I love this sort of trivia... the school scenes were shot in St. Catherine's, Ontario -- some of the home interior and the streetcar scenes were shot in Toronto - hence the operating cars. The Little Orphan Annie decoder ring was the one distributed in 1940 so that would place the movie around that December, but there were soldiers in the department store window scenes, as well as the Sox trade of 'Bullfrog' Dietrich that would push this out to 1946 when the trade occurred (although Bullfrog was also traded in 1936). The decoders of the war years and immediate post-war were paper... Let's see, the Olds is a Model 6 from 1937 so that fits a later time frame... we could go on. I never knew 'Swede' was actually a cameo of the director Bob Clark... There's a funky documentary you should check out 'Road Trip for Ralphie'...
Doug Murphy 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers...' Henry V.
From Wikipedia:
Director Bob Clark stated in the film's DVD commentary that he and author Shepherd wished for the movie to be seen as "amorphously late 30s, early 40s." The film is not specifically about a given year, it is about a particular time in American family life. The film appears to be set roughly around the tail end of the Great Depression but before the United States involvement in World War II.
Bob Nelson
The movie was set in the post-war 1940's.
Cleveland was chosen for the downtown location because at the time the film was made, less than 5% of all the buidings immediately surrounding Public Square were of glass and steel designs. Everything down there was brick, stone and granite, which is what you'd want when depicting the 45 to 49 era. More to the point, no major restoration or cleaning work had been done to our downtown buildings prior to 1983. So everything still had that thick black dust on it from the coal powered era. There's a church on Public Square effectionately called The Old Stone Church. Until recent years, many Clevelanders had grown up believing the stone the structure was built from was black. It was only after a proper cleaning that we discovered the beautiful golden granite under all those years of steel mill fallout.
The Tremont neighborhood was likewise chosen for it's historic appearance. 90% of the houses there date from 1920 or earlier. Perhaps more importantly however, Tremont is on a hill overlooking the Cuyahoga River Valley and the old Republic Steel Mills (LTV today).
By 1983 I can tell you with 100% confidence that there were NO operating streetcar lines in downtown Cleveland. There were a few PCC, Peter Witt and other cars still stored at a Regional Transit Authority barn in the Shaker Heights area. But as far as I know, none of them had been outfitted to run on asphalt. They may however have been pulled out of the barn, trucked downtown and placed on the streets as stationary props. So the hinky dinky pseudo-PCC car with the frosted windows must have been of Hollywood manufacture. (And should have stayed in the background.)
As for the mother's hair, what can you say? Look at any film from any era and you're likely to find actresses who wore their hair as they would walking down the street outside the studio rather than as the character they're portraying would have. Actresses like to be recognized.
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
When is it? The best way to figure that out is to figure out what year cars are they driving and how old do they look in the movie? The old mans car was described as if it was suffering from wartime shortages like tires but that could just be from depression era money shortages too. In "It runs in the Family" the sequel to Christmas Story it seams more apparent thats its ment to be late 1930's. In the book "In God We Trust All Others Pay Cash" its clear that the childhood stories all take place during the depression.
Have fun with your trains
ivesboy The movie was set in 1940 so its about 15 years too new!
The movie was set in 1940 so its about 15 years too new!
A while back - probably Xmas 2009 - a thread came up about when the movie is set. It's never actually stated anywhere what the year was. The Dad's comments about the Chicago Bears being "chipmunks" certainly wouldn't fit 1940, a year they won the NFL championship game 73-0. I'd say it's more generally set in the 1930's-40's rather than a specific year.
Keep in mind in some Jean Shepard stories "Ralph" is in the military in WW2, and in some he's a teenager in the 1950's....
After so many showings, a movie like this just begs for criticism on a large and small scale. Here are mine.
With the opening scene, they show Higbee's and the crowds. There is the most fake looking streetcar I've ever seen in the scene. Later, when they are shopping for the tree, there are three authentic PCC cars behind them. My criticism. If they have a real car, use it in the scene instead of the fake one. Nobody misses something that is left out.
A second criticism is over the gifts given to Miss Shields. On her desk is a very poor looking poinsettia plant. While this was considered a Christmas plant for centuries, it gained in popularity in the 1960s with color TV and decoration on TV shows and specials. Until quicker air transport, they stayed mostly a Southwestern plant, where the climate was perfect for growing them. I don't think Northern Indiana in 1940 would have been an ideal place to find them.
Third is the mother's hair. I'm not sure if that is her natural look, but most mothers in 1940 had their hair pulled up or back to keep it out of their eyes.
Overall, it is a great depiction and exaggeration, of life as many of us knew it...even those of us born much later.
I don't know if there are any trains featured, BUT as part of the renovation of the Higbee Department
Store building, the Cleveland Convention and Visitors Center is headquartered on the first floors of the building and they maintain a visitors center, and a display window decorated as a salute to the movie.
http://www.achristmasstoryhouse.com/index.php/filming-locations/higbees/
marxalot Jeff-Z: I almost hate to admit it, but I could sit and watch that movie all day. I really like that period of history and the goofy, whimsical way it's presented. Be very careful, very careful. If you don't, part of your layout might look like this at Christmas time!
Jeff-Z:
I almost hate to admit it, but I could sit and watch that movie all day. I really like that period of history and the goofy, whimsical way it's presented.
Be very careful, very careful. If you don't, part of your layout might look like this at Christmas time!
If you want to satisfy your leg lamp fixation, I'd suggest you visit: http://www.achristmasstoryhouse.com/
It's about a 10 minute drive from my house down to Ralphie's place in Tremont. And from Ralphie's house it's about a 10 minute walk to that store window at Higbee's on public square. That's Cleveland by the way, not Indianapolis. Incidentally it's also about 10 minutes from where I'm sitting right now to Drew Carey's house over to the north east or 10 minutes south to where the Orr brothers of the band The Cars grew up.
Everybody's from Cleveland. It's just a question of whether or not they admit it.
Becky
Do I see a Major Award in the window?
Jeff-Z I almost hate to admit it, but I could sit and watch that movie all day. I really like that period of history and the goofy, whimsical way it's presented.
Tommy92l Geeze dude, off the top of your head!? Thank you man. Im looking into getting something like that next christmas season unless if they aren't gonna totally drain me of money
Geeze dude, off the top of your head!? Thank you man. Im looking into getting something like that next christmas season unless if they aren't gonna totally drain me of money
LOL between the Hiawatha and that M10000 certainly WILL drain your funds unless your Bill Gates, thats why I collect Marx LOL
There are 3 trains in the window of Higbees department store in Indianapolis....One a Lionel 752E city of Portland in yellow and brown. A 250E Hiawatha with matching passenger cars, and an out of place postwar freight set. Looks like a 736 berk with a reel car and assorted freights. The movie was set in 1940 so its about 15 years too new!
You mean the one in the department store window?
There were actually two. Both three rail, probably Lionel. One was on O-72 track. A Union Pacific M10000. The other a steam engine with fresh smoke fluid. Don't remember the exact model. I am pretty certain is is NOT the 0-8-0 used in the "A Christmas Story" train set currently being offered by Lionel. I would have said a 4-6-4 or 2-8-4.
Hey guys, I was wondering if anyone knew if the trainset in the movie was an American Flyer or A lionel. I cannot find a clip of the set anywhere but if I do I will update it. It is when ralph peers into the window of the store and see's the train layout inside.
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