All Christmas decorations differ in the material of manufacture.

The most common toys are:

• fabrics;
• cardboard;
• glass;
• plastics.

  They produce various toys that create a holiday atmosphere:

• animals and fairy-tale heroes;
• cars and planes;
• koloboks and baba yaga;
• Christmas balls.

Glass material is not as fragile as plastic. But it is the glass version that causes the most positive sensations. To decorate the Christmas tree, you can use balls from small size of the same color, and balls of different sizes and colors. If balls of various sizes are used, then the largest ones should be placed on the lower branches of the Christmas tree.

Size of Christmas toys

In stores, everyone can find and pick up Christmas trees up to a meter in size and more. And they sell large and small options for decorations - the buyer will be able to pick up Christmas decorations of any size.
There are artificial options for Christmas trees, the size of which reaches about one meter, and even larger ones for the street. In special jewelry stores you can find any toys for each spruce. This also includes balls. Moreover, the manufacturers of Christmas balls are not stingy with fantasy - there are Christmas toys of the most various forms- but this choice is for lovers, for those who know what to do with such jewelry.

Varieties of Christmas toys

The simplest and most standard types are Christmas balls. These are modern, voluminous balloons, which are painted independently. Majolica Christmas decorations are very popular. They are decorative items made of clay with a large shard, covered with glaze and then painted.

Decorating a Christmas tree with balls is very stylish and interesting. If the buyer is not sure that he can create it beautiful by decorating various decorations and toys, it would be better to purchase a set of interesting balls you like. Christmas decorations are common, for example, in the form of various cars or even shoes. You just have to choose the appropriate option.

Christmas decorations- mainly toys designed specifically for decorating a festive tree.

Decorating a Christmas tree is an ancient custom that in ancient times had the character of a religious rite. In the Soviet Union, a Christmas tree is a cheerful children's holiday, timed to coincide with the meeting of the New Year, a holiday that coincided with winter holidays schoolchildren. Decoration Christmas tree came into everyday life as a children's holiday, during which, together with a decorated Christmas tree, in every house, school, club, Kindergarten, the nursery includes a reviving fairy tale with its fantastic plots and characters. Items that served to decorate the Christmas tree were made bright, colorful, elegant, so that the Christmas tree had a festive look.

In the design of Christmas tree decorations, an element of fabulousness plays an important role - goldfish, Santa Clauses, Snow Maidens, fantastic birds and animals. Even the most ordinary decorations made of cardboard and paper can have decorative colors that do not exist in reality. The theme of Christmas tree decorations is the most diverse: fruits, vegetables, trees, animals, figurines of people, household utensils and apartment furnishings, houses, means of all types of transport, characters from fairy tales, decorative items (beads, tips, balls, pendants, etc.).

For the manufacture of Christmas tree decorations in the Soviet period, a wide variety of materials were used in various combinations and combinations. The materials had to be light, so that the objects made from them would not burden the branches of the Christmas tree with their weight. All flammable items, especially cotton wool, had to be impregnated with a fire-resistant compound. For the same fire safety reasons, the use of celluloid toys to decorate the Christmas tree was not recommended.

By raw materials and processing technology Christmas decorations can be divided into the following main groups:

1) made of glass (balls, tops or spiers, various pendants, figurines of people and animals, beads, etc.);

2) from cardboard (cardboard): a) stamped (animals, birds, fish, human figures, etc.), b) glued (lanterns, bonbonnieres, houses, baskets, crackers, flags, etc.);

3) from tinsel and foil (garlands, Christmas tree "rain", stars, flowers, baskets, etc.);

4) from cotton wool (santa claus, fruits, mushrooms, figurines of people and animals);

5) items for lighting the Christmas tree (electric garlands, candles, candlesticks).

