Christmas story

[therevjay]

It's almost time for the best Christmas movie ever made (in my mind anyway) again.

What I can't figure out is, what era is it set in? The cars/streetcars could be early 40's or late 40's .(not alot of new cars avalible right after the war)

Ralphies little brother got a toy Zepplin for Christmas, Which makes me think it could be "pre-war", Zepplins were pretty "passe" after WWII.

But, there are several guys in uniform which makes me think wartime/or right after. When did "Red Ryder" become a cowboy icon anyway? I was born in '42, and he was one of my heros growing up. But was he around in 39-42?

 

[RIDE-RED 350r]

I agree, one of the best indeed!

If you look closely when Ralphie gets his Little Orphan Annie decoder pin, it states the year on the pin. I believe it said '40 or '41. I'm not positive, I haven't watched it yet this year. I think you get a look at it when he is decoding in the bathroom.

 

[JWM]

Based on the fire truck/flag pole scene, I peg it about 1946-47. Brings back alot of memories. My first Daisy BB gun was Spittin image model 1894, 40 shot, brass receiver. Christmas 1971, age 11, a small town in snowy, upstate New York.

 

[RIDE-RED 350r]

Based on the fire truck/flag pole scene, I peg it about 1946-47. Brings back alot of memories. My first Daisy BB gun was Spittin image model 1894, 40 shot, brass receiver. Christmas 1971, age 11, a small town in snowy, upstate New York.

Just curious, wherabouts in Upstate NY?

My first BB gun was a hand-me-down that was my Dad's when he was a kid. Like yours, a replica M94! It shot around corners though! LOL!

 

[jeffsmith]

Director Bob Clark said in the film's DVD commentary that he and Shepherd wanted the movie to be seen as "amorphously late 30s, early 40s," but a specific year is never mentioned.

look for Christmas Story under Wikipedia

 

[rburg]

At an OGCA show about 5 or 6 years ago I spotted a genuine Red Ryder BB gun. No box. So I bought it for my oldest, a huge fan of the movie. He's not allowed (wife) to put it over the fireplace.

I read on the new this past year the house they used was sold. I think the house was in either Cleveland or Indy, I forget which.

Oh, my son also has the leg lamp. I haven't seen it in a year or two. Maybe his wife broke it?

 

[Eaglestroker]

In the movie, if I recall, the Wizard of Oz was really popular and in theaters. Google says it hit theaters in 1939.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

As a longtime Jean Shepherd fan I know he made it clear he was a storyteller, not a historian. "Little Orphan Annie" came on the air in 1935,
"Red Ryder" started as a comic strip on November 6, 1938, the BB gun was also introduced in 1938. Seeing men in uniform is a tad incongrous, the Draft did not start until September, 1940 and there were no major Army bases in Northern Indiana. But it's a great movie.

 

[forindooruseonly]

I read on the new this past year the house they used was sold. I think the house was in either Cleveland or Indy, I forget which.

It was filmed in Canada if I remember right. Jean Shepard is one of my favorite authors. You should read his books.

 

[JcMack]

Shepherd's boyhood home still stands in Hammond, In. It's a 1/2 mile from me. Story was filmed in Cleveland, and was based on Shepherds boyhood experience. Shots in the movie with family "downtown" window shopping look exactly like what Hammond's downtown looked like until about 30 years ago. When I was in grade school a guy would come to the school assembly hall and tell stories once a year. That was early 50's. For $0.25 a head there was a packed house. I'm pretty sure it was Shepherd as he had a period in his life that he was known to do such story telling at schools. "The Star-Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski (1983)" is one of four movies Shepherd wrote for PBS. It follows Ralph to high school and romance and is pretty darn funny. I saw the original on a Boston PBS rerun a long time ago.

 

[sipowicz]

Hard to tell....I'm in Cali and it's been heavily edited on TV here...there is no BB gun anywhere in the film...they dubbed in that Ralphie wants a "non-gender based toy" for Christmas. The turkey scene was also edited out so as not to offend the Vegans. They did however leave the fishnet leg lamp in for the transvestites...which is nice I guess.

 

[DeadAye]

I'm transfixed by the leg lamp....
I didn't even know that I'm a transvestite
What am I gonna tell my wife?

A question for those in the know:
Do I have to shave my legs now?

 

[jeffsmith]

SNIP
I read on the new this past year the house they used was sold. I think the house was in either Cleveland or Indy, I forget which.
SNIP

- A Christmas Story House - Ralphie's House Restored to its A Christmas Story Splendor

 

[raisedin99]

A Christmas Story - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Rule 303]

I got my first Red Ryder in 1956 and it had a flip over rear sight, peep and buckhorn. It had a saddle ring also.

I still have it, although its in bad shape.
Fightin' too many Japs and Nazi's

Jungle Work

 

[jimmyj]

1939-1940 era.
** Deadaye: shaving your legs makes it alot easier to put stocking on.
Pink purse with matching pink high heels in the "in" now.
Jimmy

 

[Gutpile Charlie]

I was born in 1940. Currently 70 years old, soon to be 71. The movie "speaks" to me in that the character of "Ralphie" is "me"!

I would have to say that it is set very close to 1940. You can't go by the automobiles and other things in the movie because they sometimes miss the mark as to authenticity.

The Ovaltine decoder? Hey I had one. Ordered and checked the mailbox continually until it arrived. I listened to the radio and decoded all those "messages." If I remember correctly, they all were about Ovaltine.

Nearly everything in the movie reminds me of things I saw in that period.....and remembered.

My parents had a black, 1940 Chevy. The car in the movie I believe was a black sedan of that "pre war" era. (They quit manufacturing cars during the war and it wasn't until 1946 before you could get a new one.)

I even noticed that the department store in which Ralphie sat on Santa's lap looked very much like the department store in my home town. Even the lighting fixtures were the same.

Yes, early 40's is what I would guess.

 

[Bullzaye]

Hard to tell....I'm in Cali and it's been heavily edited on TV here...there is no BB gun anywhere in the film...they dubbed in that Ralphie wants a "non-gender based toy" for Christmas. The turkey scene was also edited out so as not to offend the Vegans. They did however leave the fishnet leg lamp in for the transvestites...which is nice I guess.

I hate to ask, for fear of being labeled as being gullible, but knowing Cali. and it's leaders...are you serious?

Tim

 

[DeadAye]

1939-1940 era.
** Deadaye: shaving your legs makes it alot easier to put stocking on.
Pink purse with matching pink high heels in the "in" now.
Jimmy

I thank you sir! Always good to get an education from a fellow Tennessean.
Also - I won't ask how (or why) you know this stuff

P.S. I don't know how you guys wear these high heels. I'll try again once the cast is off though.

Thanks again

 

[DCWilson]

I hate to ask, for fear of being labeled as being gullible, but knowing Cali. and it's leaders...are you serious?

Tim

Californians? Serious about anything? Surely you jest.

Just look at the people we select for higher office.

The last serious Californian either died or left the state when Hiram Johnson was governor