Now, in almost every kindergarten, kids gather around the Christmas tree, then Santa Claus and his beautiful granddaughter come, and with the help of a magic staff and cheers from the kids: “Fir-tree, light up!” - on a fluffy elegant tree lights are lit.
Historical aspect of the problem
Of course, the question of how old the Snow Maiden is is usually of more interest to popes (a joke), but if you approach the problem purely scientifically, you will first have to figure out when it became customary in the Russian Empire to celebrate the New Year using attributes familiar to us from infancy.
In fact, this custom did not always exist and is not even originally Russian: other trees — birch, linden, oak, were more revered in the local latitudes. The Germans have long adorned the Christmas tree - along with them, tradition also “moved” to the East, which is not surprising: the Romanov dynasty was heavily involved in German blood. The first Christmas tree in the capital was arranged by Empress Maria Fyodorovna, and this happened in 1817.
Thus, when answering the question about how old Snegurochka is, you need to keep in mind that (in any case, precisely for the New Year character), there must be no more than two hundred. The fashion introduced by the empress spread widely around 1830: at first people installed richer trees, then - middle-income people.
The church, in its conservative nature, fought with "German mischief". The Holy Synod even forbade holding a holiday in the gymnasiums, however, it did not achieve success: both the adults and children fell in love with the New Year tree, and because of its harmlessness, the struggle of the holy fathers looked very odious.
Santa Claus is a naturalized foreigner, and Snegurochka is a native Russian
A little later, Santa Claus appeared. This image is associated, on the one hand, with the figure of St. Nicholas, popular in the West, and on the other hand, with a Russian folk character who at first was not particularly like a good grandfather: we all remember perfectly the tale of Morozko, who severely punished Sloth. Santa Claus The red nose from the Nekrasov work was also not harmless at all: it’s just that a very truncated version is being studied at school now.
One way or another, but the fairy-tale character in a fur coat and with a staff, too, seems to be "not entirely ours." But the Snow Maiden is an exclusively Russian girl. Analogues do not exist anywhere in the world.
This image first appears in folklore, so no one will give an answer to the question of how old the Snow Maiden is for sure. A folk tale says that a childless couple, making a doll out of snow, witnessed a miracle: the girl came to life. Overjoyed parents decided to warm their newborn child, which ended very sadly.
Snow Maiden in art
Inspired by the dramatic plot, Ostrovsky wrote the play in 1873, interpreting in his own way how old the Snow Maiden is: if the fairy tale featured a girl no older than 12-13 years old, then the play is about a young girl who melts not so much from the sunlight as from love.
The first production of the work, it must be said, failed miserably. The public reacted to the suffering of the snow maiden mockingly, laughs and epigrams rained down on the playwright. It is all the more surprising that when Rimsky-Korsakov created the opera of the same name with the same plot, the same audience redeemed it in glory - after all, only 9 years have passed since the release of the play! Verily, the viewer is a windy and changeable creature.
Now the question of how old the Snow Maiden is at each holiday is decided individually. Some children's groups provide Santa Claus with a granddaughter "of their own." The cutest and / or brisk girl with pleasure plays the role of the Snow Maiden. If this character is necessary as an aid to the fairy-tale Santa, preference is given to an older lady: nevertheless, together with the children it is much easier to cope with than with alone.
Return holiday to people
There is evidence that at the end of the nineteenth century the Snow Maiden already existed: Christmas trees in many houses were decorated with toys in the form of a snow girl. But as an assistant and relative of Santa Claus, her image was established after the revolution of the 17th year.
I must say that at first, neither the custom of decorating the Christmas tree, nor the question of how old Snegurochka was, nor the clothes of the fairy-tale grandfather of the followers of the great Lenin did not interest: it was decided that the “old-regime” traditions did not need the Soviet people. Communist activists have carefully eradicated everything related to Christmas. It was only in 1935 that the party leadership decided that it would not be bad to return at least some joys to life to its fellow citizens, and re-established the Christmas tree with just one stroke of the pen (after the publication of the corresponding article in Pravda signed by a member of the Politburo, tradition returned in a matter of days).
In 1937, a big New Year's holiday was held in the House of Soviets - for the first time, Santa Claus and the “Snow Maiden” appeared on it: the question of how old the Snow Maiden was was resolved in favor of the “older generation”. And only in the 40s she was given an official related status: in the standard scenarios of the New Year holiday they began to write that she was the granddaughter of Santa Claus.
Today, in the struggle for the right to be considered the birthplace of a fabulous girl, Kostroma won, which exploits the image of the Snow Maiden with the good aim of attracting tourists. In these places Ostrovsky wrote his play, a film of the same name was shot nearby. Later, the scenery was moved to Kostroma, having organized the park "Berendeevo kingdom" here. Here in a picturesque tower on the banks of the Volga, and lives a fairy-tale Snegurochka, on a visit to which numerous lovers of fairy tales visit.
The hostess is pleased with the guests: she gives a tour of the house, introduces her friends, and sprinkles snow “good luck” at parting. In late March - early April, Kostroma celebrates the birthday of the beloved heroine on a grand scale (this is where you can probably find out how old Snegurochka is now). The tradition began in 2009, and since then it has only been developing. As part of the holiday, festivities, fairs, competitions, theatrical performances take place - for several
days the city turns into a joyfully buzzing beehive, inviting its residents and visitors to plunge into the atmosphere of a magical holiday.