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CNN Live Sunday
An American's Collection of Russian Christmas Ornaments Displayed in Moscow
Aired December 22, 2002 - 17:27 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: This time of year most Americans already have their trees and homes decorated for the holidays. An American's collection of Russian Christmas ornaments is helping many in Moscow remember the holidays of their childhood. CNN's Jill Dougherty takes a look at seven decades of holiday finery, Russian style.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): She fell under the spell of Russian Christmas five years ago.
KIM BALASCHAK, COLLECTOR: You'll see the Swan Princess, Ivan and the firebird.
DOUGHERTY: Kim Balaschak, an American who lives in Moscow, began collecting Russian Christmas and New Year's ornaments.
BALASCHAK: This didn't start off as a serious collection. I thought that it would just be really special to have memories every holiday, of our life here in Russia, and to decorate our own tree with Russian ornaments.
DOUGHERTY: She now has what's believed to be the largest collection in the world, 2,500 pieces, 70 years of Russian ornaments, from the time of the czars through the communist era, all the way to 1966, when commercialism took over.
Now, her collection is on display at Moscow's Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art. Looking at the ornaments, Russians young and old begin to see their family holiday with new eyes.
TATYANA TYOMINA, MUSEUM OF DECORATIVE, APPLIED AND FOLKS ART (through translator): People who come to the exhibit see something their mother or grandmother had on the tree. But they don't think of it as something to collect. It took someone from another country to see these ornaments and want to collect them.
BALASCHAK: OK, let me introduce you to the family.
DOUGHERTY: This past summer, as Kim began organizing her ornaments in her living room, she gave us a preview of the exhibit. Beginning with her massive collection of Ded Moroz, Father Frost, the Russian Santa Claus. In true Russian style, there's even a Ded Moroz with a vodka bottle and a fish in his bag of gifts. The ornaments tell the history of Russia from 19th century lithographed angels to spun cotton ornaments from the 1930s, to a hammer and sickle for the top of the tree.
(on camera): Christmas is usually thought of as a religious and a family-oriented holiday. But in this country, for many years, it was highly politicized. In fact, from 1925 to 1935, Christmas and New Year's were banned by the Soviet government.
(voice-over): But through it all, Russians with their usual resourcefulness, never really stopped celebrating.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We used to make ornaments like this from pieces of wire and string. It was after the war, about 1953 or '54. We'd all get together two weeks before New Year's and make them.
DOUGHERTY: Seventy years of Christmas and New Year's ornaments, a holiday gift from one American to the people of Russia.
Jill Dougherty, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Displayed in Moscow>
Aired December 22, 2002 - 17:27 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: This time of year most Americans already have their trees and homes decorated for the holidays. An American's collection of Russian Christmas ornaments is helping many in Moscow remember the holidays of their childhood. CNN's Jill Dougherty takes a look at seven decades of holiday finery, Russian style.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): She fell under the spell of Russian Christmas five years ago.
KIM BALASCHAK, COLLECTOR: You'll see the Swan Princess, Ivan and the firebird.
DOUGHERTY: Kim Balaschak, an American who lives in Moscow, began collecting Russian Christmas and New Year's ornaments.
BALASCHAK: This didn't start off as a serious collection. I thought that it would just be really special to have memories every holiday, of our life here in Russia, and to decorate our own tree with Russian ornaments.
DOUGHERTY: She now has what's believed to be the largest collection in the world, 2,500 pieces, 70 years of Russian ornaments, from the time of the czars through the communist era, all the way to 1966, when commercialism took over.
Now, her collection is on display at Moscow's Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art. Looking at the ornaments, Russians young and old begin to see their family holiday with new eyes.
TATYANA TYOMINA, MUSEUM OF DECORATIVE, APPLIED AND FOLKS ART (through translator): People who come to the exhibit see something their mother or grandmother had on the tree. But they don't think of it as something to collect. It took someone from another country to see these ornaments and want to collect them.
BALASCHAK: OK, let me introduce you to the family.
DOUGHERTY: This past summer, as Kim began organizing her ornaments in her living room, she gave us a preview of the exhibit. Beginning with her massive collection of Ded Moroz, Father Frost, the Russian Santa Claus. In true Russian style, there's even a Ded Moroz with a vodka bottle and a fish in his bag of gifts. The ornaments tell the history of Russia from 19th century lithographed angels to spun cotton ornaments from the 1930s, to a hammer and sickle for the top of the tree.
(on camera): Christmas is usually thought of as a religious and a family-oriented holiday. But in this country, for many years, it was highly politicized. In fact, from 1925 to 1935, Christmas and New Year's were banned by the Soviet government.
(voice-over): But through it all, Russians with their usual resourcefulness, never really stopped celebrating.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We used to make ornaments like this from pieces of wire and string. It was after the war, about 1953 or '54. We'd all get together two weeks before New Year's and make them.
DOUGHERTY: Seventy years of Christmas and New Year's ornaments, a holiday gift from one American to the people of Russia.
Jill Dougherty, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Displayed in Moscow>
