New Year in Russian History: Masquerades, Stripped Christmas Trees, Balls and Yuletide Stories

The book reveals the traditions of celebrating New Year across different stages of Russian history, describing how this holiday was observed by emperors, aristocrats, and peasants. Readers will learn about outfits, festive treats, fortune-telling, and gifts in different times. New Year is a special winter holiday whose traditions are familiar to us from childhood, but few people think about how they developed historically. Ekaterina Mokrushcheva investigates the origins of New Year customs and how they transformed in Rus’.

How did January 1st celebrations look not only for rulers, but also for ordinary people? What decorations did our ancestors use for the Christmas tree? What was on the holiday table? How did dishes, Soviet films, and special clothing colors become part of New Year traditions? This book is for those interested in history and mythology from an unexpected angle.