Christmas decorations made of glass- one of the main types of Christmas tree decorations. Without objects (toys) made of glass, the Christmas tree would look poor and boring. The surface of the glass, having an almost mirror-like luster, reflects the Christmas tree lights, endlessly repeating their reflections, and this creates an enchanting picture. Christmas decorations made of glass are blown from glass droit (tubes). Glass blowing can be done by mouth or mechanically- by means of compressed air on special blowing units. In domestic production, automatic blowing of the simplest types of spherical decorations from glass molten mass was mastered on carousel machines that manufacture radio lamps, electric lamps and other glass products. The technique of blowing objects for the Christmas tree from glass tubes is simple: a piece of glass drog (tube), heated on a burner, is melted from one end, and from the side of the free end, air is blown into it, which pushes the walls of the dart in a heated place to a predetermined size. In order for the shape of the product to be correct, the dart is slowly rotated during the blowing process. While the product has not yet cooled down or after additional heating, deflections (holes), stripes (grooving) or spotlights (recesses) can be made in it with a sharpened stick. This processing is called hand molding. Stamping molding is carried out in metal split molds, the inner walls of which have the exact relief of the product. Molded products go to further processing - silvering, coloring and trimming of the stem. A cap is put on the processed products, after which the jewelry is packed in boxes, and those that are completed in sets - in carton boxes.

Automatic glass blowing for Christmas decorations is carried out on automatic carousel-type units. The molten glass mass from the melting furnace enters in strictly metered quantities into the nests of a slowly rotating machine, where compressed air is supplied with the help of a compressor, blowing the glass mass into a hollow product of a given relief. Finished goods arrive at another machine for trimming the stem. Further processing and finishing of the product is carried out in the usual manner.

According to the method of decoration, glass Christmas decorations were divided into the following groups:

1) silver-plated (amalgamated);

2) painted, including painted on silver;

3) artistically painted on silver, on colored colorless or colored glass.

For silver-plated items, mostly colorless (transparent) glass was used. For the manufacture of such products, lead glass could not be used, since it gives dark shade amalgams.

Christmas decorations made of glass in the USSR were made in a diverse assortment, which included: spherical or elliptical objects, smooth and with various reliefs; tops in the form of conical tips or five-pointed stars; faceted corrugated conical lanterns; fruits, vegetables, fruits, cones, acorns, pears, grapes, etc.; birds and fish, sometimes with false tails; figures of animals - dogs, deer, swans, ducks; these products are good in silver, as well as in white and colored glass in combination with one another; dishes and household utensils - samovars, teapots, jugs, vases, etc., they can be silver, painted and with artistic painting; technical items - airships, parachutes, boats, cars, tanks; products assembled from small beads and glass beads - airplanes, bicycles, chandeliers, traffic lights, etc. Their forms are largely arbitrary, which is associated with the characteristics of the source material.

Christmas decorations. Moscow plant of Christmas decorations

Christmas tree decorations made of cardboard Made from good quality thin cardboard.

They were conditionally divided into three groups:

1) stamped cardboard,

2) glued cardboard,

3) crackers, flags and lanterns.

Stamped cardboard made by stamping in metal molds. Each product consisted of halves glued together after stamping and die-cutting. Some complex toys (for example, birds, etc.) had more additional details. To give the toys a more elegant look, cardboard sheets were pasted over with aluminum or bronze potal paper before being put into production. Sometimes pasting was done with white paper, followed by coloring. For hanging on a Christmas tree, a small loop of dense colored threads was glued into the toy. To color stamped cardboard, aniline powder paints dissolved in alcohol varnishes or nitro varnishes were used. Painting was done with a spray gun, only some details were painted on by hand (eyes, fins, mouths, etc.). Cellophane served as an additional finishing material, colored paper, plush. The range of stamped cartonage included the following products: stars, comets, shells; animals and birds, insects, fish, reptiles; figures of people and various characters from fairy tales; transport items (airships, airplanes, etc.); household items (watches, etc.).

Glued cardboard it was cut down along the cutting contour with die-cuts and glued together with light carpentry glue. Finishing material was glued in the form of stripes, pleats and pleats. The finishing material was paper of different grades - potal, crepe, glossy, cigarette, as well as textiles of bright colors - silk, plush, velvet, satin and chintz, ribbons, paper lace, soutache, embossed pictures and tinsel. The assortment of glued cardboard included a variety of products: different houses, furniture, household utensils and toys, decorative baskets and bonbonnieres, various lanterns, animal figurines, transport items. All products made of glued cardboard were to have hangings for fastening, except for baskets and bonbonnieres, in which a handle could be used for hanging.

crackers were made by pasting a cardboard cylinder with different types of paper and cellophane, finished with different types of paper and cellophane, finished with paper lace at the ends of the cylinder at both its edges and tightened tightly. Surprises in the form of caps, half masks, aprons and other paper products were put into crackers of different sizes.

