Collecting Christmas tree decorations. The most expensive Soviet Christmas tree decorations. From politics to toys

Over the past 20 years, he has been collecting and restoring old children's toys, with a special love for Christmas tree decorations. His extensive collection contains about three thousand old New Year's toys, which found their home in a small room in the Palace of Pioneers on Sparrow Hills. Among the rare exhibits of Sergei Romanov are toys made from the 1830s–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 ancient Christmas tree decorations from the past.

Angel, early 20th 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 a sled. Cotton 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

Letter from Santa Claus. New Year card. Mid-20th century

Father Frost. Cotton toy 1930-1940

Snow Maiden. Cotton toy. 1930-1950

Locomotive. Embossed cardboard. 1930-1940

Airships. Glass. 1930-1940

Watch. Glass. 1950-1960

Hare with a drum. Glass. 1950-1970

Clown with a pipe. Glass. 1950-1970

Glass toys 1960-1980

Lady with a snowball. Porcelain doll. Late XIX - beginning

New Year tree with cotton toys. Second half of the 1930s

In less than a year, Marina Orekhova collected more than 50 antique jewelry

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Marina Orekhova with her son Ilya and dog Diesel. Photo from the personal archive of Marina Orekhova.

Marina Orekhova from Altufev is a children’s and family photographer. She is raising her eight-year-old son Ilya, dotes on her dog named Diesel, loves to travel around Russia and considers herself a creative and enthusiastic person. A little less than a year ago, she took up an unusual hobby - collecting Christmas tree decorations. Marina told the Altufyevo newspaper about the origin of her passion and rare specimens in her personal collection.

The passion for collecting Soviet Christmas tree decorations began with viewing old family photographs, which preserved one of the most precious memories of childhood - the magical atmosphere of the New Year. Looking through the pictures, Marina drew attention to the toys that decorated the Christmas tree, and, succumbing to nostalgia, asked her mother to find them to see what had survived after so many years. Soon the treasured box from childhood was found.

– Many of the toys that I remembered were lost. It was at that moment that I had the idea to create a “Christmas tree from childhood,” recalls a resident of Altufev.

As Marina admits, she was shocked by the realization that Christmas tree decorations are, in fact, silent witnesses of their time. They reflect historical events, fashion and taste of their owners. For example, the era of aeronautics is depicted in toys such as airships, airplanes and parachutes, and during the “thaw” Soviet Christmas trees were decorated with agricultural toys - vegetables, fruits and berries. The theme of space exploration was also reflected in the Christmas tree decorations. But most of the Soviet toys, of course, were fairy tale characters. In the catalog “Christmas tree decorations. 1936–1970”, which has become a kind of reference book for collectors, glass Christmas tree decorations are divided into groups, each of which includes characters from one fairy tale. This is how collectors prefer to collect them.

– Now in my fairly young collection there are a complete set of characters from “Aibolit”, “Silver Hoof”, “Tales of the Fisherman and the Fish”. There are also circus-themed figures and part of the legendary Cipollino series,” the collector shared.

Toys from the “Cipollino” series were produced in small quantities in the 50s and 60s of the last century and were expensive. There are 21 characters in Rodari's book, and they were the prototypes for the 23 glass toys in this series. The most famous of them were produced in Leningrad by the Kultigrushka artel. For example, a paper box without toys from this set went under the hammer at an auction in February of this year for 57,000 rubles.

Part of the Cipollino collection. Photo from the personal archive of Marina Orekhova.

– Most of my friends, who first heard about my unusual hobby, are interested in where I buy toys, how I store them, and whether I decorate the Christmas tree with them. I buy many toys in different parts of the country through Russian Post, as well as at flea markets in Moscow and other cities. By the way, temperature changes are very harmful to the paintwork, so the ideal place for storage is the mezzanine. Toys can be stored, as in former times, in cotton wool and napkins, but not in bags and newsprint,” said Marina Orekhova.

Collection "Doctor Aibolit". Photo from the personal archive of Marina Orekhova.

