The Klin Compound Museum is called unique, and its exhibits are festive and magical. This museum presents the history of Christmas tree decorations - the main attributes of the New Year and Christmas holidays. Perhaps only in this museum at any time of the year can you see a decorated Christmas tree, and more than one.
In the middle of the 19th century, Prince Alexander Sergeevich Menshikov, the grandson of Peter’s comrade-in-arms Alexander Danilovich Menshikov, set up a glass factory in the village of Aleksandrovo, Klinsky district. In three furnaces of this enterprise, 80 serf workers blew glass products: apothecary containers, lamps and bottles. Later, former Menshikov workers, who had mastered the intricacies of technology, began to create their own small workshops and make small glass products in them - beads, buttons, etc. After the revolution, such craftsmen worked in an artel, and in the 70s several glass factories were united into the large glass association “Yolochka”, which still operates in the city of Vysokovsk, Klin region. It produces Christmas tree decorations, which in the early 2000s were recognized as products of folk art crafts, and Yolochka itself is considered the oldest glassblowing enterprise in Russia.
The Klin Compound Museum is located in Klin and consists of twelve halls. The first of them presents the first Christmas tree decorations, which were made from sweets and nuts. In pre-revolutionary Russia, they liked to decorate Christmas trees with fruits and gingerbread, and they also made homemade decorations for them from paper, cotton wool, and foil. Later, toys began to be made from these materials, as well as from glass and cardboard, using the factory method.
Another room displays the workplace of the first glassblowers, located in a peasant hut. Toys from the Soviet era can be seen in a separate section; when making them, the craftsmen adhered to the symbols and themes that were popular at that time. So, after Yuri Gagarin’s flight into space, glass and cardboard cosmonauts, rockets and satellites began to appear among the Christmas tree decorations. The museum also has the opportunity to see the process of blowing a glass toy and painting it.
One of the most interesting and impressive exhibits in this museum is the large Christmas tree in the Nutcracker Hall. Pyotr Tchaikovsky lived in Klin in the last years of his life - from 1892 to 1897. The house in which he lived is now the State Museum-Reserve of the composer. His famous Christmas story was completed when Pyotr Ilyich lived here.
In one of the halls there is a fashion show of Christmas trees - many thorny trees decorated in different styles. Another room is dedicated to Santa Claus and variations of his image.
One of the attractions of the Moscow region is undoubtedly the only museum of Christmas tree decorations in Russia “Klinskoye Podvorye” and the famous Christmas tree decorations factory “Yolochka”. They are located in the ancient and very beautiful city of Klin.
The Christmas tree decoration museum consists of 12 halls that will tell you about the origin and development of glass making on Klin land. You will find yourself in a new world with a rich history of Christmas tree decorations and watch the difficult work of glassblowers and talented artists.
In the first hall of our museum you will be greeted by a Christmas tree decorated with sugar roses and apples. The tradition of decorating the Christmas tree goes back centuries. In the 19th century, the festive tree was decorated with all kinds of sweets, nuts, apples, and funny figures made of paper, cardboard, fabric and foil. But glass Christmas tree decorations are gradually becoming popular.
Some of the first domestic workshops for the production of glass Christmas tree decorations were located in the Krugovskaya volost of Klinsky district. Rich deposits of quartz sand in the region contributed to the early development of the glass industry here. In 1848, Prince A.S. Menshikov, great-grandson of A.D. Menshikov, an associate of Peter I, receives permission to build a small glass factory on his estate Aleksandrovo near Klin. From this moment on, the Klin glassblowing industry was born.
This plant produced lamps, bottles, and glass products for pharmacies. Glass and crystal dishes from the Menshikov factory became famous throughout Russia for the purity of glass production, the high quality of cutting and polishing of crystal.
The peasants of the surrounding villages who worked at this plant, having mastered the skills of the craft, together with their wives, over time began to create independent workshops for the production of so-called stone products - “blown” beads, earrings, buttons and other small things.
In the second hall you find yourself in a peasant hut from the end of the 19th century. You will see the workplace of a master glassblower, leather bellows that kept the fire burning in the burner, and metal molds for making beads.
