Father Frost and Snow Maiden are characters without whom the New Year will not come. Since childhood, we have been confident in this. With their procession across the country, the New Year's bustle and preparations for the holiday begin. This happens not for a year or two, but for centuries. During this time, even his appearance changed. Today we are used to seeing him in a long red fur coat, richly trimmed with embroidery and swan's down. However, not so long ago, the fairy-tale character’s outfit looked completely different.
Why did Santa Claus used to wear a blue fur coat?
Pagan myths and legends portray the beloved children's hero as a majestic old man who lived in the world of the dead. It was possible to get into it only through the well. There he had his own ice hut, which he left once a year to give festive mood to people.
Blue Color Meaning
Important! The blue fur coat was the main outfit of the fairy-tale grandfather. She personified frost, ice binding rivers and lakes, and the arrival of a frosty winter.
Most Soviet postcards and various illustrations present us with a chic Father Frost in a fur coat made of blue brocade, embroidered with bright patterns with silver thread. Felt boots and a hat to match the fur coat complete the image of the majestic wizard.
Today, a blue fur coat is also found in the wardrobe of the mythical character. Many theater productions and various children's events use sapphire attire for the magical guest who brings us winter and a festive mood for the New Year.
Additional shade - white
There was also a white fur coat in Santa Claus's wardrobe. It also reminded me of arctic ice, cold and piercing winds. On pre-revolutionary postcards you can often see Father Frost wearing a long white fur coat trimmed with snow-white fur. The image looks very impressive and majestic.
Reasons for color change
Today, along with these shades, the hero’s wardrobe includes white, red and even green fur coats. But the most common today is red clothing. There are several versions of this update.
Traditional attitude of the people
One of the versions of changing a blue outfit to a red one is considered to be the meaning of the word “red” itself. For our compatriots, this is not just a color, but an indicator of beauty, strength and purity of thoughts.
In Russian folk tales you can always find the expression “red maiden,” which means “beauty.” And representatives of the nobility in fairy tales are always dressed in a red caftan, which has become a symbol of wealth and prosperity.
Red is the color of revolution
After the October Revolution of 1917, when old beliefs and pagan traditions were rejected, Father Frost began to be persecuted.He, along with the Christmas tree and the Snow Maiden, as a symbol of his former life, was recognized as an ideologically harmful character. The use of holiday paraphernalia was considered harmful to the new state.
Fortunately, the fairy-tale character's fall from grace did not last long. Already in 1935, the mythical grandfather began to appear again at winter holidays. But during this time there was a small update. The luxurious blue fur coat was replaced by a red outfit - a sign of revolutionary change.
The red fur coat is a symbol of celebration, beauty, happiness and hopes for a bright future.
The influence of a foreign Santa
Another reason is considered to be trends from Europe and America, which became especially noticeable after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
Santa Claus and other New Year's characters, such as gnomes, wore short red fur coats decorated with snow-white trim. Why shouldn't our Grandfather become so bright? He is rich in surprises and gifts, has immeasurable grandeur and is the main winter wizard. The red fur coat is perfect to highlight his ability to bring people holidays and good mood.
Which fur coat do you like Santa Claus in?
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“This happens not for a year or two, but for centuries.” Oh really?
“After the October Revolution of 1917, when old beliefs and pagan traditions were rejected, Father Frost began to be persecuted. He, along with the Christmas tree and the Snow Maiden, as a symbol of his former life, was recognized as an ideologically harmful character.” Are you serious?
I don’t even know whether to laugh or cry at your ignorance. Father Frost and Snow Maiden as New Year's characters were invented in the USSR (in the 30s of the 20th century). Before this, there were just separate fairy-tale characters Snegurochka and Morozko (from different fairy tales). The character Santa Claus did not exist, just as there was no tradition of giving children gifts in his name. There was an evil deity Karachun, also known as Frost. And in the West there was a tradition, although not very widespread: Santa Claus came to Christmas and could put a coin in a stocking (shoe) for good children, and a piece of coal for bad ones. The tradition of giving gifts in the name of Santa Claus became widespread only at the beginning of the 20th century.
Aren't you ashamed to carry such nonsense? IGNORANCE IGNORANCE IGNORANCE!!!!! Reading such unprofessional articles makes you want to smash your computer monitor on the writer’s head.Children read you! Are you doing this on purpose? What do Western trends and fur coat color have to do with it? What does the Revolution and the color of the fur coat have to do with it? What does it have to do with gnomes and the color of their fur coat? What does Klaus and the color of his fur coat have to do with it? What does your constant formulation “There was..” mean? And now you don’t? Then why ask: “What color of fur coat do you like?” Now only red!!! You wrote this yourself and brought up incomprehensible statements like: “They consider another reason...” Who thinks? You????? “Pagan myths and legends portray the beloved children's hero as a majestic old man...” Are you serious? Yes, this character did not exist in Russian culture, neither in pagan times nor in Christian times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Read the previous speaker. You are BAN! IGNORANTS!!!!!!!!
Slavic version of the Christmas giver[3]. Known (as Moroz Ivanovich) since 1840[4], but the creation of the canonical image of Father Frost as an obligatory character of the New Year - and not Christmas - holiday occurred in Soviet times and dates back to the late 1930s, when, after several years of prohibition, it was again allowed Christmas tree[5]. The prototypes of Father Frost are the character of Slavic fairy-tale folklore and calendar rituals[6] and Saint Nicholas[7].
Santa Claus is depicted as an old man in a colored fur coat - blue, dark blue, red or white, with a long white beard and a staff in his hand, wearing felt boots. Rides three horses. Often he comes accompanied by his granddaughter Snegurochka, and in Soviet times, it happened, and on New Year’s Day - a boy in a red fur coat and hat (on one of these items of clothing there was often a digital designation of the coming/coming year)
The less foreign, the better
Santa Claus was in a blue fur coat, so he should be, but let Santa wear a red one. First they changed the color, then the fur coat will be shortened, and then the name will be changed. Everything is done gradually so that there is no indignation.
I like blue or silver. The first postcards of the Soviet period depicted Father Frost in a blue fur coat. Later they began to repaint it red. One more note: Christmas trees were banned by the Russian Orthodox Church back in 1916, but the Bolsheviks allowed them. And it was under the Bolsheviks that the current image of the kind and generous Grandfather Frost and granddaughter Snow Maiden, beloved by children, appeared.
“Our Santa Claus” is, of course, the Prototype of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
And the fur coat is of course blue - this is the color of winter landscapes, the snow shimmers in the sun even in the evening...
You can use any color, but the meaning doesn’t change...