By the way, it is not customary among collectors to decorate Christmas trees with antique toys, because glass products are very fragile - fortunately, most of them have survived to this day in good condition. However, Marina does not follow this “tradition” and plans to continue decorating the Christmas tree with her numerous toys, of which there are already more than 50 in her collection today.

– After more than half a century, buying toys in good condition is becoming increasingly difficult. Doing this is just as difficult as learning their history and obtaining information about the previous owner: after all, on the way to a new owner, jewelry can be resold several times, the collector noted.

Marina hopes that her son will continue her work, and in the future the collection of antique Christmas tree decorations will become a real family heirloom, preserving good memories from childhood. (mu)

Collection "Silver Hoof". Photo from the personal archive of Marina Orekhova.

What could be in the family “Christmas tree suitcase”? Toys made of plastic, glass, cardboard, foam, cotton wool, wood. Factory and homemade. On strings and on special clothespins-stands, making the toy stand and not hang on a branch. Cotton or rubber Santa Clauses and Snow Maidens. Finally, accessories: tinsel, rain, garlands - from flags or electric...

Christmas decorations, like any products, are items for purchase and sale by collectors. Moreover, some old Christmas tree decorations “from the mezzanine” can enrich you - sometimes one rare copy can earn you 150 thousand rubles!

Old Christmas tree decorations from the mezzanine can enrich you

For one copy you can earn 150,000 rubles (article “MK” for December 26, 2017)

It's time to put up a Christmas tree in the house and take out the old suitcase from the mezzanine. The same one where Christmas tree decorations, arranged with cotton wool and newspapers, live most of the year. Here is a ball that we bought last year, here is a garland from the eighties, and at the bottom of the box are the oldest toys, even grandma’s. We take them, hang them on the Christmas tree - and do not suspect that collectors are killed for these balls, bunnies, bears and other lanterns. And they are ready to pay more than one thousand rubles for them.

“MK” figured out which of the toys could be valuable not only for the soul, but also from a financial point of view.

What could be in a family Christmas tree suitcase? Toys made of plastic, glass, cardboard, foam, cotton wool, wood. Factory and homemade. On strings and on special clothespins-stands, making the toy stand and not hang on a branch. Cotton or rubber Santa Clauses and Snow Maidens. Finally, accessories: tinsel, rain, garlands - from flags or electric...

The fewest questions are with plastic toys. They appeared in our everyday life in the 1990s, so, most likely, you yourself remember how and when they appeared in the collection. To become a rarity, these toys will have to wait another half century. The main thing is not to rush to throw it away if you don’t like it: maybe your children and grandchildren will like it.

Next - everyone's favorite glass toys: balls and figures. They have been produced since ancient times to this day. Each glass toy is handmade: no one has yet developed the technology for stamping thin-walled glass. Both blowing and painting are individual, even though the toy was made in a factory. Here, determining the age and rarity of a toy is not easy - you need to leaf through catalogs (they are also available on the Internet).

Some are hunting for certain series of toys,” collector Inna Ovsienko told MK. - For example, “Peoples of the USSR”, “Tales of Pushkin”. This last series, by the way, was an anniversary one - timed to coincide with the centenary of the poet’s death, it was launched in 1937. It became one of the first Soviet series of glass Christmas tree decorations in general.

The axial date for domestic Christmas tree decorations is 1936. It was then that the celebration of the New Year with a traditional Christmas tree began to be welcomed by the state again. Throughout the 20s and early 30s, the tree (as an attribute of the old Christmas tradition) was uprooted and destroyed. Pioneers were shamed for decorating a Christmas tree in their house; the neighbors looked askance at those who took out the Christmas tree in January, so it had to be done secretly, at night... But suddenly it was allowed, and all the Christmas tree rituals were restored. Only, of course, without angels and crosses on the branches and top of the head. New time - new symbols.

Propaganda toys were blown out of glass,” says Ovsienko. - These are stratosphere balloons made of glass beads, and blown airships, and red glass bead stars on top of the Christmas tree... If you have such a toy, it’s enough to find out when this or that propaganda campaign was going on (for example, the airship is from 1937), and the date of manufacture toys is approximately clear.