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The next room talks about the period of industrialization in our country. Typical toys of that time were assembly toys, cotton toys and cardboard ones. Once you enter the glass blowing shop, you will be able to observe the process of the “birth” of a glass toy. The craftswoman, rotating the glass tube - the dart - with both hands, heats it in the flame of a gas burner until the glass becomes soft, and begins to blow through the hole in the tube - the tendril. A wonderful transformation of the glass blank into a ball, bell, or heart takes place!
Looking into the painting workshop, you will see how artists paint kind smiles on Santa Clauses, “lay” snow on the roofs of fairy-tale houses, and sprinkle them with “gold” and “silver.”
Our museum also has a music room – the Nutcracker Hall. It is decorated with an elegant Christmas tree from the fairy tale “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.” The world-famous composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky lived in our city for some time, and he wrote his most famous works on Klin land. And it was here that he completed work on the music for the ballet “The Nutcracker”.
Christmas tree decorations from the 40s-60s are presented in the next room. It was a difficult time for our country - the war and the post-war years. New Year's decorations of that time were made in the form of orders, stars, airplanes and airships with the symbols of the USSR.
Of course, the museum also displays modern glass toys from the Yolochka folk arts and crafts factory. The showcase with these elegant and fragile jewelry shimmers with bright colors, it is impossible to take your eyes off this brilliant beauty!
For some, a visit to a fairy-tale museum awakens nostalgia for a bygone childhood, while for others it plunges them into romantic dreams. Miracle trees, fantasy trees greet you as the most dear guests and dazzle you with their splendor!
All visitors are happy to make a cherished wish near the 10-meter Christmas tree - the queen of the Klin Palace!
In the master class, children and adults can try themselves in the role of a specialist in making a New Year's miracle; they themselves will paint a real glass ball and take it with them as a souvenir of their visit to an extraordinary museum!
Our museum invites you to take part in annual theatrical and holiday programs for every taste and age: “A Christmas Tale” - during the New Year holidays, “Madam Maslenitsa” - cheerful Maslenitsa festivities, “Father Frost and SUMMER” - an incendiary program for children vacationing in summer camps, “Wedding Planner” is an entertainment and educational program dedicated to the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity.
Throughout the year, exhibitions of works by Klin artists and craftsmen are held in the museum’s lobby.
You can also visit our company store, where you can purchase glass New Year’s decorations made at the Yolochka folk art enterprise all year round!
The factory produces handmade products that are made in traditional and modern styles; toys are distinguished by a rich range of colors and a variety of shapes. We are looking forward to your visit!
In the 21st century, it has become fashionable to decorate the Christmas tree with handmade toys. Today, balls are sewn from felt and scraps, knitted from threads, folded from paper or even from Legos. But still, with special trepidation and love, we take out old balls that have been preserved from our grandmothers and great-grandmothers.
Old New Year cards
The first Christmas tree decoration in Rus' was intended to demonstrate abundance, so New Year's trees were decorated with burning candles, apples and dough products. And in order for the tree to become bright and sparkling, they added decorations that shimmered in the light: tinsel, gimp (thin metal threads), sparkles. In combination with burning candles, the effect of the play of light made the green beauty even more radiant and solemn.
Old New Year cards
Since the middle of the 19th century, special artels began to work, which were engaged in the production of garlands, Christmas tree decorations, as well as chains made from thin foil, tinsel and rain.
Old New Year cards
“The Christmas tree was bent with a multitude of toys and sweets, glowed with a cheerful happy fire, firecrackers crackled, sparklers suddenly flared up and scattered like stars.”
Sergey Potresov. "A Christmas Story"
GLASS TOYS 
New Year's Eve. 1950s Photo: ITAR-TASS
The first glass toys: balls, beads, spherical mirror objects in the form of spotlights and icicles - appeared on Russian Christmas trees in the middle of the 19th century. They were heavier than modern ones because they were made of thick mirror glass. Initially, most of the glass jewelry was foreign-made, but very soon they began to be made in Russia.
