Can any of the children or adults imagine such a beloved and long-awaited New Year's holiday without the most important guest of Santa Claus. All people are waiting with equal impatience for both of them. The capricious queen from the fairy tale "Twelve Months" claimed that there would be no New Year until snowdrops were brought to her. But in reality New Year does not come until the most welcome guest, Grandfather Frost, comes to visit.
But what is the story of Santa Claus and the Snow Maiden? How did Santa Claus and his granddaughter appear? Has he always been a grandfather? Very young children are more interested in what gifts he has in the bag, and older children already want to know more about him and his companion.
The history of the appearance of Santa Claus - a good grandfather goes far into the past, there is no unequivocal opinion who exactly became his prototype. There are several versions and legends that reveal the secret of the appearance of a magical character:
Lord of the Cold
Similar characters appeared long ago in ancient Russian legends. People believed that the lord of cold wanders through fields and forests, wrapping them in snow, knocking with a staff, freezing rivers and lakes, and drawing patterns. They called this Vladyka Moroz, Grandfather Studenets, Morozko, Grandfather Treskun or Moroz Ivanovich. This gray-haired old man not only freezes, he also looks after nature, helps plants and animals survive the frosty winter. Morozko did not give gifts to children and did not wish Happy New Year, his main task was to take care of nature.
Spirit of the ancestors
Ancient people believed that the spirits of the dead take care of the living and protect nature. As a token of gratitude, people performed a kind of ritual, depicting the spirit of the dead, and went from house to house. For this they received remuneration from the owners. The oldest person among all carolers portrayed a formidable spirit, for which he was called Grandfather. Probably, he could become the predecessor of Santa Claus, with the difference that the participants in the ceremony received gifts, and Santa Claus, on the contrary, brings them.
Ancient Varuna
In the rituals of antiquity, falling on the period of the winter solstice, during Christmas time, depicting the sun, it was customary to draw his legs. This meant that all roads were now open to the sun. Now the sun begins its new journey in a circle, which increases the daylight hours and frees nature from snow and ice. By analogy with the ancient Varuna, in Rus' this is facilitated by Santa Claus, who also connects the world of the living and the dead and helps the souls of the dead return to Earth with rain or snow. It was from Varuna that the winter guest known to us adopted the custom of judging people by their deeds and repaying according to their merits, to be a strict and fair judge.
Evil Frost
There are several versions, according to which the prototype of dear Grandfathers was completely opposite characters. According to one legend, he is known as an evil and cruel deity, the lord of cold and blizzards, the Great Northern Elder, who freezes people, and one day freezes a young widow to death and leaves her children orphans. According to another version pagan peoples Santa Claus received sacrifices on earth, stole small children and carried them away in his bag.
St Nicholas
According to one version, many of the features of Santa Claus were inherited from real person, who lived before our era, the kind and disinterested Nicholas. Living in prosperity, he willingly helped the needy and those who were in trouble, he paid special attention to children. Everyone knows that Nikolai helped collect a dowry for the daughter of a poor peasant, he threw a bag of coins into the chimney, and the coins fell into the girl's sock drying near the fireplace. This legend marked the beginning of the tradition of hiding surprises - "Nikolaychiki" in children's socks. For his kindness, Nicholas began to be called a saint. And in many countries, the custom of giving gifts for the Christmas holidays has become entrenched.
Image and clothes
Previously, Santa Claus was portrayed in completely different clothes, which were radically different from the outfit we are used to. Now it’s hard to imagine that Santa Claus was once dressed in a raincoat. Then the artists worked on the image and outfit of the grandfather, and at the end of the 19th century he wore a red fur coat with white fur trim. Later, the image of a good-natured old fat man with a gray beard characteristic of his age was created.
Now the grandfather we know has such special signs:
hair and long beard to the floor(same in all collective images character) - thick, gray-haired, symbolize power and happiness.
Shirt and trousers – white color with the same snow-white pattern, symbolize purity. It is a mistake to dress grandfather in red trousers.