Post-war toys are brighter and more varied, and also more “childish” - without politics. Bears with and without accordions, geese and swans, fish and vegetables. The balls are simple and the “lanterns” are those in which the lights of the garland should be reflected. Santa Clauses and Snow Maidens - in stock. But bugles - toys made from stringed beads and glass cylinders - have been declining since the mid-1950s. Complex, low-tech, old-fashioned and dangerous: children love to taste toys...

The next material is cardboard covered with a layer of multi-colored foil. These toys are very old, pre-war. These were produced by various artels back in the twenties, almost underground: they put up Christmas trees, albeit secretly, which means there was a demand for toys. Take care of them - they are already rare! Although they don’t fight, it would be a shame to give this to children or animals. Moreover, collectors sometimes pay tens of thousands of rubles for cardboard toys (as well as for pre-war glass toys).

Wartime toys have a special story,” says collector Inna Ovsienko. - At the Moscow Kalibr plant they started producing toys from production waste - substandard light bulbs and so on. Quite a lot of them were made, but more than 70 years have passed, so now such toys are rare and valuable.

Well, the oldest toys - cotton and wooden ones - may well be of pre-revolutionary origin. By the way, then most of the toys were homemade - so if your family still has jewelry from those years, it is quite possible that your great-grandfather and great-grandmother made them with their own hands.

A separate song - cotton Santa Clauses and Snow Maidens. Until the 1950s, their faces were sculpted from clay by hand, later polymer substitutes were used. This “chapter” of the New Year tree is the characters that you can look into the eyes of and be imbued with the holiday atmosphere.

Real collectors of Christmas tree decorations do not measure their value in money,” Ovsienko smiles. - Much more valuable is the spiritual importance for the family. I always discourage people from selling family toys - after all, it is with them that family history comes to life every year on the New Year tree. If you lose it, then you can’t buy it for any money.

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How much do collectible Christmas tree decorations made in Russia/USSR cost:

• Thumbelina on a swallow (cotton wool, papier-mâché, early 20th century): RUB 32,500.
• Set “15 republics of the USSR” in a box (cotton wool, 1962) - 65,000 rubles.
• Border guard Karatsupa with the dog Ingus (cardboard, 1936) - 150,000 rubles.
• Little Negro (cotton wool, 1936) - 14,000 rubles.
• Set “Doctor Aibolit” (glass, 1950s) - 150,000 rubles.
• Mizgir from the “Snow Maiden” set (glass, 1950s) - 20,000 rubles.
• Pioneer (glass, 1938) - 47,000 rubles.

In Russia, the first Christmas trees appeared in the 19th century on the roofs and fences of drinking establishments - as decorations. They actually began decorating Christmas trees in the 1860s and 1870s (they followed European fashion), and toys were ordered from Europe. Even then, Christmas tree decorations were clearly divided into decorations for the wealthy and for those who were poorer. Buying a glass toy for a resident of Russia at the end of the 19th century was the same as buying a car for a modern Russian.

Balls were heavy back then - they learned to make thin glass only at the beginning of the 20th century. The first glass toys in the USSR began to be made during the First World War in Klin. There, artel craftsmen blew glass products for pharmacies and other needs. But during the war years, captured Germans taught them how to blow balls and beads. The Klin factory “Yolochka”, by the way, to this day remains the only factory in Russia that makes beads for Christmas trees.

At the very beginning of the 20th century, most toys were brought from Germany, where this fashion came from. The most expensive figurines were those with porcelain heads; they could be bought or rented in stores in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Now you can also find such a toy in antique shops, but it will cost about $300-500. Cardboard toys created at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries - the so-called “Dresden cardboard” - will cost much less. Particularly common are images of animals, as well as voluminous shoes, bonbonnieres and houses covered with colored foil. The cost of such jewelry is from 800 to 3000 rubles.

In pre-revolutionary Russia there were simpler toys; they were made in artels from more accessible materials - papier-mâché, fabric, wood.

