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Natalia Maksimova: "Magic comes from childhood"
New Year's hustle and bustle is behind us, but the holidays have just begun - 12 festive days from Christmas to Epiphany, when it is customary to celebrate noisily, visit guests, arrange generous feasts and give gifts to each other. This is a special time, filled with magic, family traditions, amazing stories and, I'm not afraid of this word, miracles. Right now I want to share with you a conversation with Natalya Maksimova - the creator of the fascinating Christmas tree toys Nisa Toys , which we wrote about in the material about New Year's gifts and which were presented for the first time this season in Ogonka. They are real magic that you can touch with your hands and give to your loved ones, unique and unrepeatable. As a whole team, we haven't imagined winter holidays without these toys for a long time: we have been decorating the Christmas tree with them both in Ogonka and at home for many years, we give these toys to friends for New Year's and godchildren for Christmas, we collect collections and look forward to December to take them out of the boxes. Natalya is not just inspired by Soviet toys of the 40s — she uses authentic technology and finds Soviet materials to make them. Perhaps this is the most beautiful embodiment of nostalgia that I have ever seen. There are acrobats, clowns, gnomes, fairy-tale animals, children on sleighs, houses on chicken legs, Christmas trees, chimney sweeps and many other images that we have loved since childhood. I asked Natalya about where her love of old things comes from and how she started making toys, what they are made of and how much time it takes to make them, about childhood rituals and family New Year traditions. Happy reading.
— Tell me, how did it all begin?
— My polytechnic education has nothing to do with what I am doing now — I just wanted to do something with my own hands since childhood. It all started with knitting — I mastered this craft at the age of four. Already at a young age, I came up with the idea of making fantasy panels from fabric scraps - it was the best gift from me for any holiday. There were enough scraps of fabric - it was difficult to buy good and fashionable things in the USSR, and my mother sewed her own clothes (a technical school teacher had to look like a needlewoman).
It seems that the love of needlework was passed on to me with genes.
- How did you come to toys?
— It seems that they were always inside me. As long as I can remember, I had a sewing machine on which I sewed something all the time. And one day I wanted to give my parents a present - that's how I sewed the first stylized bunnies: a girl and a boy. This is how my toy story began (smiles). Then I made another one - as a gift for my niece - and then I started sewing dolls, mice... My favorites are mice with hard heads, which were made mainly from pressed sawdust.
I've always liked everything old - it's definitely from my mother, for her old things have always been a source of inspiration.
Still, you can't knock the spirit of the 40s and 50s out of me (laughs). I bought such mice, dissected them, took casts. I bought some toys at auctions. In general, I always liked everything old - this is exactly from my mother, for her the old was always a source of inspiration. We always lived in old apartments with high ceilings and old furniture. And probably this spirit of antiquity has passed on to me - it calms me down. Old wood, carved elements are mine. In principle, I like the Soviet era: colors, objects, books.
— How did your cotton toys come about?
— Having already been fascinated by Soviet toys, I once saw toys made of cotton wool somewhere. I don't remember where exactly - most likely, at my grandmother's, because at our house the toys on the Christmas tree were only glass. And I thought: since I do everything with my own hands, why not make a cotton toy. And I tried. The first master class that I watched on the Internet was for children: a woman showed them how to make mushrooms from cotton wool. It was very heartwarming to watch it: the kids are sitting, their hands are all covered in plaster, everything is chattering (smiling). After that, I was finally convinced that it was interesting to me, and I made my first toy. I can't say that the first pancake was a lump, but even now I'm not always completely satisfied with my toys (laughs).
When I was a child, I didn't have such small Christmas toys - there were only big Santa Claus and Snow Maiden, which fascinated me. Their faces were made of press sawdust, and their clothes were amazingly iridescent. These toys stood with me every hour, over time they became yellower and yellower, and, of course, something in them fell off. And since toys were bought and changed infrequently back then, we tidied them up with our own hands — gluing broken glass onto them. Yes, toys were beaten finely, crushed with a rolling pin or a hammer - and sprinkled on glue.
We put them in order with our own hands - glued broken glass on them.
— I think that this manual labor led to such wonderful results. Everything from childhood!
- Yes. And it was this glass sprinkling that gave the toy the most amazing shine, mesmerizing with its brilliance. Accordingly, I have a question: where can I get such a sprinkle for my cotton toys. I understood that I needed a hand-made sprinkle made according to the original Soviet technology: a glass layer as thick as a soap bubble is blown out, and then thrown into a special container, in which it is broken into small, small pieces. No one wants to do it now, but a grandfather was found, a former glassblower who worked in a pharmacy for many years and who even had some Soviet glass left. It is he who makes glass sprinkles for me from time to time. When I tried it on for the first time, I understood what it was
This is exactly the same sparkle that I remember from childhood. It was amazing.