Flashlights made from different shapes corrugated paper. The corrugation was made in the form of an accordion so that the lanterns could be folded. The bottoms and the rim were made of cardboard. A wire eye was attached to the top rim.

Checkboxes were made from colored paper or from paper on which a drawing was printed in several colors. The flags were strung on a thread or braid into garlands consisting of an equal number of flags. Each garland had to have free ends of thread or braid at least 15 cm long on each side. Folded garlands were tied into bundles and sealed with a paper parcel.

Papier-mâché Christmas decorations and other pressed paper and wood pulp. Small figurines for the Christmas tree, as well as Santa Claus, Snow Maiden, etc. were made from papier-mâché and other pressed paper-wood masses. See the manufacturing process.

Christmas decorations from tinsel. Tinsel is a cord or thread spun from metal wire, silk or paper thread. Tinsel threads are copper, brass, silver-plated. Decorations were not made from tinsel threads alone, the threads were included only as additional material in different types products. Eyelets were made from tinsel, on which decorations were hung from the Christmas tree, bonbonnieres were tied with tinsel threads, they served as a decoration for products made of cardboard and cotton wool. Christmas decorations made of tinsel included the following types of products.

Christmas decorations from plush. Plushenko- this is a thin copper, silver-plated on copper or brass wire, flattened into a flat tape (hence its name), with a cross section of 6.025 to 0.05 mm. They made garlands, stars, comets, rain, sun from the plush; it was also used to decorate objects made of glass, cardboard and cotton wool. Plushenka has a significant reflective surface - it shines very effectively among the Christmas tree branches and gives the Christmas tree a special elegance.

Christmas decorations from the gimp. Gimp is the thinnest copper or brass wire, silver-plated, coiled into a thin spiral. Gimp, in contrast to flattened, has a matte sheen, it is very elastic, easily stretched, taking the most intricate shapes. Various figures, frames, made of wire, are braided with a thread in different directions, resulting in elegant decorations - butterflies, beetles, swans, flowers, fruits.

Foil Christmas Decorations. Foil is a thinly rolled sheet of aluminum or other metal. Beautiful rosettes and stars of various configurations and sizes are made from this material. They are mounted from separately stamped parts, painted with colored varnish in one or more colors.

Christmas tree decorations made of cotton wool. This group includes, first of all, Santa Clauses.

Santas- a traditional figure in the assortment of Christmas tree decorations. This is a character loved by children from folk tales and literary works. Good-natured and cheerful, he was almost always depicted carrying in one hand (or on his shoulder) a Christmas tree and a bag of gifts, and in the other - a gnarled old man's stick-staff. Santa Clauses were usually made on stands ranging in size from 15 to 75 cm, but there were also smaller figures (pendant) - 10-12 cm. The basis of the figure of large Santa Claus is a frame made of wood or wire. A head (mask) was attached to the upper part of the body. The arms were made of wire. The entire structure (base) was wrapped in shavings, crumpled paper and gray cotton wool, after which a surface layer of cotton wool was wound, glued with potato starch. Sometimes clothes were made from crepe paper. Santa Claus was dressed in winter clothes various styles, but mainly, these clothes were an imitation of a tanned or cloth-covered sheepskin coat or undershirt. The hat was usually made fluffy with a top in the color of the fur coat. On a stand covered with cotton wool, the figure was fixed after the entire structure was wrapped in cotton wool. In addition to figures of grandfather frosts, large figures of snow maidens, as well as skiers, skaters, etc. were made from the same materials. In addition to grandfather frosts made from cotton wool, these figures were also made from sawdust by hot pressing. Such figures are more durable and strong than wadded ones. Santa Clauses were also produced, made by paper casting on vacuum plants. Some enterprises made Santa Clauses in a combined way: the front embossed part of the head, hands, etc. was stamped, and the rest of the body is processed by hand. Cotton figures were painted with aniline paints, and pressed ones - with oil paints. Cotton Christmas tree decorations were covered with "snow", which was made from crushed glass with a fixative, compiled according to a special recipe approved by the State Sanitary Inspectorate. The fixer did not allow the "snow" to crumble. The glue used to make Christmas tree decorations from cotton wool contained flame retardant ingredients to keep the cotton wool from catching fire.

