "By the pike's command", which can be viewed endlessly! The majolica workshop of Pavlova and Shepelev is located in the city of Yaroslavl, you can order Christmas tree decorations on the website mastermajolica.ru (prices from 1,000 to 6,000 rubles); the plant for the production of Christmas tree decorations "Ariel" is located in Nizhny Novgorod, in Moscow their toys are widely represented in the book house "Moscow" (prices from 500 to 2,500 rubles); New Year's toys from SoiTa can be purchased at soita.ru (prices range from 6,000 to 40,000 rubles).

In recent years, I travel a lot and always bring old and unusual Christmas tree decorations from my trips. On my last trip to New York, I ended up in a totally incredible store owned by an old lady who is in love with Christmas. From under the More & More antiques counter she pulled out treasures that I have no doubt about: clay figurines of animals and mermaids from Chile, Noah's Ark from Mexico, a glass skunk with a silver tail from Italy - I paid $ 148 for a large box of treasures! If you are in New York, stop by after visiting the Museum of National History: the shop is a five-minute walk from the museum.

Now the tree is neither an exquisite luxury for the rich, nor a joy for the elite, nor a fad for the spoiled, and everyone can hang sparkling glass squirrels on their spruce paws on the eve of Christmas and New Years.

1. Katya, was your collection born spontaneously?

On the one hand, the decision and desire to collect Christmas tree decorations can be called spontaneous. But if you think about it, everything falls into place! When I moved to Moscow five years ago, all my time was devoted to study and work. I lived in a rented apartment, which was in no way associated with the word "home". So at the beginning of my first December in Moscow, I went to the store "Scarlet Sails" and was stunned: it all sparkled and shimmered with the light of New Year's lights and bulbs. There I first saw the incredibly beautiful Christmas tree decorations, they appeared as if from my childhood memories, as a picture appears in a Polaroid photograph. And the most interesting thing, they were exactly what I could dream of - bright, sparkling nutcrackers, crocodiles, squirrels and watches with neat painting. Previously, I could only see these toys in films or in pictures; in the Soviet and post-Soviet times there were no such toys. I will forever remember that evening, because he confirmed me in my thoughts: “If today I do not have a home, and I cannot buy sofas and curtains, then let there be Christmas tree decorations. They symbolize the warmth of family traditions, and it is not so difficult to transport a small box to a new place. " And so it began!

2. How many years have you been collecting Christmas toys?

About 7 years old.

3. How many exhibits are in your collection?

I have not counted, but I believe that there are at least 600 pieces.

4. How do you select new toys for your collection?

Today I am very selective - not like at first! Now I only buy very special toys. From each trip I definitely bring a few pieces, so I definitely check where the antique shops and markets are in the new city. Often, toys can be bought in shops at museums: in Vienna, I found the heroes of the triptych of Hieronymus Bosch "The Temptation of St. Anthony" - that was a joy! As for buying in Moscow, I really love the Ariel toy factory - the highest quality hand-painted and very close to everyone stories. In my opinion, this is incomparably better than the Chinese conveyor!

5. What is the oldest exhibit?

The oldest toys are Russian pre-revolutionary figurines made of cotton wool, in my case, ballerinas. There are toys from the late 19th century from Barcelona, ​​but it should be noted that they are still heroes of the puppet theater, ideally sized to hang on a Christmas tree.

6. Do you have any favorites?

Of course, everyone has favorites! And as it happens in life, favorites do not always occupy a justified place in our hearts. The most favorite toys are gifts from my closest people. What I value most is my husband's gifts, such as the cotton acrobat bought on our first Christmas at the Flea Market. Of course, I love gifts from our parents, grandmothers, sisters, friends! Everyone knows about my collection, so for the new year it is always replenished.

I have already said that when I travel, I buy toys at flea markets and museum stores. Well, if you are traveling during the “season”, then you can find something interesting at the Christmas markets. Although I found my most interesting specimens in the off-season, when less Chinese junk catches the eye. In Moscow, there is an excellent opportunity to buy antique jewelry at the traditional "Flea Market" in December, but the prices are very high there, and if you search, you will find more interesting and much cheaper items on the Avito or Ebay sites. If you are looking for a toy as a gift, you can see the Polish factory M. A. Mostowski - Christmas tree decorations are quite expensive, but extremely beautiful and of high quality, grouped in series and packed in holiday boxes.