Fur coat- very long and exclusively red, with swan down trim and decorated with a silver pattern. A short sheepskin coat and fur coats of other colors belong to the wardrobe of grandfathers from other countries.
A cap- red, without tassels or pom-poms, with swan down trim, embellished with pearls and a silver pattern, with a V-neck at the front.
Mittens- always white, not red, decorated with a silver pattern, symbolize purity.
Belt- white with a red pattern, symbolizing the unity of the past and the present.
Shoes- felt boots or red or silver boots.
Staff- has a twisted silver handle, with a bull's head or a moon on top, which symbolizes fertility and power, the staff can freeze mischievous children and helps to move through the snowdrifts.
Bag- bottomless full of gifts definitely red.
Who is the Snow Maiden?
If with the advent of Grandfather Frost everything is very complicated and confusing, then the story of his granddaughter Snegurochka is known - this is the heroine of the New Year's play, which the audience has loved so much that her image has been popular for more than a hundred years. Although there was an image of a girl in a white coat before - it existed in folklore and they called this girl Snezhevinochka, Snegurka. Her name comes from the word "snow", because this girl was born from the snow.
Sometimes she is portrayed as a young girl, sometimes as a little girl, because there is a version that the Snow Maiden is the daughter of Grandfather Frost, but we know her as the granddaughter of a fabulous grandfather.
Whatever it was, no one can do without it children's party, it is she who helps the kids to call Santa Claus for the holiday, it is she who is his permanent companion and assistant.
On holiday
On the holiday, Santa Claus manages to go around every house, but he does not invite anyone to visit him, so no one knows his exact address. People who believe in magic assume that his home is far in the North, in the land of ice and eternal winter. Many believe that grandfather may well live at the North Pole or that his home is in Lapland. Santa Claus will feel comfortable in any country where winter rules all year round.
Grandfather comes to visit on a sled flying through the air, which is harnessed by three horses, he can also come on skis or on foot. If someone had to see him on deer, keep in mind that Santa is in front of you.
Santa Claus comes to the children with the Snow Maiden, who is his granddaughter. Her clothes are snow-white in color, with a silvery ornament, and on her head she wears a crown with 8 rays. The image of the Snow Maiden is very close to children, she takes an active part in New Year games and competitions and helps the kids to call Grandfather Frost for the holiday.
The appearance and character of Santa Claus were collected from many good and evil, real and fictional characters. Having passed long haul, he appeared before us as a symbol of power, goodness, justice and holiness. Meeting with him marks the beginning of a new period in the life of a person and the whole planet, in which there will be only good, kind and the best.
With the New Year, we associate many things that are probably already deeply rooted in our genes. This Christmas tree, garlands, Olivier and, of course, Santa Claus with the Snow Maiden.
But in fact, every culture has its own new year character which has certain historical and cultural roots. For some of them, this history is calculated in centuries, and for someone only for years. And in fact, they only have one. common feature- They bring gifts.
I think it's time to figure out what these New Year's characters are.
Let's start with the closest and most familiar to us Santa Claus. Few people know such an obvious thing that Santa Claus is an ordinary product of Soviet propaganda and he appeared around 1937.
Among historians, there are two versions of its appearance. Since these years had a huge number of repressions and prohibitions, which were not least directed against religion, Soviet propagandists urgently needed to create new traditions. Therefore, Christmas faded into the background, giving way to the New Year.
The second version is more prosaic. According to her, the incentive to create a new holiday and character was just the desire of the authorities to distract the population from real problems, in particular from repression. Well, the Soviet propaganda machine was so professional that thanks to it, not only the New Year, but also a lot of Soviet is still in the minds of the population.
In Ukraine, for example, in last years the tendency to return to pre-Soviet customs is gaining strength, therefore, gradually displacing Santa Claus, St. Nicholas takes his rightful place. It was he who was once the main symbol of Christmas, not even the New Year.
According to legend, the tradition of giving gifts appeared after Nicholas, being the son of a rich merchant, secretly threw gold coins to a poor girl so that she could marry her beloved. A rumor spread around the city that it was a gift from an angel, and Nikolai continued to secretly distribute various gifts to those who really needed them.
