#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The first New Year’s markets were in the Old Town, on Octyabrskaya street, and in the new part of Norilsk – in store No. 11, which was on the corner of Sevastopolskaya and Monchegorskaya streets. In the 1960s, the Christmas tree trade took place in Kultovary – the future Cosmos, and gift departments were opened in the department stores Talnah, Siyanie, Severyanka, Fabrics.
Already within the memory of current Norilsk residents, the main New Year’s bazaar of the 1970s and 80s was located in the children’s shop Severok. On New Year’s Eve, real miracles happened there. All the sellers turned into Snow Maidens, and the walls were painted with New Year’s scenes. It’s not surprising that Norilsk residents still remember those New Year’s bazaars.
From the memoirs of Norilsk resident Edita Kuchkina:
“I went to the New Year’s bazaar in Norilsk for the first time in the early 1960s, when a grand sale of Christmas tree decorations was organized in the central hall of store No. 16 (later the Talnah department store). There were markets in the Knitwear store on Dzerzhinsky street, in the Fabrics store and, of course, in Severok. They prepared for the holiday trade ahead of time: carpenters installed special equipment, electricians installed external and internal lighting, artists prepared billboards and shop window sketches, store employees ensured the delivery of goods.
I have vivid memories of the New Year’s market at the Fabrics store in 1977. Christmas tree decorations made in the GDR were sold there. Those wonderful toys are still kept in my home: a spire in an openwork wire weave with two bells, garlands of bright balls with glued mother-of-pearl flowers, red plastic candlesticks with a green wreath and berries.
Before the opening of the bazaar, work was in full swing there – artists painted walls and columns. But something went wrong, and the store director Nina Dyachenko gave them a dressing down. The most responsible of the artists, Gleb Yakovlev, promised to do everything on time. But Nina, apparently, did not believe it (there was too little time left) and, for greater persuasiveness, locked Gleb in the store for the night, having previously provided the artist with delicious home-made pies. And he kept his word. Arriving at the store in the morning, we found ourselves in a real fairy tale. Cheerful bears, foxes, hares on sleds, skates and skis – all kinds of animals were on the walls! The market turned out amazing!
But the leader of the New Year’s trade was, of course, the Severok shop. Real miracles happened there. All sellers were in costumes of fairytale characters, bright equipment, counters were draped with fabric painted with a winter theme. The designers did their best to decorate all the halls. On the podium near the beautiful Christmas tree there were Father Frost and Snow Maiden, surrounded by forest animals. There were New Year’s scenes on the walls. And what illumination it was! Everything just sparkled! The children were waiting for those days, because at the appointed time the real Father Frost and Snow Maiden came to the market with gifts and staged a fun performance.
All that splendor could not have been achieved without designers. They showed miracles of imagination. After all, the only materials available were whatman paper, polystyrene foam and gouache. In summer, artists gathered oddly shaped snags, moss, and umbrella plants in the tundra and then used them in their work. On the eve of the holiday, all that was painted in bright colors or immersed in a strong salt solution – and sparkling, frosty decorative elements were obtained. They made sleighs, carriages, chests, and snowflakes from polystyrene foam. Based on the sketches of those artists, shop windows were designed, which surprised residents with their beauty and uniqueness and were a decoration of the city”.
In the History Spot’s previous publication, we told about a New Year’s Eve in the Norilsk forced labor camp.
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Text: Denis Kozhevnikov, Photo: author
