Boy on skis, late 19th - early 20th century

The warmest memories in the life of every person are associated with family holidays.

   Remember how in childhood, on New Year's Eve, at the most magical time of preparation for the holiday, together with my parents we take out the treasured boxes with Christmas decorations and decorate the forest beauty? We could spend hours dismantling our favorite treasures, playing with bright balls and peering into the worn out faces of New Year's heroes. Each toy reminded of magic, gave a festive mood and faith in New Year's miracles to everyone, without exception.

Few people know that some of the first toys to decorate the Christmas tree were figurines made from cotton wool.

Today, among collectors, cotton Christmas tree toys are always popular. Particular interest is shown in Russian exhibits. Collectible toys are usually divided into several periods: Pre-revolutionary, Post-revolutionary, Soviet and Modern.

A bit of history.

Only at the end of the 17th century, from 1700, by decree of Peter I, the celebration of the New Year in the Russian Empire was postponed from September to January. The main attributes of the celebration were fireworks and illumination, and the house was decorated with fir branches.

Towards the end of the 19th century, the custom of decorating a Christmas tree on New Year's and Christmas Eve was borrowed from the German people. Beautiful glass balls, dolls and candies were considered the best decorations in those days. Mass production of such toys has already been established in Europe. But Russia did not have the necessary raw materials to launch its own glass-blowing factories. It was expensive to import finished products. Therefore, Christmas tree decorations began to be made from material, which was in abundance.

Vata had excellent characteristics. Prized for its softness, pliability, durability and ability to easily interact with other materials.

The first Christmas decorations - pendants - were called "Dresden toys". They were handmade from pressed cotton wool and were flat embossed figures. The base of the ornaments was cardboard, which gave them greater durability.

In Europe, shops sold cut sheets depicting the faces of various characters. They could be cut and glued to a cotton blank. Dresden cardboard box toys were very popular in pre-revolutionary Russia. Die cut sheets could be ordered by mail. They were inexpensive.

A new stage in the history of Christmas tree decorations.

After the 1917 revolution, New Years became a substitute for Christmas. Although religious symbolism was prohibited, the tradition of putting a Christmas tree as a symbol of the coming year has been preserved. They were engaged in the creation of Christmas tree decorations secretly, one might say, clandestinely, in their homes. It was during this period that unique handmade works were created. They were of the greatest value to contemporary collectors. Among the toys, most often one could find images of fruits, berries, vegetables or mushrooms. Such toys were a dream of a calm and well-fed life, therefore they were hung on the Christmas tree as a talisman.

German wadded toys 40-50s of the XX century

In the 30s of the XX century, Christmas tree decorations were made by hand in Russia. Professional art artels were organized in Moscow, such as "Izokult", "Art toy", "Everything for a child." Wadded toys in these artels were created from twisted pressed cotton. The realistic painted figurine was covered with starch paste (this made it durable) and sprinkled with glass snow. To get such artificial snow, a ball with the thinnest walls was blown out. Then they threw it into a special box, where the ball crumbled into small scales.

In 1935, the holiday was returned to the Soviet people. The Christmas theme was replaced by the New Year, and instead of angels and cherubs, they began to create figures of the Soviet spirit: ruddy skiers, border guards, characters from their favorite fairy tales.

From the Christmas tree decorations of the pre-war years, one can easily understand how the country lived. In 1935, the legendary film was released, with Lyubov Orlova in the title role - "Circus". Wadded clowns, acrobats, trained dogs and circus elephants appeared on the trees.

Since 1938, the Moscow Fine Arts Factory TsPKiO im. Gorky began to produce toys designed by professional artists and sculptors: T. Gidirimskaya, V. Gromchevskaya, O. Trauber. These wadded toys were very popular among the Soviet people. They have been stored in many homes for decades and passed down from generation to generation.

There are very few wadded toys made in the 30s and 40s of the last century. This was facilitated by the fact that, according to the established tradition, such decorations were placed on the lower branches of the spruce, so that children could touch and play with them. As a result, the lifespan of such toys was not long.

Since the 50s, factories have been using machines for winding cotton wool and hot stamping cotton toys. This gradually replaced manual work. In the 60s, the process of creating Christmas tree decorations was completely mechanized. Decorations for the New Year tree began to be mass-produced according to the same patterns. The uniqueness was lost.

Modern wadded toys. Craftsman - Natalia Privalova.

But at the present time, when more and more masters turn to the ancient traditions of making dolls, the wadded toy is also returning to us. Cozy, sweet and homely, it reminds of childhood, family holiday and winter fairy tale.

Tatiana Kalinina @tatakalinushka