Initially, his day was celebrated on December 6, but later it was decided to move this holiday closer to the Christmas market. This happened during the years of the Reformation, which opposed the veneration of saints. But already during the Counter-Reformation, St. Nicholas was firmly entrenched as a character of Christmas who gives gifts.
In Holland, St. Nicholas was called Sinterklaas, the story of him, along with the Dutch colonists, came to America, where he became Santa Claus. Over the years, this image has taken root, has become a character in numerous fairy tales, commercialized and has become the main symbol of Christmas in the United States. But even the tradition of hanging socks over the fireplace comes from stories about St. Nicholas.
We have become so accustomed to such signs. new year holidays like a Christmas tree, garlands, Olivier salad, etc., that we hardly think about how they became traditional. But we often answer the question of our children about where Santa Claus came from. We'll talk about this today. So…
History of Santa Claus
The image of Santa Claus - a stately good-natured old man with a long lush beard, with a staff in his hand and a bag of gifts - is now familiar to every child and adult. He comes to congratulate, wish happiness and give gifts to everyone. It is not surprising that his appearance is especially expected at children's matinees.
The history of the appearance of Santa Claus begins from the depths of centuries, from the mythology of the ancient Slavs. But the one who thinks that he was originally a good magician who brings joy is mistaken. Rather the opposite. The Slavic predecessor of Santa Claus - Snow Grandfather, Karachun, Studenets, Treskun, Zimnik, Morozko - was harsh, tried to freeze those who met on the way. And the attitude towards children was peculiar - to carry it away in a bag ... It was not he who gave out gifts, but it was necessary to appease him in order to avoid trouble. That's where the fun was left - to sculpt snowmen. In fact, for our ancestors, these were idols depicting the god of winter. With the advent of Christianity, this peculiar spirit of Winter was preserved in folk tales.
Only in the 19th century Morozko, Moroz Ivanovich and other characters of fairy tales began to appear, albeit strict, but fair creatures. Kindness and hard work were rewarded, while laziness and malice were punished. Odoevsky's tale about Frost Ivanovich - that's where Santa Claus came from!
Christmas Santa Claus
In the 80s of the 19th century with the holiday of Christmas, following the example European countries, began to associate a person called Christmas Grandfather (or Yule Grandfather). Here he already brought gifts to reward children for good behavior during the year. But, unlike Santa Claus, he was not a saint and had nothing to do with religion at all. And in countryside they did not notice his appearance at all and continued to celebrate Holy Evenings, as before - with fortune-telling and carols.
But to the general public, Santa Claus has become familiar since 1910. And Christmas cards helped in this. At first, he was painted in a blue or white fur coat to the toes, the color of winter itself. A hat of the same color was depicted on his head, and Grandfather also wore warm boots and mittens. A magic staff and a bag with gifts became indispensable attributes.
Then they began to fight against the "religious rubbish". In 1929, the celebration of Christmas as a religious holiday was banned. It is clear that Santa Claus with a Christmas tree also fell out of favor. Even fairy tales were recognized as a hoax designed to cloud the heads of the masses.
And only in 1935, at the suggestion of Stalin, the Komsomol decree on the celebration of the New Year was issued. It was ordered to organize New Year trees for children instead of pre-revolutionary Christmas ones. It was noted that this is a great fun for the kids of workers and peasants, who previously could only look with envy at the entertainment of the offspring of the rich.
The symbolism of the Christmas tree has also changed. It was a secular, not a religious holiday. Instead, at the top of the forest beauty, the red Santa Claus lit up, the same remained the same kind grandfather bringing gifts. He rode in a Russian troika, accompanied by his beloved granddaughter Snegurochka.
How Santa Claus became a grandfather
So, we figured out where Santa Claus came from. The Snow Maiden appeared next to him much later. In ancient Slavic folklore there is no indication of the companion of our Grandfather.
