From the diary of Ivan Papanin (“Life on an Ice Floe”, December 31, 1937 – January 1, 1938). “The last day of the year. Ernst (Krenkel. – Ed.) received 21 congratulatory telegrams from family and friends. Thank you, dear compatriots, for your warmth and kind words! I started preparing a festive dinner. In anticipation of New Year’s Eve, I opened a jar of pressed caviar, took out sausages, smoked brisket, cheese, nuts, chocolate, gave out 35 candies to everyone “Mishka.” We all shaved and washed our heads. Krenkel turned on Moscow, and in our tent we heard the sounds of Red Square, “The International” and the striking of the Kremlin tower clock, notifying the entire Soviet people that the new year of 1938, the year of new ones, was beginning. great successes of our great Motherland.
I congratulated my comrades on the New Year, we sang “The Internationale”, kissed and wished that 1938 would be as happy as the last. New Year’s dinner lasted two hours. After that, we did not go to bed for a long time, talking about how the polar night would soon end.
On the morning of January 1st the weather was wonderful. Each star is visible clearly, clearly. Everyone is in a good mood. For the first time we are holding a general mandatory day off. However, the work continues: we are all so accustomed to action that we cannot live without doing anything. At dinner we drank two glasses of cognac. I took cucumbers from stock. They turned out to be soft, like rags, but we found these cucumbers pleasant and tasty. It became warm: the temperature rose to six degrees below zero. We haven’t had this temperature for a long time; You can even walk around in shorts, only a strong snowstorm gets in the way. In the evening a strong wind blew, the temperature quickly dropped to thirty-five degrees.”
New Year has been celebrated at drifting stations since 1938. The holiday brings a bright note to the long polar night. Photo: From the personal archive of Kirill Filchuk
Polar explorers met the years 2023 and 2024 after the commissioning of the North Pole vessel, which drifts along with the station.
At the SP-41 station, the New Year was celebrated in the traditional format – in the beautiful large dining room of the ship.
At SP-41 they drew lots for whom they would prepare a New Year’s gift
– It so happened that the expedition always included a group of guys who, on their own initiative, organized various holidays. So that people don’t just sit at tables and eat, but have an interesting cultural program. And they did it! – says the head of SP-41, Kirill Filchuk. – 2023 was celebrated with a broadcast of the speech of the President of Russia, after which various competitions took place. There were riddles, charades – have fun from the heart.
For the holidays, SP-41 chef Angela Tsareva bakes the signature North Pole cake according to her own recipe. With real whipped cream! Now Angela is on SP-42. Photo: Tatiana Tyumeneva / RG
They decorated two homemade Christmas trees, Father Frost came and even two Snow Maidens (the role of one of them was played by a man). Gifts were given according to the “Secret Santa” principle: it is unknown who will get what. Santa Claus called the name, and a surprise was taken out of the bag. It is clear that there are no shops around, the bears have not yet started trading, so the gifts were homemade. I got a puzzle: metal parts are separated and connected. This could have been done in the ship’s workshop.
Many polar explorers take talismans with them on expeditions, reminiscent of home and memorable events. This is by no means the first expedition for this cute little brownie. Photo: Tatiana Tyumeneva / RG
The tables were full of goodies – the obligatory tangerines, champagne, red caviar (all this was brought in advance and stored in anticipation of the holiday). Some went to bed early, others had fun until six in the morning.
The 2024th on SP-41 was met in approximately the same way, only the composition of the expedition participants changed somewhat due to rotations. And they introduced an innovation: “Secret Santa” became not entirely secret. The polar explorers drew lots for whom exactly they would prepare a present. That is, the gifts acquired a personalized character. The head of the expedition received a magnet with a sealed general photograph of the flag being raised on an ice floe. And he revealed the secret for whom he himself made the gift: for a member of the expedition who was supposed to return to the mainland with the next rotation. I gave her a symbolic boarding pass (like at an airport) for a flight from the ship to the shore.
As for the history of celebrating the New Year on traditional joint ventures, which have now sunk into oblivion, everything depended on the specific expedition. If they were perky and cheerful, they celebrated noisily. No – more intimate. In short, everything depends on people. Both in a metropolis and on an ice floe, and even on the ISS.
The New Year celebration on SP-41 included a concert prepared by the expedition members. Photo: From the personal archive of Kirill Filchuk
Source: rg.ru
