Thread: Merry Christmas and Happy New Years' CARDS!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Everyone!

Happy Hanukkah!

Let's post some beautiful seasonal cards from different parts of the world. Here is acute Russian cards, of older vintage, I am guessing.




Has anyone seen pre-revolution Russian Christmas cards? If you know how to find some online, please post, I'd love to see them.



Here is one from Sweden. The girl with candles on her hair represents a saint, called St Lucia. It's a tradition for girls to dress up like her on 13 December.

Originally Posted by Hanna

Has anyone seen pre-revolution Russian Christmas cards? If you know how to find some online, please post, I'd love to see them.

Например:

Яндекс.Картинки: дореволюционные новогодние открытки

или

дореволюционные новогодние открытки - Поиск в Google

Originally Posted by Hanna

Has anyone seen pre-revolution Russian Christmas cards? If you know how to find some online, please post, I'd love to see them.

link

Thanks!!

In order to post a picture in the thread, click the picture icon, then on the second tab (From URL) and untick the checkbox "Reference URL...." Then it works.


Here are some Russian pre-revolutionary cards:





The church in this pic does not look Russian, no onion dome!







I am noting that Ded Moroz and Snegurochka are not on these cards which look like regular Northern European cards from this era.

Here is something that looks a bit political. What's the uniform of the man on the postcard?




Art Nouveau!



.

Оттуда же: http://ru-oldrussia.livejournal.com/89548.html

С Наступающим!

Originally Posted by Hanna

I am noting that Ded Moroz and Snegurochka are not on these cards which look like regular Northern European cards from this era.

Here is something that looks a bit political. What's the uniform of the man on the postcard?

Ничего удивительного, что на кртинках нет деда Мороза. Это же рождественские открытки. А празднование Нового Года считалось языческим обычаем.

На "политической" открытке похоже изображён простой солдат под Вифлиемской звездой.

Very nice. Some fine examples.
I ran out of Xmas cards years ago. I have boxes of postcards. Slap on a sticker and instant holiday card!

Some of my old Russian stamps:

Thanks for starting this thread, Hanna!

The "Art Nouveau" card is interesting -- it says "Merry Christmas and a Happy Upcoming/Approaching New Year". Nowadays, as far as I know, Russian Orthodox Christians use the Old Style (Julian) calendar for the date of Christmas, but New Style (Gregorian calendar) for the date of the New Year -- thus, Рождество "наступает" после Нового года (Christmas "approaches" after New Year's Day.) I would've guessed that this was an Ivan Bilibin design, but the initials at the bottom are В.З.

The art on the "Red soldier" card is interesting to me, too:

(1) The Star of Bethlehem (Вифлиемская звезда) is clearly six-pointed, and thus it looks like the "Star of David". Which is appropriate, in a way, because Jesus was Jewish, although Judaism did not begin using the six-pointed star until medieval times. But it surprised me a little to see the star as six-pointed, because in American culture and Christmas-art, the Star of Bethlehem is very "standardized", and almost without exception is four-pointed, usually the two horizontal points shorter than the two vertical points (thus, the star visually resembles the Christian cross).

(2) The soldier is clearly a Communist, yet the Russian very specifically says "Happy Nativity of Christ", instead of being shortened to "Happy Nativity." (Of course, "Nativity"/Рождество are religious terms, also, but mentioning Christ's name makes it more OBVIOUSLY religious.)

(3) What's that "Oriental"-style inscription in the lower left? It looks like it could be Korean -- or it might be Cyrillic letters written in a pseudo-Chinese style, I'm not sure.

Originally Posted by Lampada

Оттуда же: http://ru-oldrussia.livejournal.com/89548.html

С Наступающим!

Wow, this is really a card "for all occasions":



Съ Новымъ годомъ!

Съ днёмъ святого Валентина!

Съ именинами святого Патрика!!

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

The art on the "Red soldier" card is interesting to me, too:
...

(2) The soldier is clearly a Communist, yet the Russian very specifically says "Happy Nativity of Christ", instead of being shortened to "Happy Nativity." (Of course, "Nativity"/Рождество are religious terms, also, but mentioning Christ's name makes it more OBVIOUSLY religious.)