The image of the Snow Maiden was invented by the writer A. N. Ostrovsky. In his fairy tale, she was the daughter of Santa Claus, who came to people attracted by music. After the appearance of the opera by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, the Snow Maiden became very popular. Sometimes she appeared on Christmas trees, but on her own, without Santa Claus.
In 1937, for the first time, the Snow Maiden performed with her Grandfather on the Yolka in the Moscow House of Unions. Her transformation from daughter to granddaughter happened because happy girl or a very young girl was closer to the children, for whom the holiday was arranged.
Since then, the Snow Maiden has been accompanying Santa Claus at any New Year's holiday, most often it is she who is the host. True, after Gagarin's flight, sometimes on the Yolki, instead of the Snow Maiden, ... an astronaut appeared.
Santa's helpers
The history of the appearance of Santa Claus in Lately updated with new pages. In addition to the Snow Maiden, new fairy-tale heroes also take part in the good New Year's magic. For example, the Snowman, who appeared in fairy tales of a wonderful children's writer and cartoonist Suteev. He either goes to the forest for a Christmas tree for a holiday, or drives a car with gifts. For the most part, forest animals help Grandfather, and some sometimes try to prevent the onset of the New Year holidays. Often in the scripts appear Old Men-Foresters, Brothers-Months...
Where Father Frost came from, he moved on foot or on the wings of a snowstorm. Subsequently, they began to represent him on the dashing Russian troika. And now reindeer are also kept in Veliky Ustyug - a real winter form of transport. The kindest magician of the country, whose dominion extends to North Pole, get behind Santa Claus!
When was Santa Claus born?
Curious children want to find out how old Santa Claus is. Despite the ancient Slavic roots, Grandpa is still quite young. The appearance of a fairy tale (1840) can be considered the moment of his birth. It is in it that a kind old man first appears, who gives gifts to a diligent girl and punishes a lazy one. According to this version, Grandfather is 174 years old.
But in the mentioned fairy tale, Frost does not come to anyone, he does not distribute gifts in connection with the holiday. All this will be much later, towards the end of the 19th century. If we count from this moment, Santa Claus is not yet 150 years old.
When is Santa's birthday?
This is another question that puzzles us with children. After all, they who received gifts for the New Year often want to thank kind old man. This question can be answered quite accurately - November 18th. After all, the children themselves decided so, choosing as the onset of winter in the homeland of Santa Claus. It happened in 2005.
And now every year on this day is held big celebration to which his colleagues arrive. These are Santa Claus from real Lapland, Pakkaine from Karelia, Mikulash from the Czech Republic and even Chiskhan from Yakutia... Every year the scope of the celebration expands, more and more guests come. But most importantly, from his homeland, from Kostroma, the Snow Maiden hurries to congratulate Grandfather.
Guests from other cities are also invited to the celebration. These are the deputies of Santa Claus, who will come to the children for the New Year, and fairy-tale assistant characters. They are all waiting fun activities. And in the evening, Santa Claus lights the lights on the very first Christmas tree and announces the start of preparations for the New Year. After that, he and his assistants go on a trip around the country in order to have time to congratulate all its inhabitants.
In March, Santa Claus surrenders his duty to Spring-Krasna and returns to his house. In public, before the next birthday, he will appear again - in the summer, on the Day of the City. Both holidays include festivities, an extensive program of events telling about the Russian North, including excursions around the estate of Father Frost.
And let us not say exactly how old Santa Claus is, but congratulate him, write a letter with good wishes quite possible.
Where should i write?
Where can Santa Claus live? At the North Pole? Or in Lapland, next to Santa Claus? Or maybe in a well, as in the fairy tale "Moroz Ivanovich"?
The address of Santa Claus is known to many very well. His residence is located in what is in the Vologda region. A magnificent tower was built there for him, his post office works. Santa Claus even received a passport from the hands of the governor of the Vologda region. And to the question of the children "where did Santa Claus come from," you can safely answer: from Veliky Ustyug.