An old Soviet Christmas tree toy-plane in the Museum of Christmas tree toys “Klinskoye Compound”, Klin. Photo: P. Prosvetov / photobank “Lori”
“Buying a glass toy for a resident of Russia at the end of the 19th century was the same as buying a car for a modern Russian.”
Sergei Romanov, toy historian and collector of New Year's decorations.
An old Soviet Christmas tree decoration in the Museum of Christmas tree decorations “Klinskoye Compound”, Klin. Photo: P. Prosvetov / photobank “Lori”
It was in Rus' that they came up with the idea of decorating a spruce tree with women’s jewelry - glass beads. The whole family was involved in making them: small balls were blown by master glassblowers, women painted the beads, and children strung them on a thread. This craft became most widespread in the Klin district, where the “Yelochka” factory was later founded, which now produces New Year’s garlands.
Products of the Klin association “Yolochka”, 1982. Photo: A. Semekhina / TASS Photo Chronicle
In the late 1930s, heroes of children's literature appeared on Christmas trees - Ivan Tsarevich, Ruslan and Lyudmila, Brother Rabbit and Brother Fox, Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, Crocodile with Totosha and Kokosha, Doctor Aibolit. After the premiere of the film “Circus,” circus-themed figurines became popular.
Old Christmas tree toy - clown. Photo: Yu. Zobkov / photobank “Lori”
In honor of the exploration of the North, Christmas trees were decorated with figures of polar explorers. At the same time, filigree and hand-painted decorations on an oriental theme appeared: Aladdin, old man Hottabych, and the sorcerer Chernomor.
Old Christmas tree toy - corn. Photo: Yu. Zobkov / photobank “Lori”
During the war years, figures of planes, tanks, and Stalin's armored cars were hung on Christmas trees. They also made figurines from military shoulder straps and improvised materials, such as medical bandages.
Only after 1947 did the production of toys on a “peaceful” theme begin: New Year’s trees were decorated with fairy-tale characters, forest animals, fruits and vegetables.
After the release of the film “Carnival Night” in 1956, the famous “Clock” toys appeared - with hands set at five minutes before midnight. In the 70s and 80s, the most popular were cones, bells and houses.
New Year's composition. Photo: S. Gavrilichev / photobank “Lori”
In addition, in the USSR, the Christmas tree was decorated with toys that reflected the ideals and aspirations of the communist state. So, on one tree coexisted vegetables and fruits, spaceships and submarines, figures of men in national costumes of different nations, factories and factories, domestic and wild animals, and athletes.
An old Christmas tree decoration in the shape of a Soviet airship. Photo: Yu. Zaporozhchenko / photobank “Lori”
PAPIER-MACHE
Jewelry made from papier-mâché (a dense substance consisting of paper pulp mixed with glue, plaster or chalk) became widespread in the Soviet Union. In the USSR, the production of papier-mâché toys was manual and consisted of a number of lengthy operations: modeling, putty, priming, sanding, painting, painting with intermediate drying at temperatures from 20 to 60°. The assortment mainly consisted of realistic figurines of people and animals
The coating of burt salt made the surface of the toys more dense and gave them a dull shine. Using vacuum casting, New Year's masks and large figures for the Christmas tree (Santa Claus and Snow Maiden) were created. Such toys were light in weight, but not inferior in strength to pressed ones.
Museum of Christmas tree decorations “Klinskoye Compound”, Klin. Photo: S. Lavrentyev / photobank “Lori”
Nowadays, among numerous collectors of New Year's decorations, preserved papier-mâché toys are the most valuable.
Museum of Christmas tree decorations “Klinskoye Compound”, Klin. Photo: S. Lavrentyev / photobank “Lori”
CARTONAGE
Cardboard toys began to be made as decorations at an affordable price. These embossed figures were cut and glued from two halves of raised cardboard, tinted with gold or silver paint.
Cardboard toys
It was not difficult to make them, and popular models were even published in Soviet newspapers. If desired, cartons could be ordered by mail from private workshops.
Cardboard toys
Among the cardboard toys, images of animals, fish, birds, fairy-tale characters and stars were popular.
