# Some Factual Questions About Events in "A Christmas Story" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 29, 2009, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866 "2009-12-29T02:46:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866/41 "2009-12-30T16:29:12Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > I don’t see anything that signifies 1950s. As I mentioned above, Scut Farkus’s coonskin cap points to 1955 or later. Estes Kefauver made it a trademark in his 1948 senatorial campaign, but it would be unlikely for a kid to wear something like that before 1955. So the various cultural artifacts in the film cover at least a 20 year period, from 1935 to 1955. ---
**Author:** ![Shawn1767](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shawn1767](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shawn1767)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866/42 "2009-12-30T17:35:41Z")
What some people are forgetting is that wearing a coonskin cap goes back to, at least, the early 1800s! Perhaps Scut Farkuss was not emulating a fad based on a tv series, but was just really wearing an honest-to-goodness practical headpiece! So, now, I submit that the movie references cover the years from the early 1800s to the 1940s. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866/43 "2009-12-30T17:40:51Z")
The coonskin cap reference is useless, because they were \*popularized \* in the 50’s, but could be found earlier. Again, if all the facts lined up perfectly, **that** would actually be a problem, because we are talking about an adult recalling his childhood. Having everything line up perfectly with history would make me question whether the story was being told by an adult recalling his youth, or was just being shilled to me as such. This point has been covered up-thread already, making all discussions about when the story was supposed to take place moot. It takes place in 1940, and because adults can’t remember everything about their childhood perfectly, we see hints of that throughout the movie. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866/44 "2009-12-30T17:41:52Z")
The fact that no one else wears one seems to point to the fact that there was no Davy Crockett fad. And Scut Farkuss, being from the wrong side of the tracks probably wouldn’t have a TV anyway. While there are some later artifacts, most of the majors clues are right around 1940 (like Little Orphan Annie). There is no specific date set, but the movie is pretty clearly pre-WWII. ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866/45 "2009-12-30T17:47:55Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > This point has been covered up-thread already, making all discussions about when the story was supposed to take place moot. It takes place in 1940, and because adults can’t remember everything about their childhood perfectly, we see hints of that throughout the movie. No, you are incorrect, it is not set in 1940, and it it not set in any specific year. BTW, How do you explain the song on the radio from 1943 if the movie is set in 1940? How do you explain the producer and writer saying it was not set in any specific year? Are you privy to some information that’s not available to A) the producer/writer and B) the general public? ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866/46 "2009-12-30T18:03:25Z")
Now you’ve done it. I want to Amazon\* some of the essays and other stories from Jean Shepherd. Any recommendations? - I did it here first. I used Amazon as a verb. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866/47 "2009-12-30T18:14:17Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > The coonskin cap reference is useless, because they were \*popularized \* in the 50’s, but could be found earlier. Sure, they could be _found_ earlier, but the fact that a kid is wearing one is a pretty clear cultural reference to the fad of 1955. Can you find an instance of an urban/small town kid being depicted wearing one before then? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866/48 "2009-12-30T18:20:55Z")
I thought it took place in 1982. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866/49 "2009-12-30T18:24:41Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The peruiod of the film is deliberately vague. No one year is consistent with the rest of the movie. There are things dating it from the mid-1930s to the mid-1940s. See the wikipedia artoicle, particularly the section “dating the story” > > [A Christmas Story - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Story) > Anyone claiming this was undoubtedly set in the 1950s clearly wasn’t around in the 1950s. Disclaimer: I’ve never seen the movie all the way through, it seems too stupid to me. Many families didn’t have television in the early 50s We got our first in 1953 and we were the first in the neighborhood. Radio serials were still around even then. I listened to _The Shadow_ secretly from my bed, while the adults listened in the living room. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866/50 "2009-12-30T18:38:41Z")