If your child wants to write a letter, congratulate a kind old man on his birthday, make a wish for the New Year, don't be scared and don't get lost, because it's easy to do. Write down the address of Santa Claus: 162390, Russia, Vologda region, the city of Veliky Ustyug. Santa Claus mail.
For residents of the residence of Ded Moroz in Veliky Ustyug, the New Year is not a fabulous time, as for most people, but a real business. On the eve of 2015, SUPER found out who works as the main Santa Claus of the country and how much he earns.
Few people know that the current owner of the residence in Veliky Ustyug is 37 years old. The real name of the favorite of all Russian children is Andrey Balin. The young man got a job as Father Frost as soon as the commercial project "Father Frost's House" appeared - at that time, 22-year-old Andrei had just graduated from the 44th Lyceum with a degree in zootechnics. A native of Veliky Ustyug, having no acting education, concluded with the city administration employment contract as a specialist in culture and tourism. Andrey Balin has been the head of the magical tower built in Serebryany Bor in the Vologda region for 15 years.
Over the years of work, Santa Claus managed to acquire not only many deputies and various assistants, but also a family. SUPER has learned that the country's chief magician is married - his lover's name is Tatyana. Six years ago, the girl gave her husband a daughter. In order to provide for his wife and child, 37-year-old Andrei Balin opened his own business right in his tower - a souvenir shop in which Tatyana works as a seller. Every morning Santa Claus and his wife come to the territory of the patrimony in their SUV, and in the evening they return home.
Having agreed to fulfill the modest desires of children in the form of a 10-minute communication with Santa Claus, which, by the way, costs the parents of babies a round sum, Andrey brought to life and own dreams. Immediately after he took the post of the main Russian Santa Claus, he was presented with a spacious three-room apartment in Veliky Ustyug.
It is a sin for a fairy-tale character to complain about income. In addition to profits from the souvenir shop, Grandfather Frost receives a good salary, given the prices for entertainment in his residence. Attractions, slides, sleigh rides and horseback riding, a journey along the Fairy Tales trail and walks along magical forest, available at any time of the year, cost a lot of money. The most expensive months for tourists are December and January. At this time, only the entrance to the territory of the estate of Father Frost will cost visitors 1000 rubles. Further movement on the patrimony is paid separately.
So, according to average estimates, the revenue that the estate brings to the treasury is more than 1 billion rubles a year. During the first three years of operation of the "House of Father Frost", the number of tourists visiting Ustyug increased from 2 to 32 thousand per season, and the turnover in the city increased 15 times.
- Our Santa Claus is endowed with magic power, he lives all year round in his residence. He doesn’t need money, because he is a magician,” said Lyubov Yakimova, a spokeswoman for Santa Claus, to SUPER.
confirmed his affiliation magical world without money and fairy tale hero, having visited on December 1 on the air of the program “ Evening Urgant»:
- I have not noticed any sanctions in the fairy tale. Play yourself in these pieces of paper that you call money. I don't play these games! - Santa Claus told the host, answering a question about how the sanctions affected him.
In fact, the owner of the residence in Veliky Ustyug has no sanctions. Including a range of VIP services for wealthy guests of Santa Claus.
— Yes, we can really arrange an individual meeting with Santa Claus in private room, but 10 minutes will cost those who wish not less than 50 thousand rubles, - Yulia Khudozhilova, administrator of the residence, shared with SUPER. — Chief Grandfather Frost can even go to your house for the New Year, but the price will be much higher.
However, money is not the only thing that can convince the country's chief wizard to leave his native residence and arrive in Moscow on a special flight in the midst of the holidays to listen to the poems of the heirs of the capital's oligarchs.
- I have a rich fleet of vehicles: deer, and horses, and a flying carpet, and walking boots. Whatever is more convenient, I fly on that, ”Ded Moroz told about the methods of his movement around the country in the Evening Urgant program.
In fact, everything is much more prosaic. budget institution The “House of Father Frost” lacks funding, and therefore, for the arrival of Father Frost for a private holiday, his colleagues are asked to donate a new car to the patrimony or to allocate funds to expand the grandfather’s residence so that he can host even more children. 
