Pictures for all times

What was the New Year in Soviet postcards

It is now easier than ever to wish ‘Happy New Year’ and ‘Merry Christmas’. Bright stickers on social media, a funny gif or a sensational video may do this... Meanwhile, postcards are waiting for their connoisseurs in post offices. They are simple, made of paper, but so real... Postcards were carefully kept in families for years and decades, as well as the sincerest words from the dearest and closest people they convey.

Greetings from the past

Is it fashionable to give cards today? Rather, it is exclusive. It’s much easier to turn to messengers for help, but personally, it’s more pleasant for me to find a small postcard with wishes in a mailbox or in a craft gift box. And here sellers of flower shops will definitely understand me, as they still attach small cards to bouquets. As the postmen said, many postcards are still being sent around the world for the New Year and Christmas holidays. I did not stay without postcards during the holidays. While sorting out old boxes, I received a ‘greeting’ from the past from the former owner of my private house. There were piles of postcards in old large envelopes. Previously, they were bought in advance in dozens and sent by mail to different cities and villages.
I found about 80 postcards. The oldest postcard is about 70 years old. A real find for deltiology! Postcards created a mood of celebration and some kind of genuine children’s happiness. The kind Father Frost and the modest but insanely beautiful Snow Maiden, rosy-cheeked Soviet kids, cheerful forest animals, cosmonauts, soldiers and even… BAM activists smiled from magical pictures. Every year, the reverse side of the postcards contained almost the same, but such cherished wishes: health, happiness, good luck, love and family comfort.

Congratulated both in word and drawing

If we turn to the history of postcards, it dates back to 1843, when Henry Cole sent holiday greetings to friends in the form of a small drawing on cardboard. Since then, the tradition has taken root throughout Europe and gradually reached Russia. The first Russian postcard for the New Year was drawn by Nikolai Karazin in 1901 or Fyodor Berenshtam, a librarian from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. There are some disagreements about the appearance of the first Soviet greeting cards. A turn in the history of New Year’s cards began in 1935, after the October Revolution, when they began to celebrate the New Year again and small printing houses began to print greeting cards. Previously, postcards had images of Christmas and religious symbols, but in the new country, all this fell under the ban. They did not congratulate each other on the New Year, it was allowed to congratulate comrades only on the first year of the October Revolution. It was possible to lull the attention of the censors only with children’s stories. However, very few such postcards were printed, so cards issued before 1939 are of great value to collectors. Before the start of the Great Patriotic War, postcards often depicted the chimes and stars of the Kremlin. During the war years, postcards appeared with the support of the defenders of the Motherland. In the 40s, you could also get a postcard with the image of Father Frost, who drives out the Nazis, or the Snow Maiden, who bandaged the wounded. Around 1940, the Izogiz publishing house began to print editions of New Year’s cards with the image of the Kremlin and chimes, snow-covered Christmas trees, Christmas lights. After the war, postcards became even more popular, because it was the most affordable way to congratulate a relative or friend by sending a message to any corner of the country by mail.

Joy is in the little things

In the post-war 50-60s, there was no money in the country and people learned to enjoy the simplest things. Postcards were among them. Their main theme was peace and victory: symbols of victory over fascism, images of grandfathers with grandchildren, children with mothers were used. In 1953, mass production of postcards was launched in the USSR. It was considered mandatory to congratulate friends and relatives on the New Year with a postcard. There were so many of them that handicrafts were made from cards. My mother also told me that small boxes and angle sections for storing letters made from postcards were a great gift.
 Soon Goznak began printing postcards with drawings by prominent Russian artists. In addition to the traditional chimes, the postcards featured airplanes and trains, fairy tale characters, winter landscapes, morning performances in kindergartens, children with bags of sweets, dads carrying a Christmas tree home… In 1956, the famous film Carnival Night was released on Soviet screens. On postcards, scenes from the film and the image of actress Lyudmila Gurchenko become a symbol of the New Year. The oldest postcard in the stack I found dates from 1956, but it depicts not an actress, but children on skis. The sixties open with Gagarin’s flight into space, and this quickly found its reflection on New Year’s cards. You should have seen what brave astronauts in spacesuits send greetings from postcards of those times! How rockets with the inscription ‘Happy New Year!’ are striving into space! During this period, the subject of greeting cards expands, they become more vivid and interesting. They depict not only fairy-tale characters, children, but also the life of Soviet people.
In the 70s, sports became a hot topic in the country. Many cards depict people on a ski track and a skating rink. In 1980, the USSR hosted the Olympics, which gave a new impetus to the development of themes. The genre of photo postcards for the New Year is also becoming popular. Usually they depicted Christmas tree branches, balls and Christmas lights, glasses of champagne. At the end of the Soviet period, images of the animal symbol appeared on postcards: photographs and pictures.
Talking about the Soviet New Year’s card, one cannot fail to mention the names of prominent artists Vladimir Zarubin, Ivan Dergilev, Yevgeny Gundobin, Vladimir Chetverikov. Their postcards were popular in the USSR and literally entered every home.
All postcards of past years are so different. They reflected the trends and achievements of the times. One thing has always remained unchanged: a warm and sincere atmosphere. Soviet-era New Year cards continue to warm people’s hearts to this day, reminding us of glass toys, the magical smell of spruce, a carefree childhood and a holiday that gave and gives magic.

By Anna Kasper
Photos by Anna Kasper