— Your toys really shine amazingly. And what does the toy inside consist of?
- It is almost entirely made of cotton wool. Moreover, it is important to me that everything I have is Soviet - and my wool is also Soviet. Many people do not believe me and wonder where I got so much wool. And I bought everything I could find, because I understood that it is not eternal. The frame of each toy is made of wire, necessarily Soviet (laughs)! On top of it is Soviet wool wrapped with Soviet threads. And then there are the main layers of cotton wool.
On the Internet, I found a document with a patent for the production of cotton toys in the 40s — and it confirmed that I was doing everything correctly.
Moreover, this Soviet wool is radically different from the modern one. I have a lot of different versions of her, and I understand how she behaves. For some details, I also use other materials: for example, a cardboard drum, I make very thin bows from a napkin, and aprons are cotton wool with decoupage on top.
Original post-war toys from Natalia's personal collection
In my toys, cotton wool is completely soaked with glue, so they are dense, not soft, like my children's Santa Claus and Snow Maiden. At first I was worried that it was wrong - I want everything to be identical to the Soviet originals. On the Internet, I found a document with a patent for the production of cotton toys in the 40s — and it confirmed that I was doing everything correctly.
— How much time does it take to make one cotton toy?
— It takes 24 working hours to complete the production of one toy — with a face, coating, painting. This is the minimum if you work quickly. But, of course, I don't make each toy separately from scratch - I have blanks. I usually make one toy in three days. But sometimes I get so carried away that I can't stop - once I worked for 26 hours in a row without sleep, with breaks for food.
— Do you remember when the toys we see now were made for the first time?
— I remember exactly that it was the year of the Monkey, because I made monkeys for the Gesheft Garage Sale festival (laughs). So, in 2016.
— Did you decide to participate with toys in Gesheft or did someone push you to do so?
— For the first time, my toys ended up on Gesheft without me. One of my friends, who loved my mice very much, offered to present the toys at the festival at her daughter's stand. I gave literally 10 boxes — and all of them were sold in one fell swoop. Then I thought that next hour I could do more - and since then I have participated in the New Year's Gesheft every hour.
— Where do you get your inspiration?
— Looking at Soviet toys on the Internet. I adore them. Even glass toys can be made from the same cotton wool, you see.
When I pick up a toy, I immediately feel it.
Toys seem to run through my veins when I touch them with my hands (smiles). Although someone does not like them. I remember how once I gave a pair of antique, even hundred-year-old dolls for sale at the Starokonny rynok. And I heard how girls passing by called my dolls scary. And I look at them - and it seems to me that they are beauties. People have different perceptions.
— I am sure that the purest and most sincere perception is in a child. The reaction of children to your toys is fantastic. Any child, seeing your monkey or your mouse in Ogonka, begins to go crazy with delight - for him it is very beautiful.
— Yes, because the original Soviet toys were developed by professional artists, based on children's perception of the world.
- Do you have assistants? Are your children involved in making toys?
— No, no, this is a very individual sphere. Here literally one finger movement can spoil everything. And sometimes, on the contrary, the hands themselves do what the head cannot understand. Once my daughter helped me - she made boxes.
The hands themselves do what the head cannot understand
This is really a big help, because each box is made individually for each toy. I don't like it when the toy hangs around or barely fits in the box.
— What is the New Year for you?
— The most important family holiday for me is Christmas, and the New Year is a magic from childhood. This is the hope that everything will be fine from the new year. The smell of a Christmas tree, tangerines, gifts. That is why every hour we buy a live Christmas tree - I am against artificial ones. Before the New Year, I try to cook a lot, a lot, so that we can celebrate for at least two days.
The most important family holiday for me is Christmas, and the New Year is a magic from childhood.
And until Christmas itself, when we meet, we do not say "hello" to each other, but "Happy New Year, Happy New Year!". I don't know what новое счастье is, but we are used to saying that since childhood (laughs).
The end
We spoke with Natalia in her spacious apartment in the center of Odessa, where the workshop is also located. Parquet, high ceilings and an abundance of books and photos on the walls only enhance the feeling of love for everything steeped in history. This is exactly what the toys that we have come to love over the years convey. We looked at needlework books, old issues of the magazine "Ogonyok", Soviet postcards and everything that Natalya keeps in memory of such a bright time of childhood from the last millennium. Traditionally, we share our secrets - below you will find several named needlework books that inspire the master, and advice for all our readers in the new year.
From Natalia:
Books: "Production of cotton wool toys" (D. Kryvolapov, 1937), "Christmas tree toy" (V. Lapkovsky, F. Oveshkova, V. Danylevsky, 1944), "Fabric toys" (M. Izergina, N. Bartram, 1947).
Continuing my traditional family greeting, I want to wish everyone to find their new happiness in the new year!