Christmas tree lighting fixtures. The Christmas tree is especially spectacular in bright festive lighting. The Christmas tree was illuminated with special candles inserted into candlesticks, electric bulbs or garlands of electric lamps. Candlesticks for the Christmas tree were stamped from tin or made from wire. Candlesticks had a different device: 1) with a clip that clamps a branch like a clothespin; 2) with a balance - balancing weight.

For making candlesticks white and black tinplate 0.3-0.5 mm thick, alcohol and nitro-lacquers, and enamel paints were used. The cup of the candlestick, where the candle was inserted, should not be narrower than 0.7 mm and should not go into a cone, otherwise the candle would fall out. The candlestick was supposed to have a socket for draining stearin, an elastic spring or a balance that ensures the balance of the candle.

Christmas tree candles were made from paraffin and sold by weight in packs of 25 pieces.

Electric garlands were made from small electric lamps. They came in parallel and serial connection. Light bulbs could be simple and figured. Electric garlands were calculated for a network of 120 and 220 volts.

Christmas toy "Snowflake"

Production of Christmas tree decorations in the USSR. Christmas decorations were produced by enterprises of the allied industry, mainly the Ministry of the Radio Engineering Industry, the Ministry of the Electrotechnical Industry, the Ministry of Instrument Engineering, as well as industrial cooperation. Industrial cooperation artels produced all kinds of Christmas decorations. The local industry of the Union republics, mainly the RSFSR and the Ukrainian SSR, produced Christmas tree glass, cardboard and wadded decorations. The main production bushes were located near large glass factories - suppliers of dart glass. Historically established fisheries were located in the Moscow region (Klinsky district), in the Kalinin and Leningrad regions, in Moscow and Leningrad, as well as in Ukraine in Kyiv. New enterprises organized during the Soviet period were also grouped mainly in the same places. In Moscow, there was the best factory of the Ministry of Local Industry of the RSFSR - the factory of glass Christmas tree decorations of the toy trust of the Moscow City Executive Committee. In Moscow, there was a factory of cardboard Christmas tree decorations of the same ministry. Large cooperative enterprises for the production of Christmas tree glass were the Optik artel, the Krasny Oktyabr artel (beads), as well as the Reshetnikovsky glass blower artel, the Yuzhno-Alferovskaya factory of local industry (Christmas tree glass), the Cooperative Labor artel (cotton ornaments, Santa Clauses and other figures from cotton wool). In Leningrad, the Kultigrushka artel played a leading role in the production of Christmas tree glass. Enterprises in Kyiv, Saratov, Lvov, Sverdlovsk, Yerevan, Riga, Minsk and others also produced Christmas decorations in a wide range.

Christmas toy "Apple"

Requirements for the quality of Christmas decorations. From Christmas tree decorations made of glass, it was required that the shape of the products was correct, without noticeable curvature, that the walls were not too thin and could withstand a light blow with a relaxed finger, that the silvering was uniform and not dull. Products painted or painted should not have stains and streaks on the surface, should not get their hands dirty. It was required that glass powder, diamond dusting and embossed paints not crumble, that the trimming of the stem (neck) was even, and the steel wire loop did not fall out of the hole in the stems.

The main requirements for the quality of tinsel products were that these products were well designed: the flattened pile was evenly and neatly trimmed, and its surface did not have dark spots. Cardboard stampings were required to have a dense surface without burrs and fringed edges, without wrinkles, cracks, or torn spots on the surface, so that they were embossed. When gluing, the products had to have tightly and evenly fitted edges, without glue streaks and dirty smears on the surface. The limbs of forged products having only one front side, tinted from the inside. Glued cartonboard had to be well finished, regular in shape, free from stains, and strong enough to be transported and packaged. Flappers were required to have the correct cylindrical shape, to be neatly glued together, without spots, the paper lace of the crackers should not be wrinkled. The lanterns had to have a well-attached wire eye on which they were hung from the Christmas tree.