> [@BlueOhio](#): > > If there were wartime rubber restrictions, then there wouldn’t be anything unusual about the Old Man’s barely there tires. I think this anecdote is another example of his eccentricities - he could probably afford better spares, but would rather squeeze out every mile he could from old, bald pairs. That is also touched upon in one of the three Jean Shepard collected story books involving his ‘Ralph Parker’ persona (the three are ‘In God We Trust, all others pay cash’, ‘Wanda Hickeys Night of Golden Memories’, and "Fist Full of Fig Newtons’ - I don’t think ‘Ferrari in the Bedroom’ or other such books of his have stories of the Parker persona, but I could be wrong). - OK, that blurb was for Enright2 Anyway, in one of the inconsistancies caused by these stories being published over decades, he lamented that his dad always aspired to own a good brand of tires (I forgot which brand), but sadly never did in his lifetime ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866/51 "2009-12-30T18:43:00Z")
> [@IAmNotSpartacus](#): > > No, you are incorrect, it is not set in 1940, and it it not set in any specific year. > > BTW, How do you explain the song on the radio from 1943 if the movie is set in 1940? How do you explain the producer and writer saying it was not set in any specific year? Are you privy to some information that’s not available to A) the producer/writer and B) the general public? An adult recalling his childhood. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866/52 "2009-12-30T18:44:30Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Sure, they could be _found_ earlier, but the fact that a kid is wearing one is a pretty clear cultural reference to the fad of 1955. Can you find an instance of an urban/small town kid being depicted wearing one before then? An adult recalling his childhood. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866/53 "2009-12-30T18:47:31Z")
As for the writer/director/whomever claiming _it wasn’t set in a particular year:_ While they might not have **intended** to set the year, they did set it via dates on pins and stickers on car tags. Anything that drifts from historical accuracy can be attributed to the fact that the story is from an adult recalling his childhood. Errors are to be expected. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866/54 "2009-12-30T18:52:14Z")
How the hell do my threads keep making _Threadspotting_? I’m really not that interesting of a poster, people!!! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866/55 "2009-12-30T18:55:47Z")
Leave it to the SDMBers to make a hot mess out of a simple thread. ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866/56 "2009-12-30T18:57:53Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > An adult recalling his childhood. :rolleyes: A producer stating in the commentary that it’s set “amorphously later Thirties, early Forties.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![IAmNotSpartacus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IAmNotSpartacus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IAmNotSpartacus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866/57 "2009-12-30T19:02:56Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > As for the writer/director/whomever claiming _it wasn’t set in a particular year:_ While they might not have **intended** to set the year, they did set it via dates on pins and stickers on car tags. Wha? You dismiss the song as the producer recalling his childhood incorrectly, but somehow the tags on the cars and the dates on the pins _were_ accurately recalled and can therefore be relied upon as an indicator of the date the film’s set? How about the police car in the flag pole scene? That wasn’t available for sale until 1947? Are we to dismiss that as an incorrect recollection well because it doesn’t fit your theory?? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866/58 "2009-12-30T19:11:41Z")
A tag, a sticker, a date on a pin: Conscious decisions to place a date on something. A car model: They are making a movie of which nailing historical accuracy is not required and (apparently based on the movie’s success) do not need to make the effort to get the exact model year cars for said movie. Most people don’t (and didn’t) notice or care. Different issues. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866/59 "2009-12-30T19:12:18Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > As for the writer/director/whomever claiming _it wasn’t set in a particular year:_ While they might not have **intended** to set the year, they did set it via dates on pins and stickers on car tags. > > Anything that drifts from historical accuracy can be attributed to the fact that the story is from an adult recalling his childhood. Errors are to be expected. Please explain exactly how you determined which of the many different lines of evidence accurately determine what year the movie is set in, and which are inaccurate? Especially when the producer has stated that it’s not set in any particular year? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866/60 "2009-12-30T19:14:48Z")
How? A tag, a sticker, a date on a pin: Conscious decisions to place a date on something. Props that don’t quite fit: They get stuff close, like cars. Dead-on accuracy not required. Things like hats, songs and other nostalgia drawn from memory will vary, because memories ain’t perfect. This is expected. Pinpoint accuracy in this regard would be less realistic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-factual-questions-about-events-in-a-christmas-story/522866.md?page=4)