Christmas tree decorations were often made at home; On the eve of Christmas, special albums for making homemade toys appeared on sale. The sheets contained color lithographs with the faces of angels and Santa Clauses. Then the images were cut out and glued to a cardboard base, and cotton wool was used to make the body look three-dimensional. This is one of the rarest types of Christmas tree decorations, and finding them in an antique store is considered a great success. In Moscow, pre-revolutionary homemade jewelry can be purchased at the Rose Azora salon on Nikitsky Boulevard, at the annual Christmas Flea Market on Tishinka fair, and sometimes at the vernissage in Izmailovo. Prices vary from 2 to 6 thousand rubles, depending on safety and quality. It is much easier to find these toys at European flea markets, especially in Germany.

In pre-revolutionary Russia, “Dresden cardboard” was popular - toys glued together from two halves of convex tinted cardboard. Beautiful dolls with lithographic (paper) faces glued to a “body” made of fabric, lace, beads, and paper were also hung on Christmas trees. By the 20th century, faces began to be made convex, made of cardboard, and later - porcelain. There were also toys made of cotton wool wound onto a wire frame: this is how figures of children, angels, clowns, and sailors were decorated.

The tradition of crowning a Christmas tree with a decoration in the shape of a lance is associated not with the shape of the ice icicles, but with the design of military helmets from the times of the Kaiser’s Germany: lance-shaped tops for Christmas trees began to be made there. They were decorated with figurines of doves and bells. By the way, jewelry in the shape of icicles began to be made in the USSR only during the “Thaw”.

Since the beginning of the First World War, many families, remembering the “enemy” German origin of the Christmas tree, abandoned this tradition in a fit of patriotic feelings. After the revolution, the Christmas tree was generally outlawed, since this custom was recognized as bourgeois and anti-Soviet. The production of Christmas tree decorations in our country has ceased.

In 1925, celebrating the New Year in Russia was prohibited.

Only in 1935 was a decision made to resume the New Year celebration, and then the tree was returned - not a Christmas tree, of course, but a New Year's tree - a Soviet one. On December 28, 1935, a conveyor belt for the production of Christmas tree decorations began operating in the USSR. Artels for the production of Christmas tree decorations are working at full capacity. They began to produce toys made of cotton wool; for rigidity, they were covered with mica paste, and the faces were made of clay, papier-mâché and fabric. The new generation of Christmas tree decorations was strikingly different from the old one: before the revolution, the emphasis was on biblical scenes, but now the angels were replaced by cheerful Red Army soldiers, skiers, as well as clowns and acrobats (Stalin’s love for the circus affected). Such things were produced until the mid-50s, so they are widely represented on the antique market and cost from 1 to 4 thousand rubles.

In the late 30s, heroes of children's literature appeared on Christmas trees - Ivan Tsarevich, Ruslan and Lyudmila, Brother Rabbit and Brother Fox, Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, Crocodile with Totosha and Kokosha, Doctor Aibolit. With the release of the film “Circus,” circus-themed figurines became popular. The exploration of the North was marked by figures of polar explorers. The Soviet Christmas tree decoration even reflected the theme of the war in Spain: in 1938, a glass ball was released with two planes, one of which shoots down the other.

The toys of the 30s are made of cotton wool, paper and glass, since before 1935 there was no production of Christmas tree decorations in the country. In 1937, the People's Commissariat for Education published a manual entitled "Christmas tree in kindergarten", which describes in detail which Christmas tree decorations should be hung on the lower branches, which on the middle ones, what color the star should be on the top of the tree, how children and teachers should behave during holiday "New Year". The toys of those years were created in the form of human figures: paratroopers, hockey players, Negroid and Mongoloid people. The rarest exhibits are considered to be decorations made of pressed cotton wool coated with varnish - pioneers, fruits, fox bunnies.