Packaging and labeling. Most Christmas tree decorations, due to their fragility, need good packaging. Packing of glass Christmas decorations, completed in sets, was carried out in cardboard boxes, lined inside with cotton or lignin. Products with artistic painting or decoration were wrapped in soft paper. The boxes were tied with twine and stacked tightly in a box with soft padding on all sides. Individual items could be packed with the same precautions in boxes without boxes. When packing, it was not allowed to use raw gasket materials and raw containers. Packaging must be careful and tight - without empty spaces; items were sized. On the top cover of the box there were inscriptions: “Top”, “Caution”, “Glass”, “Do not throw”. It was inserted inside the box, and a packing label of the established sample is glued on the outside. Tinsel garlands were tied together in packs of 10-15 pieces and sealed with paper tape in two places, after which 10 packs were tied together. The garlands had to be laid in rows in long boxes (the entire length of the garland) not very tightly so as not to crush the pile of the garland. Paper was laid in the boxes between the rows. In addition, the box had to be lined with paper inside. "Sun", "comets" were tied with thin wire, 10 pieces each, and placed in bags, boxes or plywood boxes. Christmas tree "rain" was packed in envelopes of 10 pieces and in packs of 100 envelopes. Stars, wreaths and other Christmas decorations were tied with soft wire or knitted, 10 pieces per pack. Products made from rigmarole and flattened, twisted on wire, fit into boxes and plywood boxes, and large products, in addition, were pre-wrapped in paper. Wadded Santa Clauses were placed in boxes one by one, small ones - several pieces in boxes, followed by packing in container boxes. On the boxes, bags and boxes in which Christmas tree decorations were packed, a label had to be pasted indicating the name of the product, quantity, name and address of the manufacturer.

Tiny tree. A set of Christmas decorations.

Sets of Christmas-tree decorations and various separate types of products, laid out in symmetrical groups, were exhibited in glassed-in counters. Tinsel garlands, Christmas tree rain, flags looked ornate when hung from nails, brackets, and other hanging devices. Carnival masks and streamers were also hung on wall cabinets.

To make it easier for customers to select Christmas tree decorations, it was desirable to have in the store indicative lists of sets of different prices, made up of available Christmas tree decorations. For the demonstration of Christmas tree decorations, lighted elegant Christmas trees of various sizes were recommended, installed in a store or on a rotating stand.

Christmas decorations. Factory of glass Christmas decorations and optical products

New goods. 1960. No. 5

With a diploma of the All-Union Chamber of Commerce

In a spacious and high room with a complex gas supply and ventilation system, the buzz of burners does not stop from morning to evening. The burners have glassblowers. Their products (although not table crystal or decorative glass) are known all over the world. Soviet Union and in many foreign countries. Glass Christmas tree decorations are made here, without which no one is inconceivable. New Year's celebration. 450,000 - 500,000 products worth about 600,000 rubles are produced per month by this section of the glass and optical toy plant of the Department of the Printing Industry and Recreational Goods of the Moscow City Executive Committee. In 1960, for the systematic mass production of consumer goods of high quality, by the decision of the Expert Council of the Permanent Pavilion of the Best Samples, a diploma of the III degree was awarded with an annual bonus of 20,000 rubles.

Now the plant team is working on mastering the production of souvenirs from optical cut and polished glass. And yet the main product of the plant is a glass Christmas tree toy. At exhibitions in Budapest, Brussels and New York, visitors admired bright, festive pendants, figurines, balls...

It would seem that an uncomplicated product is a Christmas tree toy. But how much invention, ingenuity, patience and labor the workers of the plant invested, so that, reflecting the light of bulbs, decorations with multi-colored lights began to play on the Christmas tree.

Over 200 items of Christmas decorations - this is the assortment of the plant's products. They are sold individually and in beautifully designed boxes with a window covered with cellophane. And almost every month there are more and more new types of jewelry. This is a great merit of the artist of the plant T. I. Sergeeva. Based on her sketches, forms are created and toys are painted. Only recently have interesting sets such as “Doctor Aibolit”, “Figured”, “Bells”, “Gray Neck”, “Silver Hoof”, “Friendship of Peoples”, etc. appeared. : Dr. Aibolit, grandfather Kokovanya, Daryonka, Santa Claus, Snow Maiden, Little Red Riding Hood, animals and birds - hare, duck, fox, penguin ...

It is hard to believe that all these toys are born from simple glass tubes (glass-dart) produced by the Klin and Skhodnensky glass factories. The tubes are calibrated and sent to glassblowers who give them the desired shape. In the hands of glass blowers A. K. Chernykh, M. M. Kondrashina, N. K. Deryabkina, V. V. Chirikina, G. P. Evgrafova, V. I. Romashkina and their comrades at work, “dead” glass pipes come to life.

