In Russia we use to call it New Year tree due to the political changes in our country long ago. But still they changed a lot in people's life.
The NY tree is usually a fir-tree - елка, real or artificial. An angel or star may be placed at the top of the tree, representing the host of angels or the Star of Bethlehem from the Nativity.
The tradition to install and decorate a Ёлка (Yolka) dates back to the 17th century when Peter the Great imported the tradition from his travels of Europe. However, in the Imperial Russia Yolka were banned since 1916 by Synod as a tradition, originated in Germany (Russian counterpart during World War I). Wiki says, This ban was prolonged in the Soviet Union until 1935 (New Year tree was seen as a "bourgeois and religious prejudice" until that year).[The New Year celebration was not banned, though there was no official holiday for it until 1935. The New Year's tree revived in the USSR after the famous letter by Pavel Postyshev, published in Pravda on December 28, 1935, where he asked for installing New Year trees in schools, children's homes, Young Pioneer Palaces, children's clubs, children's theaters and cinema theaters. In 1937, a New Year Tree was also installed in the Moscow Palace of Unions. An invitation to the Yolka at the Palace of Unions became a matter of honour for Soviet children
In 1935 it became a fully secular icon of the New year holiday, for example, the crowning star was regarded not as a symbol of Bethlehem Star, but as the Red Star. Decorations, such as figurines of airplanes, bicycles, space rockets, cosmonauts, and characters of Russian fairy tales, were produced. This tradition persists after the fall of the USSR, with the New Year holiday outweighting the Christmas (7 January) for a wide majority of Russian people
And here is a very interesting tour to the WORKSHOP of New Year toys with details and photos of the whole process!
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