Even before the war, glass toys began to be produced, and the first Yolochka factory opened in Klin. There they blew airplanes, airships, tractors, cars, and animal figures. Due to their fragility, few glass toys from the 1930s have survived, and the price range is very wide. An ordinary glass toy can be purchased for 3-5 thousand rubles, but completely unique exhibits - for example, balls with portraits of members of the Politburo, Marx and Engels - will cost much more.

It is very difficult to find wartime toys these days. In such difficult times, the production of Christmas tree decorations did not stop, but in conditions of shortage of material, toys were stamped from tin and then painted. A rag was tied to a human figurine to create a parachutist; paramedic dogs were also depicted (a white bandage with a red cross on the paw). At the Moskabel factory they spun wire decorations from production waste, producing magnificent works: bird cages, stars made of intertwined golden-red threads. It is considered a great success for collectors to purchase such a toy.

During the Patriotic War, Christmas trees at the fronts were decorated with figurines made from shoulder straps, bandages, and socks.

Since 1946, the work of the Yolochka factory was restored. They started producing glass balls from the peace series: figures of children in fur coats, animals, houses. For Pushkin’s anniversary, a series with characters from his fairy tales was created; toys with characters from the fairy tales “Cipollino” and “Doctor Aibolit” were also popular. After the release of the film “Carnival Night,” glass decorations appeared in the form of alarm clocks and musical instruments.

Toys dressed in the national costumes of all the republics of the USSR were also produced. There are plenty of such toys preserved; individual items can be purchased for 150 rubles, more interesting ones - for 1.5-2 thousand. Toys with clothespins usually cost 500-700 rubles, Soviet cardboard - 200-400 rubles. Almost every home probably still has New Year's decorations in the form of vegetables and fruits - apparently, the shortage of food had an effect; such things can be bought for 300-500 rubles.

Since the early 50s, gift sets of baby toys have appeared in the country. Which was very convenient, because most Soviet people lived in communal apartments. You can still decorate a toy Christmas tree with these miniatures.

In the early fifties, Christmas tree decorations associated with China appeared in many homes: wonderful Chinese lanterns, balls with the inscriptions “Moscow - Beijing” and even large balls with portraits of Mao Zedong.

After the flight into space, perhaps the last important series in the history of Soviet Christmas tree decorations was released - decorations in the form of satellites, rockets and astronauts. Unfortunately, in the mid-60s, technologies requiring manual work were abandoned, and toy production was put on stream. Therefore, only Christmas tree decorations produced before 1966 are considered collectible.

In the 60s, with the advent of fashion for minimalism and avant-garde, everything was simplified as much as possible. The figures became puffy, the paintings became the simplest. But at the same time, a new material appeared - foam rubber. They are beginning to actively use it in the production of Christmas tree decorations. For example, they produced nesting dolls in foam rubber scarves, tails and scallops, and pig snouts were made from foam rubber. There was a toy in the form of a large glass ball, which was transparent on one side and silver-plated on the other. The back, silver wall beautifully reflected a foam fish “swimming” inside the ball.

Plastic is beginning to be actively used in the production of toys: for example, spotlight balls and polyhedron balls, like those at discos, were produced in large quantities. There were plastic transparent balls with plastic butterflies “flying” inside them. The children broke these balls and then played with the butterflies. There were few small toys back then.

Until 1966, the production of Christmas tree decorations was carried out in a semi-handicraft way, and each toy was a piece product. Then their mass production began, which, alas, made the toys less attractive and varied.

In the seventies, instead of the indispensable star, many peaks appeared - in a completely Western way (they appeared there back in the 19th century). In our country, the peak first appeared in the form of a rocket taking off from the ground (60s).

****List of enterprises that produced Christmas tree decorations in the USSR. Some of the enterprises did not last long:

Artel "Everything for the Child" 1935-1949 (Moscow). According to other sources, from 1937 to 1941.

