Figure 1.--Here is a posed scene from the 1960s depicting New Year in a Russian home. It looks rather like Christmas in the West because after the Revolution, many Christmas traditions like tress and gift giving were shifted to the secular holiday of New Year. The girl wears her best school outfit.

Russians receive a two holiday for New Year (Новый Год). This is probably the most popular holiday in modern Russia. The Russians greet the New Year with champagne and listen to the Kremlin chimes ringing out the arrival of the New Year at 12 midnight. There are many New Year traditions in Russia similar to Christmas traditons in the West. In fact after the Revolution, traditions like Christmas trees were shifted from Christmas to New Year. As a result, Russian New Tear is a much more family-orienred holiday than in the West. Russian homes have New Year trees with colored lights and non-religious decorations. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, religious decorations can now be added, but we are not sure to what extentvthis has been added. St. Nicholas was replaced by Father/Grandfather Frost. And children of course await the arrival of Father Frost and his presents just as they one awaited St. Nicholas. Grandfather Frost looks a lot like the American Santa Claus only his outfit is blue rather than red. He arrives on New Year's Eve with his bag of toys. I'm not sure just how he arrives or if he has Reindear like Santa. He appears to have super powers and Frost can punish evil doers by instantly freezing them. There is a tradition of the children danceing around the tree which can be tricky in small Soviet apartments. The children are expected to tell rhymes to Grandfather Frost before receiving their presents. Many cities put up large decorated trees. There is a formal New Year's celebration at the Kremlin in Moscow. As many as 50,000 people attend, but they have to purchase tickets. There is a large meal for New Year consisting of meat and potato dishes.

Historical Eras

Russians receive a two holiday for New Year (Новый Год). This is probably the most popular holiday in modern Russia. The Russians greet the New Year with champagne and listen to the Kremlin chimes ringing out the arrival of the New Year at 12 midnight. There are many New Year traditions in Russia similar to Christmas traditons in the West. In fact after the Revolution, traditions like Christmas trees were shifted from Christmas to New Year. As a result, Russian New Tear is a much more family-orienred holiday than in the West. Russian homes have New Year trees with colored lights and non-religious decorations. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, religious decorations can now be added, but we are not sure to what extentvthis has been added. St. Nicholas was replaced by Grandfather Frost. And children of course await the arrival of Father Frost and his presents just as they one awaited St. Nicholas. There is a tradition of the children danceing around the tree which can be tricky in small Soviet apartments. Many cities put up large decorated trees. There is a formal New Year's celebration at the Kremlin in Moscow. As many as 50,000 people attend, but they have to purchase tickets.

Grandfather Frost

The modern Grandfather Frost looks a lot like the American Santa Claus. Grndfather Frost has worn different colored outfits over time. Today he is normally depicted in blue. Stalin personally intervened to make the blue costume standard. He is actually a charcacter of ancient origins. Grandfather Frost (Ded Moroz) is an ancient personage, taken from pagan times. There are a lot of old fairy tales about him (sometimes in those tales figure two Frosts - young and old, and they struggle to determine who of them is more powerful). A Russian word "Moroz" (frost) is derived from the ancient Slavic root "mor" (death). But later Ded Moroz became a cheerful and good old man, who "covers seeds with a snow blanket and keeps 'em safe until the spring comes". Nevertheless, his staff is deadly dangerous for people, animals and everything alive: "Who touches my staff will sleep and never wake up" - Ded Moroz says in one tale. A lot of Russian fairy tales about Moroz can be easily compared with a German fairy tale "Frau Holle", for example. Ded Moroz (under slightly different names) often figures in Russian books (Nekrasov - a poem "Moroz Red Nose", Dahl - a tale "Moroz Ivanovich", Schwarz - novel "Two Brothers" and so on), dramas (Ostrovsky - "Snegurocka") or films (Row - a movie "Morozko", USSR-Finland. He is similar to the less benevolent elf-like Jack Frost in America and Britain. He appears to have been an interesting, but relatively minor character during theTsarist era. And this did not change at first, even after the Revolution. Russian children were left after the Revolution without anyone to bring their Christmas gifts, in fact without Christmas itself. The Soviets needed a character to dispense gifts to distance children from Christmas and St. Nicholas. This assignment was given to Grandfather Frost, although it took some time. This involved a convulted transition involving Marxist dogma. Grandfather Frost was at first attacked as being a reactionary figure. During the 1930s, however, Soviet officials finally concluded that the children needed presents. And thus the Soviet media began to promote Grandfather Frost / Ded Morozas as ideologically acceptable New Year fi]gure for the children. Russian depictions of Grandfather Frost seem to have used the American Santa as a model. Like Santa, Grandfathe Frost arrives with his bag of toys--although less secretly. He does not have a reindear like Santa, but does have a sled-like Troika. He appears to have super powers and Frost can punish evil doers by instantly freezing them. Grandfather Frost appears to have continued as a New Year icon for the children even after the end of the Soviet Era.