(3) What's that "Oriental"-style inscription in the lower left? It looks like it could be Korean -- or it might be Cyrillic letters written in a pseudo-Chinese style, I'm not sure.

He is not a Red solder at all, he is just a regular Russian solder before the 1917 revolution. Religion was banned after the revolution, so it is absolutely impossible for a postcard to include both a Red solder and any Christmas notions.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

(2) The soldier is clearly a Communist, ...

Может вы и правы, но из чего это следует?

Originally Posted by jnllll

Может вы и правы, но из чего это следует?

А разве так удивительно, что иностранец мог бы ошибочно принимать красные погоны/эполлеты у солдата за символ коммунизма?

(But you make a good point -- I should have written "the soldier is apparently/presumably wearing a Communist uniform", not that this is "clearly" the case.)

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

А разве так удивительно, что иностранец мог бы ошибочно принимать красные погоны/эполлеты у солдата за символ коммунизма?

Большевики запретили погоны в декабре 1917, в погонах воевали белые. В Красной Армии погоны ввели при Сталине в 1943-ем году.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

(But you make a good point -- I should have written "the soldier is apparently/presumably wearing a Communist uniform", not that this is "clearly" the case.)

В СССР пропагандируемый шаблонный вид красноармейца был такой:

"Неуловимые" ... земля пухом Виктору Косых (

Originally Posted by Ego

"Неуловимые" ... земля пухом Виктору Косых (

Воистину.

Originally Posted by Throbert McGee

(But you make a good point -- I should have written "the soldier is apparently/presumably wearing a Communist uniform", not that this is "clearly" the case.)

Именно это я и хотел вам заметить. Но не хотел бы, чтобы это выглядело как наставление или нравоучение.

Actually, I was more thinking that the soldier in the post card could have been from the WHITE Army (белая армия) not a bolshevik (obviously!)

I am no expert on Russian history and I have not checked this, but I am pretty sure this was the tsar's army, prior to the revolution.

Christmas cards with soldiers used to be common in war times in the rest of Europe anyway.

To encourage people (doubtful practice) Here is an example:







Meanwhile in Afghanistan.....










And this one is for everyone who loves cute animals!



For Jewish friends!

And some pretty cards with Cнегурочка & Дед мороз



















PLEASE POST A FUNNY, CUTE, INTERESTING, BEAUTIFUL OR INSPIRATIONAL SEASONAL CARD!

BappaBa -- спасибо большое за объяснение об исторических формах русских солдатов!

A few more cultural observations about the cards that Hanna posted:

The Scandinavian tradition of "St. Lucia", represented by a young girl wearing a crown of candles, is in some ways rather surprising!

First, although saints are very important in Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholicism, it's slightly unusual for Protestants (Scandinavians are/were mostly Lutherans) to have a special day for honoring a saint. (Martin Luther himself was suspicious of any custom that seemed to be "too Roman Catholic", and he also argued that the tradition of representing saints with icons was dangerously close to idol-worship.)

Second, в католической традиции, Святая Луция была итальянской девушкой-мученицой третьего века, которую казнили за её отказ отказаться от христианства. Согласно преданию, выкопали (выкололи?) глаза у нёе до казни, и поэтому в католической иконографии, Луцию часто показывают с тарелкой, на которой она носит пару кровавых глазниц! [In Catholic tradition, St. Lucia was an Italian girl-martyr of the third century, who was put to death for her refusal to renounce Christianity. According to legend, her eyes were gouged out before her execution, and therefore in Catholic iconography, Lucia is often shown with a plate, on which she bears a pair of bloody eyeballs!]



So, how did an Italian Catholic saint become so popular in the Protestant countries of Scandinavia -- and why does she wear a венок со свечами, instead of carrying eyeballs on a tray? Well, it's possible that after Christianity came to Scandinavia, "St. Lucy" was adopted as a replacement for a pagan Scandinavian goddess who was associated with the approaching winter solstice.

And as for the candles on her head, название "Lucia" восходит в латинскому слову lux (род. един. lucis), с означением "свет". (And eyeballs on a tray seem more appropriate for Halloween than for the Christmas season!)