And as personal as some traditions can be, we also have cultural and generational traditions we share collectively. A perfect example of this is the movie A Christmas Story. The holiday season just does not start for those who grew up with this classic until it starts showing on TV.
But how much do you really know about Ralphie and his quest to get a Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot Range Model air rifle?
1. Jean Shepherd’s book, In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash - which A Christmas Story is based on - is a collection of semi-autobiographical short stories that Shepherd wrote for Playboy magazine during the 1960s.
2. Director Bob Clark and writer Jean Shepherd took nearly 10 years to fully conceptualize the film. Time well spent.
3. Shepherd was also the narrating voice of Ralphie and had a cameo in the movie as the old shopper who told Ralphie to go to the back of the much longer line to see Santa.
4. The role of Mr. Parker, Ralphie’s father, was originally offered to Jack Nicholson, who reportedly was interested in playing the part. Fears associated with the cost of casting Nicholson led the studio to go in another direction.
5. Local residents of Cleveland (where the movie was partially filmed) volunteered their own vintage cars in an effort to help with authenticity.
6. Though it looks completely real, the scene in which Flik's tongue is stuck to the flagpole is due to a hidden suction tube which created the illusion.
7. In a twist of irony, three leg lamps were made for the movie, and all three were broken on set.
8. Peter Billingsley (Ralphie) has revealed that every word in his fight scene and angry rant was actually fully scripted.
9. “Christmas” is spelled incorrectly on Ralphie's assignment, which is titled “What I Want For Chistmas.”
10. The film inspired the television show The Wonder Years.
11. Wil Wheaton auditioned for the role of Ralphie.
12. A kid is wearing a Dukes Of Hazzard digital watch during a classroom scene. Why does that matter? Dukes of Hazzard was made in 1979 and digital watches were mass-produced in the '70s while A Christmas Story is set "amorphously late '30s, early '40s."
13. Though he dominates most of the screen time in the film, Ralphie only has 93 lines of dialogue in the entire movie.
14. If you enter the address of the actual house that was used for the film (3159 W 11th Street, Cleveland, OH) into Google’s street view, you can see the famous leg lamp in the front window.
15. The boy in the goggles waiting in line next to Ralphie was not an actor but an actual visitor of the department store that day. They decided to include him in the movie.
16. The actors were not told the restaurant staff were going to sing to them, so their reactions in the movie are genuine.
17. Peter Billingsley, who played Ralphie in A Christmas Story, also played Ming Ming the Elf in Will Ferrell's Elf.
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