When the Russian Empire gave way to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics they officially, and legally, became a nation of atheists, a sharp turn away from their religious roots.
This made things hard for the devoutly Catholic, and really put a damper on the Christmas festivities, but holiday card artists managed to save the day by sneaking in images of Saint Nick with a little white lie.
These clever artists combined the Soviet space obsession with images of who they claimed to be "Ded Moroz", a wizard from Russian mythology who happens to look an awful lot like Santa Claus.
They combined icons from mythology, cool sci-fi stuff and traditional holiday fare into one utterly amazing outer space scene, creating the kind of Christmas cards most geeks would love to send out to this day.
Man, Soviet Santa is so much cooler than our syrupy, Coca-Cola sponsored version!
See more Engrossing Soviet Science Fiction Holiday Cards here