𝓦𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀 𝓨𝓮𝓪𝓻

The New Year is coming very soon, and I can congratulate the readers of this short article on it. Nowadays, it is a holiday that is usually celebrated with family and friends, at home at the table, listening to the president's speech on TV at midnight and the chimes ringing. However, the famous writers and poets of the 20th century did not have such an opinion about the holiday.

There is something fascinating in how creative people create their own worlds even in the most ordinary situations. For them, celebrating the New Year often became an experiment, an opportunity to escape from routine and familiar rituals. Mikhail Bulgakov, for example, painted his lips with lipstick and smashed cups with a flourish. And Vladimir Mayakovsky took part in the famous "futuristic Christmas tree" - an event that became a legend due to its audacity and imagination. What can I say: even the holiday drinks here were far from banal. It would be a sin not to describe this event in more detail, given its eccentric and completely charming character. 

From the book by Vladimir Berezin "Viktor Shklovsky" especially resourceful people could like the words of Elsa Triole about her memories of the "futuristic Christmas tree" organized by Lilya Brik, where the atmosphere of the holiday is described in detail: "On this visit for the New Year, Lilya had a "futuristic Christmas tree": the decorated Christmas tree was hung from the ceiling, upside down, like a chandelier, the walls were covered with white sheets, candles were burning, glued to children's round shields, and we all dressed up and made up so as not to look like ourselves. Volodya (-Mayakovsky), it seems, was wearing some kind of Apashevsky-type red scarf, Shklovsky a sailor's blouse. The dining room was even more cramped than the room with the piano, the guests sat around the table, pressed against the wall, dishes were passed over their heads right from the door." 

The Muse of the Russian avant-garde herself also left a description of this evening, adding details:

“The Christmas tree was hung in the corner under the ceiling, “upside down”. It was decorated with playing cards, a yellow blouse, a cloud in pants, glued together from paper. Everyone was dressed up. Mayakovsky wrapped a red rag around his neck, in his hand a wooden knuckle-duster covered with red calico. Brik (apparently Osip Brik) was in a turban, in an Uzbek robe, Shklovsky in a sailor suit, Elsa was Pierrot. Vasya Kamensky trimmed his jacket with colorful printed fabric, a bird was painted on his cheek, one moustache was light, the other black. I was in red stockings, a short Scottish skirt, instead of a bodice - a colorful Russian kerchief. The rest - the stranger, the better!”

The drink that was served at this celebration would cause, to put it mildly, bewilderment today. Alcohol diluted with cherry syrup can hardly be called a gourmet treat. But in wartime conditions, when prohibition was in effect, it was considered almost a delicacy.

"We clinked glasses with alcohol mixed with cherry syrup. The alcohol was obtained from under the counter. There was prohibition during the war," Brick continued in her memoirs.

Although I am definitely not a fan of the alcohol theme and in no way encourage others to do so, I believe that such a drink has its own symbolic meaning, in keeping with the spirit of the event - experimental, daring and a complete escape from reality.       

The end.