Soviet Santa Makes House Calls in Taxi

MOSCOW — Soviet holiday customs look a lot like American ones, but in Moscow, the jolly man with the fluffy white beard and red suit rides in a taxi instead of a sleigh pulled by eight tiny reindeer.

And he makes his rounds in the company of Snegurochka--a beautiful snow maiden dressed in white.

Instead of standing in line at a shopping mall to sit on Santa’s lap, many Soviet children get house calls from Ded Moroz--Grandfather Frost--and Snegurochka.

At one stop, 5-year-old Olga’s eyes lit up as Ded Moroz and Snegurochka walked into her family’s apartment Saturday morning.

The couple sang, danced and told riddles with the little girl. Ded Moroz then opened his sack and pulled out a huge teddy bear, which Olga’s father had handed him secretly beforehand.

“It’s so beautiful,” said Olga, who was dressed in a powder-blue princess costume and wore a shiny tiara and a big light blue bow atop her head.

Trudging Through Snow

Ded Moroz and Snegurochka wished the family happy New Year and trudged through the mounds of snow back to their hired yellow taxi. They had about 30 more stops before the day was through.

“I don’t feel like it’s New Year’s unless I dress up like this and visit little children,” said Vladimir Krylov, 37, who has been playing Ded Moroz for nine years.

“Our (Soviet) children believe so much that Ded Moroz and Snegurochka are real,” said Lyuda Golubgikov, 33, a six-year veteran Snegurochka. “I love to see their eyes shine when we walk in.”

After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the primary winter holiday in the Soviet Union switched from Christmas, celebrated Jan. 7 in the Russian Orthodox faith, to New Year’s.

Olga’s parents were among about 4,000 people who each paid a Moscow business called Consumer Services about $9 to have the holiday couple bring New Year’s greetings to their children between Dec. 24 and Jan. 5, said Tamara Korovin, who hired the cast of characters.