8. How do you keep your collection?

To date, 4 large boxes have been allocated for my collection, which neatly stand in the closet and take up half of it! I pack each toy in kraft paper. I almost never store original boxes because they take up a lot of space.

9. Does your collection have a practical application? Are there toys that you buy out of your passion for collecting, knowing that you will not use them in your Christmas tree decor?

No, when I buy a toy, I always "see" it on the tree. For me, the meaning of a collection is to bring joy, not to satisfy the passion of the collector. In an amicable way, I am a collector in the second place, in the first place - a happy adult child. After all, children do not collect, they are happy with what they hold in their hands.

10. How far in advance do you decorate the house for the new year? How do you select toys?

As a rule, we put the tree a week before the New Year, that is, right on Christmas Eve (December 24). Sometimes a little earlier if we leave for the holidays. We always buy a living tree, so we never have a Christmas tree for a month - I don't want the magic to get boring. As for the toys, I just dress up until the place runs out on the tree!

11. Can you give some tips for aspiring collectors?

It seems to me that the most important thing is not to invest in a collection of material value, but to collect a "family history". Buying not the toys themselves, but remembering the days and moments in which these cats and nutcrackers appeared. There are no fashion and trends here, there is only your heart and your soul, your thoughts and feelings that will pop up in your memory when you open the next box with your Christmas tree decorations. Only our memory gives value to things .

With age, sometimes there is an irresistible desire to remember your childhood, to feel a kind of nostalgia for the times of the USSR. For some reason, the New Year in the Soviet manner most reminds those over thirty of the times that, despite the deficit, you remember with ecstasy of the heart, considering them the best.

Now there is a growing tendency to celebrate the New Year in the style of the USSR. A Christmas tree dressed up according to the American model in three colors is no longer surprising. More and more I want to decorate the Christmas tree with old Soviet toys. And by all means put cotton wool, imitating snow, and tangerines under it.

Variety of Christmas tree decorations

Often the Christmas tree in Soviet families was decorated with an abundance of toys and ornaments. Special attention should be paid to clothespins toys, which are very convenient to attach to the middle of a Christmas tree branch. In the form of what only they were not presented: Santa Claus, Snowman, Snow Maiden, candle, matryoshka.

The balls, as now, were of different sizes, but a unique highlight was in the balls with round hollows, into which the light of the garlands fell, creating a fabulous illumination throughout the Christmas tree. There were also balls with a phosphoric pattern that glowed in the dark.

Since the New Year comes at midnight, toys in the form of clocks were produced. They were given a central place on the tree. Often, such Soviet Christmas tree decorations were hung at the very top, just below the crown, which, of course, was decorated with a red star - the main Soviet symbol.

Even Christmas tree decorations of those times were represented by ornaments made of large bugles and beads. They were usually hung on the lower or middle branches. Old Soviet toys, especially pre-war ones, are carefully stored and passed on from grandmothers to grandchildren.

From icicles, houses, clocks, animals, balls, stars, a unique one was obtained.

Was it raining?

There was no such fluffy and voluminous rain as now during Soviet socialism. The tree was decorated with vertical rain and beads. A little later, a horizontal rain appeared, but it was not thick and voluminous. Some of the gaps in the tree were filled with garlands and candies.

For a few days, you can feel the atmosphere of the Soviet Union with the help of a Christmas tree dressed up in a retro style. Unique Christmas tree decorations of Soviet times, ornaments and tinsel should be looked for in the bins of our grandmothers or purchased at city flea markets. By the way, auctions and online stores for the purchase, sale and exchange of Christmas tree decorations of the USSR era are being created on the network. Some even collect such toys, many of which are already considered antiques.

All that remains is to decorate the Christmas tree with old Soviet toys, turn on the Irony of Fate and for a second remember your childhood.