After the revolution, the Bolsheviks abolished the celebration of Christmas, but Christmas trees remained for children, with gifts "distributed" by the leader of the revolution. In Soviet culture, there was an entire movement known as "Leniniana." It encompassed a collection of various works of art, all featuring Vladimir Lenin as the central figure: paintings, posters, illustrations, sculptures, and monuments, many of which still stand in cities across Russia. In 1918, the Bolsheviks banned Christmas as a religious holiday. Soon after, the "bourgeois" tradition of decorating Christmas trees was also prohibited. It was only reinstated in 1935 during Stalin's era. But kind "Grandpa Lenin" couldn't leave children without gifts. Thus, the mythologization of the leader extended to New Year's traditions as well. The Bolshevik writer Vladimir Bonch-Bruyevich described how, in the midst of the Civil War during the cold and hungry year of 1919, Lenin ordered a holiday to be organized for children: "Find gingerbread, candies, bread, crackers, and toys wherever you can, and tomorrow evening we’ll visit Nadya's [Krupskaya, Lenin's wife - RB] school. We'll organize a holiday for the kids, and here’s some money for the expenses." According to the writer’s account, Lenin played with the children, led them in round dances around the tree, treated them to sweets, and drank tea with them: "Vladimir Ilyich loved children very much, and the children felt it." An artistic "remake" of Bonch-Bruyevich's memories became Aleksandr Kononov's book "The Christmas Tree in Sokolniki." The illustrations from these works gave rise to the theme of "Lenin at the Christmas tree."