During the Soviet period, religious celebrations were discouraged by the official state policy of atheism. Christmas tree and related celebrations were gradually eradicated after the October Revolution. In 1935, in a surprising turn of state politics, the Christmas tradition was adopted as part of the secular New Year celebration.
New Year celebration in 1963 in the Dom Profsoyuzov, Moscow (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) USSR
Ded Moroz and Snegurochka entertain children in the Kremlin Palace of the Soviets, Moscow, 1977
New Year celebration in the Kremlin Palace of the Soviets
New Year celebration in the Kremlin Palace of the Soviets
Queue at Detsky Mir (Children’s World) toy store, Moscow, 1983
New Year celebration in the Tbilisi Palace of Sports, Tbilisi (Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic) USSR
Buying a new TV set ahead of the New Year holiday, 1963
New Year programme on Estonian TV, 1982
New Year celebration in a kindergarten, Moscow, 1964
Sale on the Arbat ahead of New Year, Moscow, 1985
Ded Moroz at a winter Pioneer camp in Moscow Oblast, 1984
Antonov An-2 aircraft delivered New Year trees to residents in Bukhara Oblast, Uzbek SSR, 1965
New Year celebration, 1985
Ded Moroz leads gymnastics class in Moscow, 1985
Ded Moroz in Riga, Latvian SSR, 1986