But what glassblowers make is only a semi-finished product or, as they say, “naked”. Often the "naked" is silvered or aluminized. Aluminizing is a more advanced method that replaces silver plating. The installation of two aluminizing machines allowed the plant to save 100 kg of silver per year and reduce the labor-intensive production process.

Some toys are "naked" covered with a colorless or colored varnish; in some cases, they are painted with an airbrush.

The next processes are drying and coloring. An ornament is applied to toys with a brush or a “pound” (through a piece of paper folded into a bag). Toys are painted with whitewash and nitro enamel of various colors, also with the help of spray guns. The best painters of the Christmas decorations section are R. A. Vaskina and L. N. Poluektov. The ornament applied by them, delicate in pattern and fresh in color, adorns the products.

After coloring, Christmas decorations are processed on a mechanical disk knife (trimming of the so-called “whiskers”), metal clothespins or caps are put on them and wrapped in paper or packed in set boxes.

Among the brigades of the Christmas decorations section, competition for the right to be called collectives of communist labor was widely developed. The head of the site, I. V. Khayustin, calls the members of the youth brigade of R. I. Eremeeva the best among the best.

Other sections of the plant are also working successfully. The annual gross output is constantly growing and has already reached 17 million rubles. Not in vain high performance in the work of the plant's staff, the RK CPSU and the District Executive Committee of the Stalinsky district of Moscow were noted.

In the near future, it is planned to install centering and sticker machines at the plant, to start up a refrigeration unit, which greatly facilitates the removal of semi-finished optical products after processing. This will make it possible to significantly increase output and raise its quality even higher.

Christmas decorations "Baby"

Christmas toy "Bird"

Soon New Year, which means it's time to buy, put up and decorate a Christmas tree. Moreover, it is the decoration of the Christmas tree that is the most difficult, but at the same time the most emotional event on New Year's Eve. For hundreds of years, people have come up with different kinds and types of Christmas tree decorations. Today we call them simply - "Christmas toys". But behind this name lies a wide variety of materials, sizes, styles, colors. Let's see what Christmas decorations are today.

Star. The top of the Christmas tree in our country is traditionally decorated with a red five-pointed star. Even in stores, yellow six-pointed stars are sold, but they are not for the New Year, but for the Christmas tree. Also, an angel figurine is sometimes planted on the top of the Christmas tree. And on the New Year tree, instead of a star, they sometimes use a toy in the form of a stylized icicle. The star at the top of the Christmas tree is usually not simple, but backlit.

Balls. Multi-colored balls of different sizes - this is the main thing. Usually such balls are red, golden and silver colors. But there are also balls of other colors. Moreover, usually light balls are used to decorate a traditional Christmas tree ( Green colour), and the balls dark colors hung on silver artificial Christmas trees. In addition to the fact that the balls come in different colors, they are made of different materials. Previously, Christmas tree balls were mostly made of glass, but nowadays they are increasingly made of plastic. Plastic balls are not as fragile as glass ones. But more emotions evoke precisely glass balls. To decorate Christmas trees, you can take balls of small size and the same color, as well as balls of different sizes and colors. If balls are used different sizes, then larger ones should be placed on the lower branches of the Christmas tree. If balls of different colors are used, then they need to be grouped and each color should be hung on a separate level. Moreover, it is better not to make the levels strictly horizontal, but to "spin" in a spiral. Balls can be either monophonic or multi-colored or with any pattern (ornaments, snowflakes, fairy-tale characters).

Fairy tale characters.

Bells.

Publications in the Traditions section

In the 21st century, it has become fashionable to decorate a Christmas tree with toys. self made. Today, balls are sewn from felt and patches, knitted from threads, folded from paper or even Lego. But still, with special trepidation and love, we take out old balls that have been preserved from grandmothers and great-grandmothers.

“A tree lit by lanterns or candles, hung with sweets, fruits, toys, books, is the joy of children who have already been told that a sudden reward will appear for good behavior and diligence on a holiday ...”

