The article for the first time analyzes in detail the content of the Soviet periodical publications on Palekh lacquer miniature and their role in the development of Palekh folk handicraft. The goal of the paper is to identify relation between the outdated and outdone (as it seemed in the Soviet period) traditions of the Old Russian icon painting and the ideological conceptions of the Soviet system on its own origins. The author argues for the thesis that the consistent development of Palekh folk handicraft is impossible if it does not follow icon painting traditions.