http://english.mn.ru/english/issue.php?2005-48-19
Shop the Christmas out
By Anton Razmakhnin The Moscow News
For the last two decades Moscow has transformed from a 'do-it-yourself' city to a regular 'buy-it-all' megapolis. Are Muscovites happy with that?
December really is a hasty and nasty month, as Christmas holidays come closer and closer while roads get worse and worse. The keyword is obvious: gifts; those pretty things to give family and friends to make both you and them happy. Sometimes winter itself seems especially resolved to make the lives of gift-hunters miserable - just to bring a touch of heroism into the greatest shopping session of the year. So you see, that's a kind of Russian tradition too - to create such traffic jams that there is a transportation breakdown while trying to provide Christmas presents via trade malls and boutiques. How interesting to recall that this tradition is hardly 20 years old, yet so strong.
Angels on the fir-trees
Till 1917 Moscow had lots of Christmas-giving traditions. Children were usually given toys and sweets that the family could afford. Presents for kids were laid by the roots of the fir-tree - that's why everyone tried to acquire a fir home.
Grown-ups gave presents to each other during the whole-family celebration around the fir-tree, as children were then much more numerous in Moscow. Books and perfumes were among the most popular presents to adults in pre-revolutionary Russia.
Corporate gifts - i.e. gifts to bosses - were considered an act of respect, likewise the way of giving a present was important. Really big bosses received presents from subordinates without actually seeing them, for gifts were sent via butlers or just put in a special place in the hall. As for what was given as a present, one can hardly tell 19th century corporate gifts from today's ones: luxurious writing sets, figurines and premium alcohol were top hits.
All this was bought in a usual way, through shops and markets. In the 1900 - 1910s the first department stores appeared in Moscow, among them Muir&Merrilees (nowadays called TsUM) and Petrovsky Passage (stands between Petrovka and Neglinnaya up to our times). Markets were overcrowded before Christmas, while luxurious stores simply operated at capacity.
Stop bourgeois superfluities!
1917 brought revolutionary events followed in 1918 by the Civil War - gift-giving obviously became less of a priority. Then came 1921, when the country began to recover - but unhappily Christmas was outlawed, along with all other religious-based holidays. Firs as signs of Christmas were strictly prohibited till late 1930s.
In the late 1920s - early 1930s giving presents to children was old-fashioned, while giving a gift to your boss meant you wanted some extreme adventures and you'll darn well get them! The overall social mood was about hard-work and not consumption.
Happy New Year, Happy New Year!
As the Stalin's power became absolute, many good traditions of the pre-1917 era were restored, from humanities studies at the universities to fir-trees for children. As Christmas remained a church holiday, impossible in the Soviet Union, New Year was given all features of celebrating Christmas, including gifts of all kinds, fir-trees with presents under them and pre-holiday mass shopping. Several changes introduced in the ceremony were of great practical importance: (a)candles became electric, that was a great way of preventing fires; (b)presents became more practical and diverse; (c)at work, presents were not given in the pre-revolutionary way, instead trade unions began giving small presents, and (d) angels on the top of the fir trees were replaced by red stars. After all, presents were bought much earlier than it was usual before 1917, for it was rather a hard job to buy a present needed and pleasant. Still, New Year gifts were considered 'small ones', compared to birthday presents.
Buy and enjoy!
Since the 1970s, a new tradition has appeared, rather a bourgeois one. Advanced people of these days acted like in the West, that is, gave big gifts to their closest relatives and even made their New Year's shopping in a car (when available). Up to the early 1990s, that was comfortable and warm - later came traffic jams, eliminating the pleasure of driving around Christmas. In the hard lack-of-food times of the late 80s, coffee or tangerines were enough for giving to parents, while children favored clothes. Seriously though, clothes have never been considered a suitable Christmas gift in Russia - till our times. Nowadays this has also gone - what a joy to girls of all ages willing to acquire some extra wear! The main thing there is not to let boys choose clothes themselves. All other Christmas-giving problems seem to be solved now (see fact box). Just get on the metro, reach the stores and buy all you need to make your people happy! FACT BOX
Top destinations to buy gifts off the beaten track
Moscow Cultural Foundation Salon
Pretty ethnic and old-time things at down-to-earth prices. All stuff is bought out till December 25. Ideal for fans of fictile art, etc.
16, Pyatnitskaya St., bldg. 2 (Novokuznetskaya metro station);
41, Prospect Mira (Prospekt Mira metro station).
Inward Path boutique
Ethnic and mystical artifacts, along with books and videos dedicated to magic and mystical practices. Popular among the advanced Moscow youth.
10a, Leningradsky Prospekt
(Belorusskaya metro station)
6, Novokuznetskaya St. (Novokuznetskaya&Tretyakovskaya metro stations)
Kulttovary
Artifacts of the Soviet era, including sweet little Soviet toys, LPs, home appliances (old stock and used stuff)
37, Prospekt Vernadskogo, bldg. 2 (Prospekt Vernadskogo metro station)
Vernissage at Izmailovo
Famous place for trading handmade, antique and art stuff. Warning: the less foreign you look, the better prices you'll be offered.
Partisanskaya metro station, exit to the market