Artel "Kultigrushka" of the Leningrad Industrial Council "Lengormetallshremprosoyuz" (Leningrad)

Artel named after Ruben (Leningrad)

Artel "Lenigrushka" (Leningrad)

Artel “Promigrushka” of the Leningrad Trade Union (Leningrad, Apraksin Dvor, building 1)

Artel "Artistic Toy" (Moscow)

Artel "Children's Toy" (Moscow)

Gorky Rubber Products Factory

Dmitrov Porcelain Factory

Factory of glass and optical decorations and Christmas tree products of the Office of Polygraph Industry and Cultural Goods of the Moscow City Executive Committee (Moscow, Izmailovskoye Shosse, no. 20)

Kalinin Production Association of Arts and Crafts of the Local Industry Directorate of the Kalinin Regional Executive Committee (Kalinin, 2nd Lukina St., 9 and Konakovo, Stroiteley St., 12)

CJSC PKF "Igrushki" - the modern name (In 1927, the Univertrud artel was formed in Voronezh. The organizer of production was the former owner of one of the glass factories in Klin near Moscow, who was subsequently repressed. The artel existed until 1941. After the war, work resumed and the leadership of the Economic Council made a decision on the separation of the production of glass Christmas tree decorations into a separate enterprise - “Voronezh Artel 4th Five-Year Plan”, which was reorganized into the “Toys” factory in 1960. The main production of the factory - a workshop for the production of glass Christmas tree decorations - was located in the church building on Fabrichny Lane).

JSC "MOSKABELMET" - the modern name (the plant traces its ancestry to the "Partnership for the exploitation of electricity M.M. Podobedov and Co", the charter of which was approved by the Emperor of Russia Nicholas II on June 29, 1895. The company was headed by its founder, the outstanding engineer-technologist M.M. Podobedov. In 1895, the Partnership created the Russian Production of Insulated Wires for Electricity plant - the first cable enterprise in Moscow. In 1913, the Partnership was transformed into the Joint Stock Company Russian Cable and Metal Rolling Plants (Russkabel). In 1933, the company received the name "Moskabel").

Soviet Christmas tree decorations were strikingly different from the pre-revolutionary ones, when the emphasis was on biblical stories, because they were intended mainly for Christmas. Now the wax angels and Bethlehem stars have been replaced by red five-pointed Kremlin stars and glass figurines of pioneers - Stalin's heirs.

The first toys, such as balls, were blown by glassblowers from molten glass through tubes.

They were also very popular among the Soviet people cotton Christmas toys, which were produced until the mid-fifties. They were made from pressed cotton, which was given the desired shape. There were special frames for people and animals. The painted figurine was covered with starch paste and mica, which gave it rigidity. The faces of dolls and the muzzles of animals were sculpted from clay, made from papier-mâché, and sewn from fabric.

One of the main Christmas tree novelties of the Soviet era was electric garlands. By the way, the first garlands appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century in the USA, but they were so expensive that they were more often rented than bought. In addition, the decoration was not safe: electric garlands often caused fires - the lamp glass became heated and the pine needles caught fire. It was only many years later that light bulbs began to be made from durable glass using permanent dyes.

For victory!

The production of Christmas tree decorations did not die even during the Great Patriotic War. True, in conditions of total shortage it was necessary to stamp and then paint tin animal figurines. People celebrated the New Year and believed in victory. Many toys of that time were made from scrap materials: for example, the star-tip for a Christmas tree was made from a chemical flask. The most popular toys of the war years were parachutists. They were made very simply: pieces of fabric were tied to all Christmas tree decorations, regardless of the character. Military Christmas trees were decorated with pistols, orderly dogs, and on New Year's cards it was Santa Claus who beat the enemy.

From politics to toys

The war ended, the country began to heal its wounds, life gradually got better. In 1947, an event occurred, the importance of which we still appreciate today - January 1 was finally declared a non-working day, as before the revolution. The production of Christmas tree decorations has increased accordingly. In the 50s they began to be produced not only in Moscow, but also in Klin, Leningrad, Kyiv, Kirov. And even near Kazan, in the village of Vasilyevo, local glassblowers produced small batches of Christmas tree decorations for high-ranking regional committee officials, as well as for themselves, relatives and friends.

