3 popular types of New Year tree decorations in the USSR (PHOTOS)

In the late 1930s, ideological and propaganda themes were in vogue: figurines of pioneers, Red Army soldiers and paratroopers. In the 1940s, military themes prevailed: tanks, soldiers and ambulance dogs. After the war, peaceful life came to the fore, expressed in agricultural themes (vegetables and fruits), space themes (astronauts, rockets and satellites) and fairy tales. In the 1970s and 1980s, there was also an emphasis on abstract ornaments (baubles, plastic icicles, pine cones) and animal figurines.

Gifts of Nature

The fruit and vegetable series reflects the era of the ‘Khrushchev Thaw’ and the post-war desire for prosperity. The country was recovering from the difficult war years. The main motto of the time was achieving abundance and a bountiful harvest. In the 1950s and 1960s, people literally hung their hopes for prosperity and abundance on the tree by decorating their New Year trees with cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, corn cobs, bunches of grapes, apples and mushrooms.

Clocks

The popularization of the motif of a clock about to strike the new year was inspired by the song ‘The Clock is Five to Twelve’ from Eldar Ryazanov's famous movie ‘Carnival Night’ (1956). After the movie's release, toy clocks, whose hands often stopped at "five to twelve", became especially beloved. They also broadly became a symbol of the New Year, the Moscow Kremlin chimes and an optimistic outlook on the future.

Space

Yuri Gagarin's pioneering space flight in 1961 made space a central cultural theme, which was immediately reflected in New Year's decorations. Instead of the classic red star, the top of the tree was often crowned with the head of a rocket. Baubles with space-themed designs, glass rockets, satellites and cosmonauts celebrated the technological superiority of the USSR, turning the New Year's tree into a mini-exhibition of national pride.

You can learn more about the history of Soviet New Year tree decorations and see many of them for yourself in the ‘Old New Year’ exhibition at the State Darwin Museum from November 15, 2025 to January 18, 2026.