Happy New Year, country! New Year’s collection of Alexander Oleshko

The All-Russian Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts, together with the Honored Artist of Russia Alexander Oleshko, has prepared for its visitors a festive exhibition “Happy New Year, country! New Year’s collection of Alexander Oleshko. " The exhibition will broadcast a special video congratulation of the artist, addressed to visitors to the museum.

Alexander Oleshko, although he does not consider himself a collector, is the owner of a huge collection of rare Christmas toys, cards, garlands and posters.

“Simply, being on tour in various cities of our large country, I could not miss a single cotton Soviet Santa Claus from my happy, amazing Soviet childhood,” Alexander shared with us.

The collection of Alexander Oleshko contains Christmas decorations, starting from the pre-war period, right up to the products of the 80s. These are cardboard, papier-mâché, wood and glass toys found in antique shops and flea markets.

The history of Christmas toys is inextricably linked with the history of the country, its culture, art, and to a large extent its economy and politics.

The first glass Christmas tree decorations were brought to Russia from Germany at the beginning of the 19th century, when the tradition arose to decorate the Christmas tree with toys. In Russia, glass Christmas decorations began to be produced in the middle of the 19th century in St. Petersburg and near Klin, in the former estate of Prince A. Menshikov. In addition to glass, papier-mâché was used as materials for the manufacture.

In the 1920s, porcelain marquises, wax angels and gilded balls were replaced by toys with Soviet symbols: star pendants with a sickle and a hammer, balls with stars. In airship toys with the inscription "USSR", airplanes, parachutes with tiny paratroopers, the period of aeronautics was reflected.

Decorating the Christmas tree for the New Year during the war was mandatory - this rite inspired hope for a speedy victory. On the fronts, Christmas trees were decorated with toys that were made from epaulets, bandages, socks, and cones.

Only in the 1950s appeared, now already cult characters: Santa Claus and the Snow Maiden, heroes from Rodari’s fairy tale “Cipollino”, as well as toys in the form of squirrels, bunnies and bears. With the release of the film “Carnival Night”, toys “clocks” with hands set for five minutes before midnight were released.

In the 1960s, toys began to be produced in the form of ears of corn, sheaves of wheat, eggplant, etc. Christmas trees decorated toys on the theme of space - rockets, astronauts, satellites. During the "thaw" appeared decorations in the form of icicles (ice floes).

A special series of toys was released in honor of the Olympics-80.

Today, private collectors highly value Christmas tree decorations, productions of the Leningrashka, Leningrad artels, the Frost association, the Klinsky Fir-tree association, the Toy production association, etc.

In addition to Christmas tree decorations, the exhibition will feature Soviet New Year cards, posters, starting in 1937, from the collection of the Honored Artist of Russia. The exhibition is accompanied by children’s drawings and photographs of Alexander Oleshko.

We suggest you plunge into the cozy atmosphere of the holiday, remember the sensations from childhood, anticipation of a miracle. Come to the exhibition, make a wish, and it will come true.