New Year A – New Year's Lucky Charm

New Year

An invented tradition

Beginning in 1945, the ideologically driven post-war authorities commenced the gradual introduction of a new celebration called the New Year’s Fir that was intended to take the place of Christmas. Celebrating the latter in public was prohibited, although it continued to be observed in the intimacy of the family setting. The introduction of the new festivity was, however, a gradual process. The name originally chosen for it was the New Year’s Fir, which in the 1950s became a symbol and a surrogate for Christmas. The fundamental motive behind the invention of this new tradition was the authorities’ desire that adults, through this new holiday, should introduce children in the best possible way to “the life of our socialist community”. As well as replacing the Christmas tree, it was necessary to devise a new figure to be the focus of the new holiday. This was Dedek Mraz (Grandfather Frost), who first appeared in visual form in 1952. The new figure was designed by the artist Maksim Gaspari and the authorities issued a special instruction regarding the appearance that the “true Grandfather Frost” should have.

Janez Bogataj