History of Russian Father Frost December 26th, 2013
It seems that the New Year with Christmas trees, gifts, Santa Claus and the Snow Maiden has always been ... But no matter how! It turns out that the beloved New Year's character, every year awaited with trepidation by every Russian child, was born not so long ago. However, first things first...
young grandfather
I already wrote about the New Year and the Christmas tree a year ago () and talked about the fact that in our country the tradition of the Christmas and New Year trees, as well as the New Year's holiday itself, arose in a familiar form quite recently ...
But it turns out that Santa Claus is even younger! He is only 100 years old. That is, until the beginning of the last century there was no Santa Claus ... There was a severe and evil Treskun, there was a cheerful and fair Morozko, in Europe all the children already knew Santa Claus, but our native grandfather There was no frost.
Only by the beginning of the 20th century did the familiar image of Santa Claus take shape - good wizard with a snow-white beard in a long fur coat and a boyar hat, who brings gifts to children. However, that Santa Claus was an exclusively Christmas character, because it was Christmas that was considered the most significant winter holiday.
The death and rebirth of Santa Claus.
After the revolution, the image of Santa Claus, along with all Christmas (and Orthodox) traditions, was persecuted. His final exile took place on the eve of 1929, when Christmas was declared a working day, and special patrols walked the streets and peered into windows, not allowing even the slightest hint of preparations for bright holiday Christmas.
But, fortunately, these bleak times passed, and already in 1935 the first New Year tree was organized. This happened after December 28, 1935, a member of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR P.P. Postyshev published an article in the Pravda newspaper, where he proposed organizing a New Year celebration for children. And all over the country they begin to organize new year events, with the use of albeit Christmas, but still greatly rethought, paraphernalia. And already in 1937, Father Frost first appeared before the guests along with his granddaughter Snegurochka.
Santa Claus prototypes
The modern image of Santa Claus has more than one predecessor. He certainly absorbed the features of the infinitely kind and merciful Archbishop Nicholas (the prototype of Santa Claus), who lived in the city of Mira (Turkey) as early as the 4th century and after his death was canonized. Until now, Saint Nicholas the saint is revered not only in Christian countries, but almost all over the world.
Our Santa Claus is similar to his pagan Slavic great-grandfather - the spirit of winter, the lord of frost. It is this pagan god showered the earth with snow, froze rivers and lakes, and often saved people from enemies by freezing them in the harsh Russian winter.
Where does Santa Claus live
The first homeland of Santa Claus is Arkhangelsk, it was there that in 1991 the "House of Santa Claus" and the "Mail of Santa Claus" were created.
In 1995, the leadership of the Lapland Reserve on the Kola Peninsula launched the project "Fairytale Lapland - Father Frost's Domain", according to which the residence of Father Frost was located in the Chunozero estate.
Lapland Reserve
Since 1998, on the initiative of the former mayor of Moscow, Yury Luzhkov, the Vologda Oblast has been running the state tourism project "Veliky Ustyug - Father Frost's Homeland". As part of this project, since 2005, the "official" birthday of Santa Claus has also been celebrated: November 18th. This date was chosen due to the fact that just on these dates in Veliky Ustyug the first severe frosts usually hit the day.
Grandfather Frost's residence in Veliky Ustyug
December 25, 1999 in Veliky Ustyug Grand opening"House of Santa Claus" Tourist trains go to the city from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vologda and other Russian cities.
In 2011, a new fabulous residence of Santa Claus was opened in Murmansk.
Since the beginning of the project, children from different countries More than a million letters have been sent to Santa Claus. These letters are carefully kept in the "treasury". Letters are distributed among our Santa Clauses, so that not one of them sits idle. So, for example, if the Lapland Reserve is not indicated in the letter, then it is sent to Veliky Ustyug.
So it turns out that we have several national Santa Clauses in Russia ... But, in fact, the whole point is that Santa Claus is a wonderful wizard, so he can easily be in several places at once!
Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!