Cardboard toy, 1976. Photo: A. Stepanov / photobank “Lori”
“Museum of Christmas Tree Decorations”: new exhibition in the historical museum
On November 18, an exhibition of Christmas tree decorations opened in one of the halls of the National Historical Museum, which the organizers dream of subsequently turning into a small museum. We went and looked at Christmas tree decorations from all over the world.
For the exhibition of toys from a private collection and its funds, the National Historical Museum has allocated a hall on the third floor of the museum and stands.
“Yes, the stands are the property of the museum, and we did and assembled everything else with our own hands,” says the organizer of the New Year’s exhibition Andrey Begun. – We wanted to make an exhibition-labyrinth, but we had to start from the available space, and the labyrinth didn’t work out very well.
– We created the exhibition with the desire to slightly diversify the cultural life of Minsk. This is our New Year's gift to the children. There are very few events in Minsk where you can not only have a good time, but also “enlighten yourself,” says Andrey. – Besides, Minsk is now actively attracting tourists, and one library and a museum of the Second World War will not surprise anyone.
The very first stand to the right of the entrance displays a Christmas tree hung with apples. Andrey begins the tour with this exhibit.
– We present the entire retrospective of Christmas tree decorations – from their inception to the present day. The history of glass Christmas tree decorations began somewhere in the Middle Ages. Then people decorated Christmas trees with sweets, gingerbread, and apples. In the middle of the 19th century, there was a poor apple harvest in Germany, and glassblowers decided to save the holiday and blew shapes out of glass that looked like apples.
Andrey moves on to a retrospective of toys. At the first stand there are Soviet toys.
– They characterize the Soviet era very well. There was a war - soldiers and nurses hung on Christmas trees, Gagarin flew into space - a toy astronaut appeared.
Further stands are formed according to geographical principle: Russia, Ukraine, Europe.
– Ukrainian masters specialize in landscapes. These toys, from blowing to drawing, are exclusively handmade,” continues Andrey. – They also make toys with reproductions of famous paintings.
– This is a very difficult job, because painting a picture on a ball is not at all the same as on a flat canvas. At this stand there are Dutch toys - Delft porcelain. There has been a royal porcelain manufactory there since the Middle Ages.
Andrey leads us to the German stand:
– These are toys from the city of Rottenburg. A small town in Germany with several thousand inhabitants, but in all guidebooks it is marked as a “Christmas town” because one of the few year-round museums of Christmas tree decorations operates there. In the future, I would like to make our exhibition permanent, to open a small museum in the city center, where everyone could come all year round.
The German stand presented glass, wood, metal, and fabric toys.
“We buy toys at flea markets and antique shops, so it can be very difficult to identify the manufacturer,” admits Andrey.
With these words, he approaches the largest Christmas tree decoration at the exhibition.
– This is a toy from the Vienna Ball of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. I personally purchased it at a flea market in Budapest, and have been trying to find something about the history of this toy for several months now. There is no information anywhere about the manufacturer or the way this toy was made.
In addition to these toys, the exhibition includes balls from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Poland - the latter look like Faberge eggs.
“The toy from the Emirates is more of a tribute to tourists, because Arabs are not used to decorating Christmas trees,” says Andrey.
Publications in the Traditions section
In the 21st century, it has become fashionable to decorate the Christmas tree with handmade toys. Today, balls are sewn from felt and scraps, knitted from threads, folded from paper or even from Legos. But still, with special trepidation and love, we take out old balls that have been preserved from our grandmothers and great-grandmothers.
“A tree, illuminated by lanterns or candles, hung with candies, fruits, toys, books, is a delight for children, who had previously been told that for good behavior and diligence on the holiday, a sudden reward would appear...”
"Northern Bee", 1841
The first Christmas tree decoration in Rus' was intended to demonstrate abundance, so New Year's trees were decorated with burning candles, apples and dough products. And in order for the tree to become bright and sparkling, they added decorations that shimmered in the light: tinsel, gimp (thin metal threads), sparkles. In combination with burning candles, the effect of the play of light made the green beauty even more radiant and solemn.
