Where are you, where are you Santa Claus? Where is your Snow Maiden?

We did not notice that on the shelves of stores with children's and New Year's goods you can find anything related to "The coming Year", but not our native Russian Santa Claus and Snow Maiden. I want to gather my hands and shout: "Oh, where are you, Santa Claus? Where are you, Snow Maiden's granddaughter?"

Let me remind you that the image of Santa Claus (a friendly, kind, bearded old man in a large sheepskin coat, with a staff and a bag of gifts) was framed through Russian folklore for several centuries in a row. The Snow Maiden also went through the same long path of formation.

Their images were developed both in children's and adult literature, and in the visual arts.
I have always considered our native traditions to be an important element of the cultural code of the country. That's why I've always been happy with how people carefully collect and show the general public beautiful stories of things. For example, various New Year's symbols – toys.

Toys from the 1930s. The exhibition of Christmas tree toys in the museum of Tomsk 2017.

Toys of different years. The exhibition of Christmas tree toys in the museum of Tomsk 2017.

Игрушки разных лет. Выставка елочных игрушек в музее Томска 2017.

And today, which is gratifying, despite the gaping emptiness of shelves in retail chains, we have someone to remind us of our ancestral New Year symbols.
A few years ago, during the New Year holidays, my husband and I visited Tomsk and got to an exhibition of Christmas tree toys there. How many positive emotions and inspiration I took out of there! Without exaggeration, I would say that I absolutely did not want to leave this small cozy museum room, hung from floor to ceiling and filled with rare New Year's attributes! I wanted to stop time and admire what simple spiritual things people created with their own hands.

And what was my joy when this year in Novosibirsk, on the main square of the city, I saw an exhibition of photographs with a New Year's atmosphere - Christmas tree toys from different years. It's so nice to stroll slowly around the city, between times to plunge into the festive history of the city.

Street exhibition in Novosibirsk. The Author Of The Photo Is Rustam Babajanov. The year is 2023.

Knowing this love of my toy story, my husband gave me a short trip to the Kuznetsk Fortress Museum-Reserve in Novokuznetsk for the New Year holidays, to the Toy from Childhood exhibition. I will admire our Santa Claus, our Snow Maiden, there in the coming year, and some unique specimens that I have never seen anywhere else will surely please my eyes. That's why I'm going. Be surprised and inspired by toy creativity. Go and immerse yourself in childhood for at least a day!