"Northern Bee", 1841

The first Christmas tree decor in Russia was designed to demonstrate abundance, so New Year trees were decorated with burning candles, apples and dough products. And in order for the Christmas tree to become bright and sparkling, decorations shimmering in the light were added: tinsel, gimp (thin metal threads), sparkles. In combination with burning candles, the effect of the play of light made the green beauty even more radiant and solemn.

From the middle of the 19th century, special artels began to operate, which were engaged in the production of garlands, Christmas decorations, as well as chains made of thin foil, tinsel and rain.

“The Christmas tree was bent from a lot of toys and sweets, it was blazing with a cheerful happy fire, crackers were crackling, sparklers suddenly flashed and crumbled into stars.”

Sergey Potresov. "A Christmas Story"

glass toys

Meeting of the New Year. 1950s Photo: ITAR-TASS

An old Soviet Christmas tree toy-airplane in the Museum of Christmas tree decorations "Klinskoye Compound", Klin. Photo: P. Prosvetov / photo bank "Lori"

The first glass toys: balls, beads, spherical mirror objects in the form of spotlights and icicles - appeared on Russian Christmas trees in the middle of the 19th century. They were heavier than modern ones because they were made of thick mirror glass. Initially, most of the glass jewelry was foreign-made, but very soon they began to be made in Russia as well.

“Buying a glass toy for a Russian inhabitant of the late 19th century was the same as buying a car for a modern Russian.”

Sergei Romanov, toy historian and collector of Christmas decorations.

It was in Russia that they came up with the idea of ​​decorating a spruce with women's jewelry - glass beads. The whole family was engaged in their production: small balls were blown by master glassblowers, women dyed beads, and children strung them on a thread. This craft was most widespread in the Klin district, where the Yolochka factory was later founded, and now it produces New Year's garlands.

Production of the Klin association "Herringbone", 1982. Photo: A. Semekhina / Newsreel TASS

Old Christmas toy - clown. Photo: Y. Zobkov / photobank "Lori"

Old Christmas toy - corn. Photo: Y. Zobkov / photobank "Lori"

In the late 1930s, heroes of children's literature appeared on the Christmas trees - Ivan Tsarevich, Ruslan and Lyudmila, brother Rabbit and brother Fox, Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, Crocodile with Totosha and Kokosha, Dr. Aibolit. After the premiere of the movie "Circus", circus-themed figurines became popular. In honor of the development of the North, Christmas tree paws were decorated with figurines of polar explorers. At the same time, filigree and hand-painted ornaments on an oriental theme appeared: Aladdin, the old man Hottabych, the sorcerer Chernomor.

During the war years, figurines of tank planes, Stalinist armored cars were hung on Christmas trees. They also made figurines from military shoulder straps and improvised materials, such as medical bandages.

New Year's composition. Photo: S. Gavrilichev / photo bank "Lori"

An old Christmas toy in the form of a Soviet airship. Photo: Y. Zaporozhchenko / photo bank "Lori"

Only after 1947 did the production of toys on a “peaceful” theme begin: New Year trees were decorated with fairy-tale characters, forest animals, fruits and vegetables.

After the release of the film "Carnival Night" in 1956, the famous Clock toys appeared - with hands set five minutes before midnight. In the 70s and 80s, cones, bells and houses were the most popular.

In addition, in the USSR, the Christmas tree was decorated with toys that reflected the ideals and aspirations of the communist state. So, vegetables and fruits, spaceships and submarines, figurines of men in national costumes different peoples, factories and plants, domestic and wild animals, athletes.

Papier mache

Museum of Christmas decorations "Klinskoye Compound", Klin. Photo: S. Lavrentiev / photo bank "Lori"

Museum of Christmas decorations "Klinskoye Compound", Klin. Photo: S. Lavrentiev / photo bank "Lori"

Papier-mâché (a dense substance consisting of paper pulp mixed with glue, plaster or chalk) was widely used in the Soviet Union. In the USSR, the production of toys from papier-mâché was manual and consisted of a number of lengthy operations: molding, filling, priming, polishing, painting, painting with intermediate drying at a temperature of 20 to 60 °. The range mainly consisted of realistic figurines of people and animals. Bertolet salt coating made the surface of the toys more dense and gave them a soft sheen. New Year's masks and figures were created using vacuum casting large sizes for the Christmas tree (Santa Claus and Snow Maiden). Such toys were light in weight, but not inferior in strength to pressed ones.