Postcards of the USSR, congratulating the country on the New Year, are a special layer of the fine culture of our country. Retro postcards drawn in the USSR are not only a collectible, an art object. For many, this is the memory of childhood, which is kept with us for many years. Looking at Soviet New Year cards is a special pleasure, they are so beautiful, cute, creating a mood of celebration and children's happiness.
The first Soviet postcards
In 1935, after the October Revolution, the Soviet Union began to celebrate the New Year again. And small printing houses began to print greeting cards, reviving the traditions of pre-revolutionary Russia. However, if earlier on postcards there were often images of Christmas and religious symbols, then in the new country all this fell under the ban, and the postcards of the USSR also fell under it. They didn’t congratulate the New Year, it was allowed to congratulate comrades only on the first year of the October Revolution, which did not really inspire people, but suchpostcards were not in demand. It was possible to lull the attention of the censors only with children's stories, and even with propaganda postcards with the inscriptions: "Down with the bourgeois Christmas tree." However, very few of these cards were printed, so cards issued before 1939 are of great value to collectors.
Approximately since 1940, the Izogiz publishing house began to print circulations of New Year's cards with the image of the Kremlin and chimes, snow-covered Christmas trees, garlands.
Wartime Christmas Cards
Wartime, of course, leaves its mark on the postcards of the USSR. Happy New Year was congratulated with the help of encouraging messages, like “New Year's greetings from the front”, Santa Claus was portrayed with a machine gun and a broom sweeping the Nazis, and the Snow Maiden bandaged the wounds of the fighters. But their main mission was to support the spirit of the people and show that victory is close, and the military is waiting at home.
Publishing house "Art" in 1941 produces a series of special postcards that were intended to be sent to the front. To speed up printing, they were painted in two colors - black and red, there were many scenes with portraits of war heroes.
In collectors' collections and in home archives, one can often find imported postcards from 1945. The Soviet military, who reached Berlin, sent and brought with them beautiful foreign Christmas cards.
Post-war 50s-60s
After the war, there was no money in the country, people could not buy New Year'sgifts and pamper the children. People rejoiced at the simplest things, so an inexpensive but touching postcard became very popular. In addition, a postcard could be sent by mail to loved ones in any corner of the vast country. The plots use symbols of victory over fascism, as well as portraits of Stalin as the father of the people. There are many images of grandfathers with grandchildren, children with mothers - all because in most families the fathers did not return from the front. The main theme is world peace and victory.
In 1953, mass production of postcards was launched in the USSR. Happy New Year to congratulate friends and relatives with a postcard was considered mandatory. A lot of cards were sold, they even made crafts from them - caskets and balls. Bright, thick cardboard was ideal for this, and other materials for creativity and crafts were difficult to obtain. Goznak printed postcards with drawings by prominent Russian artists. This period saw the heyday of the miniature genre. Storylines are expanding - artists have something to draw, even despite censorship. In addition to traditional chimes, they draw planes and trains, tall houses, depict fairy-tale characters, winter landscapes, morning performances in kindergartens, children with bags of sweets, parents carrying a Christmas tree home.
In 1956, the film "Carnival Night" with L. Gurchenko was released on Soviet screens. Plots from the film, the image of the actress become a symbol of the new year, they are often printed on postcards.
The sixties open with Gagarin's flight into space and, of course, this story could not but appear on New Year's Evepostcards. They depict cosmonauts in a space suit with gifts in their hands, space rockets and lunar rovers with Christmas trees.
During this period, the subject of greeting cards generally expands, they become more vivid and interesting. They depict not only fairy-tale characters and children, but also the life of Soviet people, for example, a rich and plentiful New Year's table with champagne, tangerines, red caviar and an indispensable Olivier salad.
Postcards V. I. Zarubina
When talking about the Soviet New Year's card, one cannot fail to mention the name of the outstanding artist and animator Vladimir Ivanovich Zarubin. Almost all those cute, touching hand-drawn postcards created in the USSR in the 60s and 70s. created by his hand.
The main theme of the postcards was fairy-tale characters - cheerful and kind animals, Father Frost and Snow Maiden, ruddy happy children. Almost all postcards have the following plot: Santa Claus gives gifts to a boy on skis; a hare stretches with scissors to cut a New Year's gift from a Christmas tree; Santa Claus and a boy play hockey; animals decorate the tree. Today, collectibles are these old Happy New Year postcards. The USSR produced them in large quantities, so there are many of them in the collections of philocartia (this is collecting postcards).
Postcards from other famous Soviet miniature artists
But not only Zarubin was an outstanding Soviet postcard artist. In addition to him, many names remained inhistory of fine arts and miniatures.
For example, Ivan Yakovlevich Dergilev, who is called a classic of modern postcards and the founder of staged postcards. He created hundreds of images printed in millions of copies. Among the New Year's cards, one can single out a 1987 postcard depicting a balalaika and Christmas decorations. This card was released with a record high circulation of 55 million copies.
Evgeny Nikolaevich Gundobin, Soviet artist, classic of postcard miniatures. His style is reminiscent of Soviet films of the 50s, kind, touching and a bit naive. There are no adults on his New Year's cards, only children on skis, decorating the Christmas tree, receiving gifts, as well as children against the backdrop of a thriving Soviet industry, flying into space on a rocket. In addition to images of children, Gundobin painted colorful panoramas of New Year's Eve Moscow, iconic architectural features - the Kremlin, the MGIMO building, a statue of a Worker and Collective Farm Woman with New Year's wishes.
Another artist who worked in a style close to Zarubin is Vladimir Ivanovich Chetverikov. His postcards were popular in the USSR and literally entered every home. He depicted cartoon animals and funny stories. For example, Santa Claus, surrounded by animals, plays the balalaika for a cobra; two Santa Clauses shaking hands when they meet.
Postcards 70-80s
In the 70s, there was a cult of sports in the country, so many cards depict people celebrating the holiday on a ski track or on a skating rink, sports cards Happy New Year. The USSR in the 80th hosts the Olympics, whichgave a new impetus to the development of postcard plots. Olympians, fire, rings - all these symbols are woven into New Year's motifs.
In the 80s, the genre of photo postcards Happy New Year also becomes popular. The USSR will soon cease to exist, and the arrival of a new life is felt in the work of artists. The photo replaces the hand-drawn postcard. Usually they depict Christmas tree branches, balls and garlands, glasses of champagne. Images of traditional crafts appear on postcards - Gzhel, Palekh, Khokhloma, as well as new printing technologies - foil stamping, three-dimensional drawings.
At the end of the Soviet period of our history, people learn about the Chinese calendar, and images of the animal symbol of the year appear on postcards. So, for example, New Year postcards from the USSR in the Year of the Dog were met with the image of this animal - photographic and drawn.
