Santa Claus and Snow Maiden vintage postcards. Soviet New Year's cards

Original postcards with Santa Claus of the Soviet period

A little background

In 1918, the Soviet government resolutely abandoned greeting cards, declaring them "a relic of the bourgeois past." Not only Christmas, but also the New Year is no longer considered a holiday. Of course, the latter continued to be celebrated - quietly and at home, without discharged Christmas trees, chiming clocks and illustrated postcards. The turning point was the Great Patriotic War.

The exact date of the "rehabilitation" of the New Year's card is not known for certain: some sources point to 1942, others - to 1944. The party leadership changed its mind when Soviet soldiers began to send colorful European-style greeting cards to their families. A decision was issued to launch the production of "ideologically consistent" postcards.

For example, Santa Claus of wartime was generous with gifts, and also ... severe and merciless to enemies.

This is how an unknown artist depicted the meeting of the New Year of 1943.

Soviet New Year's cards of the post-war decade

Already in the 1950s, mass production of the Soviet New Year's postcard was launched. The first to see the world were postcards-photos, supplemented by appropriate inscriptions. The circle of characters was then limited to sportswomen-Komsomol-beauties...

... cheerful chubby peanuts ...

... and ordinary Soviet workers against the backdrop of the Kremlin.

In the 1960s, the production of Soviet postcards rose to the level of art, in which an unexpected variety of pictorial styles and methods reigned. Tired of drawing monotonous propaganda posters, the artists, as they say, came off to the fullest.

It began with the return of the classic duet Ded Moroz + Snegurochka.

Soon there was a fashion for cheerful little animals. The most recognizable were numerous scenes with the participation of eared and tailed ones, drawn by Vladimir Ivanovich Zarubin.

For postcards, the plots of Russian folk tales were also taken.

Not without the influence of the current slogans of that time - from the development of production and sports achievements to the conquest of space.

Bragintsev sent Santa Claus to the construction site.

A. Laptev appointed a skiing bunny as a postman.

Chetverikov depicted the most New Year's hockey match with referee Moroz.

New Year in Space

But the main leitmotif was the discovery of the world of stars and distant planets. Space often became the plot dominant of the image.

Introducing elements of fantasy into their works, the illustrators expressed their wildest dreams of a brighter future and the conquest of the universe.

The last weeks before the New Year - it's time to stock up on postcards and other nice little things as a gift to friends and family. In anticipation of the holiday, he made another digression into history and prepared a review of the most original New Year's cards of the Soviet era.

A little background

In 1918, the Soviet government resolutely abandoned greeting cards, declaring them "a relic of the bourgeois past." Not only Christmas, but also the New Year is no longer considered a holiday. Of course, the latter continued to be celebrated - quietly and at home, without discharged Christmas trees, chiming clocks and illustrated postcards. The turning point was the Great Patriotic War. The exact date of the "rehabilitation" of the New Year's card is not known for certain: some sources point to 1942, others - to 1944. The party leadership changed its mind when Soviet soldiers began to send colorful European-style greeting cards to their families. A decision was issued to launch the production of "ideologically consistent" postcards.

For example, Santa Claus of wartime was generous with gifts, and also ... severe and merciless to enemies.

This is how an unknown artist depicted the meeting of the New Year of 1943.

Already in the 1950s, mass production of the Soviet New Year's postcard was launched. The first to see the world were postcards-photos, supplemented by appropriate inscriptions. The circle of characters was then limited to sportswomen-Komsomol-beauties...

Cheerful chubby peanuts...

And ordinary Soviet workers against the backdrop of the Kremlin.

In the 1960s, the production of Soviet postcards rose to the level of art, in which an unexpected variety of pictorial styles and methods reigned. Tired of drawing monotonous propaganda posters, the artists, as they say, came off to the fullest.

It began with the return of the classic duet Ded Moroz + Snegurochka.

Soon there was a fashion for cheerful little animals. The most recognizable were numerous scenes with the participation of eared and tailed ones, drawn Vladimir Ivanovich Zarubin.

For postcards, the plots of Russian folk tales were also taken.

Not without the influence of the current slogans of that time - from the development of production and sports achievements to the conquest of space.

Bragintsev sent Santa Claus to the construction site.

A. Laptev appointed a skiing bunny as a postman.

Chetverikov depicted the most New Year's hockey match with referee Frost.

New Year in Space

But the main leitmotif was the discovery of the world of stars and distant planets. Space often became the plot dominant of the image.

Introducing elements of fantasy into their works, the illustrators expressed their wildest dreams of a brighter future and the conquest of the universe.

Fairy tale and cosmic motifs on a New Year's card by the Soviet artist Bokarev, 1981

Adrianov and completely removes the ruddy old man, leaving his granddaughter in the company of the brave conqueror of space.

But postcards from the previous period, which can be seen in.

And after some time, the industry produced the widest range of postcards, pleasantly pleasing to the eye on the windows of newsstands filled with traditionally discreet printed materials.

And although the quality of printing and the brightness of the colors of Soviet postcards were inferior to imported ones, these shortcomings were redeemed by the originality of the plots and the high professionalism of the artists.

The true heyday of the Soviet New Year's card came in the 60s. The number of plots has increased: there are such motives as space exploration, the struggle for peace. Winter landscapes were crowned with wishes: "May the New Year bring success in sports!"

In the creation of postcards, a motley variety of styles and methods reigned. Although, of course, it could not do without interweaving the content of newspaper editorials into the New Year theme.
As the well-known collector Yevgeny Ivanov jokingly remarks, on postcards “Soviet Santa Claus actively participates in the social and industrial life of the Soviet people: he is a railway worker at the BAM, flies into space, melts metal, works on a computer, delivers mail, etc.

His hands are constantly busy with business - perhaps that is why Santa Claus carries a bag of gifts much less often ... ". By the way, the book by E. Ivanov "New Year and Christmas in Postcards", which seriously analyzes the plots of postcards from the point of view of their special symbolism, proves that there is much more meaning in an ordinary postal card than it might seem at first glance ...

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