How Russians celebrated New Year & Christmas in the 19th century

Visits on January 1

The tradition of long New Year celebrations in Russia originated long ago. In the 19th century, festivities began with the arrival of ‘Svyatki’ (‘Christmastide’), a whole series of holidays. The merrymaking started on December 24 (January 6, according to the New Style) – on Christmas Eve; December 25 (January 7) was Christmas Day; January 1 (January 14) – New Year; and January 6 (January 19) – Epiphany. Officially, there were only four days off, but, in practice, people celebrated for almost two weeks!

Religious and secular traditions were closely intertwined. On Christmas Eve, people went caroling and, in the morning – to church for the solemn service. Churches in big cities were often overcrowded and tickets were even sold for the Christmas service, which were often difficult to obtain. On the same day, they would visit friends, relatives and would go "on visits". In one day, they typically managed to visit as many as several houses, everywhere raising toasts in honor of the holiday and enjoying Christmas dishes.

Throughout the holidays, wealthy and noble families would host dinner parties, lavish evening balls and masquerades. Common folk entertained themselves with ice-sliding and sledding. In big cities, fairground booths operated, while fireworks were launched at Vorobyovy Gory (Sparrow Hills).

By the end of the 19th century, Christmas cards appeared. They were sent not only to relatives living in other cities, but also to neighbors on the same street.

Holiday decorations & a fir tree

Until the mid-19th century, fir trees were neither decorated nor even set up in Russian homes. Since the time of Peter the Great, fir branches were brought into some homes, more often Catholic ones. The tradition of decorating an evergreen tree and organizing children's parties began to gain popularity only by the mid-19th century, during the time of Nicholas I. Grand Duchess Alexandra Feodorovna, the emperor's wife, held the first festive fir tree party for children from noble families. The tradition quickly caught on: first, holiday matinees began to be held in noble families and then among merchants.

According to German custom, the fir tree was decorated on Christmas Eve. It was adorned with children's toys, ribbons, lanterns and various treats: pastila (fruit pâte), apples, cookies and candies. Children found their presents not only under the tree, but also on it – after games and entertainment, the toys and treats would be distributed to the guests.

Later, special tree ornaments made of papier-mâché and glass began to be made. At the festive moment, real candles were lit on the trees and a bucket of water was placed nearby to quickly extinguish any potential fire.

Despite the popularity of fir trees among nobility and wealthy merchants, peasants did not set them up until the mid-1930s.

Festive table

A lavishly set festive table is one of the main symbols of the holiday. By Christmas, the Great Lent is over and, with it, dietary restrictions.

The Christmas supper was usually prepared in advance: On Christmas Eve, people would stuff piglets and poultry and prepare ‘sochivo’ (a ritual porridge). They would also bake special gingerbread cookies in the shape of a goat or a cow – ‘kozyuli’ – a symbol of the animals that were in the stable at the moment of Jesus's birth.

The tangerine – considered the main New Year fruit – appeared in Russian homes in the 19th century. The first tangerines were imported from Europe and were very expensive: a dozen cost about three rubles (for comparison: an entire cow could be bought for 15 rubles). In the mid-19th century, frost-resistant varieties of citrus began to be cultivated in the botanical gardens of Georgia and Abkhazia and, gradually, tangerines became more accessible to Russians and eventually turned into one of the New Year symbols.

The full version of the article is available in Russian on the Culture.ru website.