17 Facts About "A Christmas Story" You Didn"t Know

Traditions are a funny animal. You will never know when one is starting, and try as you might, you can’t force something to be important enough to you to continue doing every year, where whatever it is – a reunion, birthday, or a special holiday like Christmas – the event just isn’t the same without the cherished tradition.

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.