Gift Giving

Parents on New Years Day since the Revolution give presents to the good children. The gift giving was simoly shifted from the religious Christmas holiday to the secular New Year holiday. Among popular traditions is a New Year's Tree called Novogodnaya Yolka. It is a pine or other conifer and crowned with a bright star and decorated with delicious sweets. Another tradition is the arrival of Ded Moroz / Father Frost and his granddaughter Snegurochka the snow girl. They bring in New Year presents for the good children which are placed under the New Year tree. The children are expected to tell rhymes or sing a song to Grandfather Frost before receiving their presents. Youger children have to be coached with this. Before the Revolution, gift giving was a Christmas event as imotralized in Tschikosvsky's "Nutcracker". Although remember that the family depicted was a well-to-do rather Westernized family in a large city. That was certainly not the experience of the average Russian child. And it was not the image of Christmas that the very conservative Orthodox Church promoted. After the Revolution, Christmas was supressed and the childten got their gifts on New Year which became a more important celebration. Since the demise of the Soviet Union, Christmas has been rehabilitated. That means children now get gifts on both New Year gro Grandfather Frost and on Christmas from St. Nicholas. A Russian reader confirms, "Yes, it is so. Isn't it more pleasant to receive gifts twice?"

School

Most kindergarten and early primary classes schools have special New Year events. They have the children dress up as snowflakes and other characters from traditional Russian 'skazki'. They often dance around the pine tree and get presents. A particularly popular New Year song often sung in school celebrationsd was written by Raisa Kudsheva. It is the most popular Russian New Year's song. It is a folk song about a small pine tree that was born in the forest and comes to the children to bring them happiness for the New Year.

Clothing

Many children tradituonall dressed up for New Year by wearing their best outfit which was often their school uniform. This was the case both in Tsarist and Soviet times. A Russian reader tells us, "Yes, it was quite common in Tsarist times for boys and girls to wear their school uniform when dressing up." Of course this probanly meant Christmas more than New Year." He tells us that, "Children did not wear their school uniforms so much when dressing up in the early Soviet period (1920s-30s. After the Revolution, school uniforms were considered to be a decadent symbol of Tsarist oppression. This chnged after World War II when uniforms were adopted throughout the Soviet Union. They were commonly worn through the 1970s. Older students as early as the mid-60s began to avoid wearing thir uniforms outside of school. The popularity of chool uniform rapidly declined in the 1980s, probably because Russian children began to have larger wardrobes and began to object to wearing school uniforms. Teengers wanted to wear stylish modern clothing. The wearing of a school uniform 'here and there and everywhere' as was common in Stalin or Khruschev times, began to vanish."

Food

Another important part of New Year in Russia are the many traditional dishes prepared for the occassion. The food traditions have changed over time. There were changes in the 19th century. Major changes occurred with the Revolution. The Russian Revolution and the ensuing ban on Christmas meant that New Year's inherited many Christmas traditions, including food and meals. Russians traditionally believe that the New Year sets the tone of the the coming year. Thus the New Year menu is supposed to be sumptuous and ijclude a variety of traditional treats. Soups are popular in Russia. A major meal often begins with the traditional cabbage soup. There is a large meal for New Year consisting of meat and potato dishes. Other popular New Year dishes are green peas, pickles, mayonnaise, onion, and carrots. The auterity of the early years and then World War II limited NBew Years celebrations. This gradually changed after the War as economic conditions improved. This meant that the New Years meal became increasingly elaborate.

Portraits

A popular New Year tradition in Russia is to take a New Year portrait of the children or entire family, normally dressed up in their best clothes. collection of these portraits thus provides a useful tine line of Russian fassions over time. A Russian reader tells us, "Even if parents do not go with their children or do not have a photocam, most children entertainment centers often offer a free photo as a part of the celebration."

Created: 2:18 PM 11/6/2008
Last updated: 7:11 AM 2/3/2011