Standard for Santa Claus

Russian toy manufacturers will be asked to maintain uniformity

On the eve of the next boom in Christmas sales, Russian officials hastened to protect the rights of a mythical, but nonetheless fundamental hero of all New Year's fairy tales. The initiator of putting things in order on the shelves selling New Year's paraphernalia was the government of the Vologda region - the region where Veliky Ustyug - the official residence of the Russian Father Frost - is located. Considering that the commercial interests of Father Frost have been supplanted by numerous Santa Clauses in the last decade, Vologda officials and friendly entrepreneurs decided to monitor the toys being sold today. And at the same time act as experts on the appearance of Santa Claus.

It seems that Vologda officials are not satisfied with the very different ideas among traders about what a New Year's benefactor might look like. The pre-New Year chaos that had already begun, when both Christmas trees and the entire retinue of fairy-tale characters accompanying the onset of the holiday appeared in store windows, gave rise to preliminary conclusions about both the infringement of the rights of Santa Claus and the deception of children who are offered the wrong character. “Toy manufacturers now see the New Year’s wizard differently,” Interfax quotes First Deputy Governor of the Vologda Region Nikolai Vinogradov. “Santa Clauses appear on the shelves in different costumes and of different ages, and it is not uncommon for Santa Claus to appear in a not entirely positive image.”

The main disadvantage of market grandfathers, according to Vologda officials, is their too foreign appearance. According to Mr. Vinogradov, “nowadays in stores you can more often see foreign Santa Claus than Russian Father Frost.” “To be honest, this is a little offensive,” he complained, “after all, we have our own magical hero, and he should prevail among us.” The result of the research initiated by the Vologda government should be the unification of the image of Father Frost with a detailed description of not only his appearance, but also his character. After completing the work, officials plan to ask Russian toy manufacturers to adhere to the developed standard.

It is noteworthy, however, that there are no plans yet to clear the counters of Santa Claus’s numerous retinue, and in general the Russian Father Frost, whose commercial interests officials are so concerned about, is distinguished by his tolerance in relations with foreign “colleagues.” The Russian capital annually hosts international summits of Santa Clauses, which bring together representatives of this winter profession: the American-European Santa Claus, the Swiss Tomte, the Slovak St. Nicholas, the keeper of the Yakut cold Chiskhaan, the young Karelian frost Pakkaine. And such international events as “Father Frost and Santa Claus. Christmas without borders” (last year our grandfather fraternized with the Estonian Santa), the Russian authorities regard as “symbolic evidence that the process of establishing more constructive relations between the countries has begun,” cultural above all, as well as political and economic.

Yulia KHOMCHENKO