After the liberation of the country in 1878 a process of Europeanization of Christmas and New Year rituals began in Bulgaria. The sovereigns and of the ruling class turned their ambition to one cherished goal – to make everything just as it is in Europe, with the Christmas tree becoming one of the first, and best-loved symbols.

According to a number of sources the first Christmas tree in Bulgaria was decorated on 23 December, 1877 by General Gurko’s officers.

“But it was in 1879 that the first Christmas tree shone in all of its splendour in Sofia and people were ecstatic,” says Todorka Nedeva from the regional museum of history in Veliko Turnovo. “The Christmas tree was established as an essential element of the holiday atmosphere in the country thanks to Princess Clémentine (mother of Prince Ferdinand). A huge Christmas tree was decorated at a lavish palace banquet organized for schoolchildren from schools in Sofia. Throughout the day the children hardly dared to breathe, they were so taken with the magical tree.”

A fact not widely known is that the first big private Christmas tree in Sofia was that of politician and statesman Stefan Stambolov. It was decorated with garlands, glass balls and glittering toys. After being received by him, guests were able to take away a toy as a keepsake. And while in Sofia Stambolov set the tone of a European-style family Christmas at the close of the 19^th century, the Christmas tree became an established practice in Bulgarian towns much later – around the 1920s.

“To begin with, Bulgarians decorated the trees with apples, walnuts, popcorn and home-made paper garlands in different colours. Later, imported sets of glass toys made their way into the country. They cost a lot of money – 10,12, even up 100 Leva. And this, with the minimum subsistence level in Veliko Turnovo at the time being around 30 Leva a month,” Mrs. Nedeva says.

New Year balls with a gourmet menu and fine clothes commissioned abroad for the well-to-do ladies and gentlemen also became part of the Christmas and New Year celebrations and an element of European fashion.

“In the winter of 1880 Prince Alexander I of Battenberg organized the first European ball in Bulgaria which the press started calling “dance soiree”,” Todorka Nedeva says. “This night-time diversion, so new to Bulgarians’ way of life, was attended by 116 select guests, among them representatives of foreign countries, Bulgarian politicians, young officers, senior officials from the administration of the Principality. The dresses worn by the 23 ladies in attendance were not particularly refined. Some of them had even put on simple woolen dresses, a far cry from European finesse. In the years that followed palace balls became part of life in new Bulgaria, gradually coming to resemble the style and refinement of the balls at the royal courts of Europe.”

Sending greeting cards with wishes for health, happiness and love was a popular Christmas practice. For high society, but also for the general populace it was a matter of honour, prestige and luck to decorate their home at Christmas time with the delightful “moving pictures” as postcards were then called.

“The variety of cards at the turn of last century was astonishing. Almost all of them were printed abroad, some were hand-painted, made of silk or some other kind of fine fabric, and generously dusted with silver and gold powder. In the first years after the liberation of the country the greetings were written on the front, and the back was for the address. In the 1930s and 1940s interest in Christmas and New Year cards waned, replaced by business cards which became the vogue, with people from the artistic circles and the intellectual elite giving their cards to friends and family as a greeting card for the holiday season.”

Another element of the Christmas and New Year magic were the “fire toys” in the sky, as the new-sprung fireworks were then called. And of course the gifts for the children.

“Girls were given dolls, with wealthier families commissioning them from abroad. Boys were given balls and wooden horses. But children were also given books of children’s poetry, stories or fairytales, a way for them to get acquainted with Bulgarian literature. Because books at the time were mostly by Bulgarian authors and this practice was a way to throw a bridge between Christmas and literature,” Mrs. Nedeva says.

To this day people in Bulgaria put at least one toy under the Christmas tree – it is believed to bring health and luck.

Photos: archive; fuse - Mihail Dimitrov