The history of the domestic Christmas tree decoration shows that it is always inextricably linked with culture, politics and art. The keepers of the Christmas tree decorations museum in Veliky Ustyug, where today the official residence of Russian Father Frost is located, believe that the entire history of our country can be “read” from Christmas tree decorations.

For example, during the reign of Stalin, everyone listened to the leader’s opinion. Joseph Vissarionovich said that hockey is good, but they immediately began to blow Christmas tree hockey players. He praised the circus performers (and Stalin adored this type of art), and immediately clowns, acrobats and even little cotton negros began to appear on Christmas trees (after the release of the comedy film “The Circus”).

"Victory" on a clothespin

Since the early 50s, gift sets have appeared in the country baby toys. Which was very convenient, because most Soviet people lived in communal apartments. You can still decorate a toy Christmas tree with these miniatures.

In the 60s of the last century, the time had come toys on clothespins. In honor of the first flights into space, Christmas tree cosmonauts, toy satellites and rockets were released. And in the first years of production of Pobeda cars, glass cars also appeared on Christmas trees.

However, at all times, toy craftsmen gave preference to a fairy-tale theme. For Pushkin’s anniversary, for example, the country released sets of toy characters from fairy tales about the Golden Cockerel, the fisherman and the fish, Ruslan and Lyudmila. Figures and characters from other popular fairy tales appeared - Cipollino, Doctor Aibolit, Little Red Riding Hood...

In great fashion in the Soviet years were "agricultural" toys: tomatoes, carrots, sheaves of wheat, bunches of grapes, golden onions. During the reign of Nikita Khrushchev, corn cobs were especially popular... well, of course.

Until 1966, the production of Christmas tree decorations was carried out in a semi-handicraft way, and each toy was a piece product. Then it started continuous production, which, alas, made the toys less attractive and varied.

In the early fifties, Christmas tree decorations associated with China appeared in many homes: wonderful Chinese lanterns, balls with the inscriptions “Moscow - Beijing” and even large balls with portraits of Mao Zedong, which today are rare collectibles even on a global scale. Needless to say, true collectors are willing to pay considerable sums for a rare toy! But nowadays you’ll hardly find an eccentric willing to part with relics.

Foreigners are also actively collecting our Christmas tree decorations. For example, at the Moscow vernissage in Izmailovo, they willingly buy not only traditional nesting dolls, scarves and painted trays, but also old Soviet Christmas tree decorations.

One of the largest collections of Christmas tree decorations in the world was assembled by an American Kim Balashak, who has lived in Russia since 1995. Her home exhibition covers five periods: pre-revolutionary, twenties and thirties, the Great Patriotic War, post-war and, finally, the era of “development of social industry and growth of people's well-being” until 1965. Ms. Balashak’s collection contains more than 2.5 thousand copies of Russian and Soviet toys, among which there is a unique series of balloons depicting members of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. Or, for example, a large Christmas tree ball with portraits of the main heroes of that time: Stalin, Lenin, Marx and Engels. All these balls are very rare: they were produced only for one year, 1937, in Moscow.

The mayor of Moscow is an active collector of Christmas tree decorations Yuri Luzhkov. And one of the unusual gifts for Yuri Mikhailovich were two unique Christmas tree decorations with his portrait in a traditional cap with a patriotic inscription: “Blossoming Moscow, United Russia.”

But perhaps one of the most famous toy collectors in Russia is a Moscow historian, artist and restorer Sergei Romanov. Previously, he was fond of making amazingly accurate remakes of ancient toys. And today in his collection, which he has been collecting for about 20 years, there are more than 3.5 thousand of them. Moreover, these are not only Christmas toys, but also ordinary children's toys.

As for Christmas tree decorations, Sergei Gennadievich’s collection contains very rare items. For example, a matte ball the color of an airplane wing, on which little animals and little people in everyday clothes are walking. Above them is the inscription: “Happy New Year 1941!” Or another - in the form of a cardboard guard box and a soldier in the uniform of the times of Paul I. The threads have not frayed: the paper soldier still knows how to make a rifle article with his fusée. This sentry was glued together for Christmas... 1897!

And now everyone comes to the