Since the middle of the 19th century, special artels began to work, which were engaged in the production of garlands, Christmas tree decorations, as well as chains made from thin foil, tinsel and rain.
“The Christmas tree was bent with a multitude of toys and sweets, glowed with a cheerful happy fire, firecrackers crackled, sparklers suddenly flared up and scattered like stars.”
Sergey Potresov. "A Christmas Story"
Glass toys
New Year's Eve. 1950s Photo: ITAR-TASS
An old Soviet Christmas tree toy-plane in the Museum of Christmas tree toys “Klinskoye Compound”, Klin. Photo: P. Prosvetov / photobank “Lori”
The first glass toys: balls, beads, spherical mirror objects in the form of spotlights and icicles - appeared on Russian Christmas trees in the middle of the 19th century. They were heavier than modern ones because they were made of thick mirror glass. Initially, most of the glass jewelry was foreign-made, but very soon they began to be made in Russia.
“Buying a glass toy for a resident of Russia at the end of the 19th century was the same as buying a car for a modern Russian.”
Sergei Romanov, toy historian and collector of New Year's decorations.
It was in Rus' that they came up with the idea of decorating a spruce tree with women’s jewelry - glass beads. The whole family was involved in making them: small balls were blown by master glassblowers, women painted the beads, and children strung them on a thread. This craft became most widespread in the Klin district, where the “Yelochka” factory was later founded, which now produces New Year’s garlands.
Products of the Klin association “Yolochka”, 1982. Photo: A. Semekhina / TASS Photo Chronicle
Old Christmas tree toy - clown. Photo: Yu. Zobkov / photobank “Lori”
Old Christmas tree toy - corn. Photo: Yu. Zobkov / photobank “Lori”
In the late 1930s, heroes of children's literature appeared on Christmas trees - Ivan Tsarevich, Ruslan and Lyudmila, Brother Rabbit and Brother Fox, Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, Crocodile with Totosha and Kokosha, Doctor Aibolit. After the premiere of the film “Circus,” circus-themed figurines became popular. In honor of the exploration of the North, Christmas trees were decorated with figures of polar explorers. At the same time, filigree and hand-painted decorations on an oriental theme appeared: Aladdin, old man Hottabych, and the sorcerer Chernomor.
During the war years, figures of planes, tanks, and Stalin's armored cars were hung on Christmas trees. They also made figurines from military shoulder straps and improvised materials, such as medical bandages.
New Year's composition. Photo: S. Gavrilichev / photobank “Lori”
An old Christmas tree decoration in the shape of a Soviet airship. Photo: Yu. Zaporozhchenko / photobank “Lori”
Only after 1947 did the production of toys on a “peaceful” theme begin: New Year’s trees were decorated with fairy-tale characters, forest animals, fruits and vegetables.
After the release of the film “Carnival Night” in 1956, the famous “Clock” toys appeared - with hands set at five minutes before midnight. In the 70s and 80s, the most popular were cones, bells and houses.
In addition, in the USSR, the Christmas tree was decorated with toys that reflected the ideals and aspirations of the communist state. So, on one tree coexisted vegetables and fruits, spaceships and submarines, figures of men in national costumes of different nations, factories and factories, domestic and wild animals, and athletes.
Papier-mâché
Museum of Christmas tree decorations “Klinskoye Compound”, Klin. Photo: S. Lavrentyev / photobank “Lori”
Museum of Christmas tree decorations “Klinskoye Compound”, Klin. Photo: S. Lavrentyev / photobank “Lori”
Jewelry made from papier-mâché (a dense substance consisting of paper pulp mixed with glue, plaster or chalk) became widespread in the Soviet Union. In the USSR, the production of papier-mâché toys was manual and consisted of a number of lengthy operations: modeling, putty, priming, sanding, painting, painting with intermediate drying at temperatures from 20 to 60°. The assortment consisted mainly of realistic figures of people and animals. The coating of burt salt made the surface of the toys more dense and gave them a dull shine. Using vacuum casting, New Year's masks and large figures for the Christmas tree (Santa Claus and Snow Maiden) were created. Such toys were light in weight, but not inferior in strength to pressed ones.
