Have Yourself A счастливого русского рождества*

*Merry Russian Christmas

In Uzbekistan, a lot of products are imported from Russia. Groceries, clothing, attitudes. OK, maybe attitudes are quickly shifting to homegrown or from elsewhere. Holiday trimmings are definitely still from the former Motherland, easy to tell from the packaging. The designs are full of Tsarist, Comrade-like customs and fantasies about what life is supposed to be.

Exhibit A, a couple of candy tins featuring "genre scenes." It's looking a lot like throw(way)back New Year's. After all, the name means "Favorite since childhood." What's junior doing up? And why is he in a sailor suit? Hypnotized by candy, that's troubling. What's that guy in the sweater vest have around his neck? No smartphones back in the 1950s?

Cartoon animals are holiday mascots in Russia. Want an '80s hip hop bunny or a mouse in a stockade pose?

Ahh, now we are going way back to Tsar time, the classic, tea spewing samovar. What could possibly be dribbling from this version? Maybe the fox in Barbara Bush's pearl necklace knows.

More candy packages, celebrating a time long left behind by most of the rest of the world. Did they nick these images from old Saturday Evening Post magazines?

Anna Karenina as sexy holiday hostess? мяу, котенок.* She's wishing everyone a Happy New Year. 

*Meow, kitten.

Back to some toys. A couple of dolls, perhaps a little subversion by the packer: hands almost holding. What's with the hair? It goes on for days. In the other box, a cute family, dad dressed like Mork, mom taking the ugly Christmas sweater theme down to her hem line and kid playing a gnome.

A classic mashup: iconic Matryoshka doll containers with famous Russian chocolate freaky baby "Alyonka" logos on them. So scary! So tempting! 

*

And Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays to you, brat i sestra.*

*Brother and sister, what vendors shout at James and Sarah in the markets.