Got my decoder pin in the mail! (A Christmas Story in June)

[RetroToday]

If you guys and gals don't already know, I have a small obsession with radios and the 1983 movie "A Christmas Story". So I thought I'd share an update and photos I took with the Display Case forum.

I won a 1940 Radio Orphan Annie Secret Society "Speedomatic" decoder pin, like the one in the movie.
It arrived in the mail recently but until then I felt like I was Ralphie, checking the mail every day until it arrived.

Bought this for my collection of props like those which were used in "A Christmas Story". I also tried my best to write left-handed and copy Ralphie's decoded message from the day he got the pin and found out the message was just a "crummy commercial."

A little obsession of mine, to say the least. But, fun.
Still need a Leg Lamp and Red Ryder B.B. Gun - those will come once I pay some more bills off.

More photos of the collection, etc. at this link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremyhopkin/sets/72157608014738859/

Frame from the movie

My collection, mostly props of the living room scenes.

Be sure to drink your Ovaltine.

Ovaltine? It's just a crummy commercial!

 

[shortbow]

Keen!

When you look for your Red Ryder, look for an older one, the modern effort has a plastic lever and other modifications, is less accurate and has much lower power.

 

["Skeet" McD]

Keen!

When you look for your Red Ryder, look for an older one, the modern effort has a plastic lever and other modifications, is less accurate and has much lower power.

And, let's face it: if you're going to SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT, you NEED that power

Great stuff, Jeremy. I'm expecting--and certainly HOPING, with your radio obsession--that you also know and love the Jean Shepherd radio shows...I'm yet another of those "men of a certain age who grew up somewhere near NYC" who listened to ol' Shep from a transistor radio tucked under my pillow when I should have been asleep. Now that, thanks to MP3s, I get to hear ever-so-many more shows than I ever did "live"...I realize how many things have been lurking in my brain so long I thought they were MY thoughts...that really came from Jean. Like so many other incredibly talented folks...he seems to have been a right b-st-d in real life...but: what a remarkable (and prescient) talent.

"Skeet"

 

[MPicciotto]

I love the movie, and have read the "book" or compilation of short stories. I just gotta say AWESOME!!

Matt

 

[RetroToday]

Thanks guys,

Shortbow - I'll definately look for an older BB gun, everything's plastic now....

"Skeet" McD - Yes I have listened to just about all of Jean Shepherd's shows in mp3 form. You're lucky, I never got to hear him on the air. I was six when the ACS movie came out, so I kinda missed the boat on that.

Great to hear his train-of-though way of telling stories about growing up in that time. Did his best to tell it how it actually was, not just some old guy going on about "the good ole' days".

The obsession continues... I'm currently creating a fake Western union Telegram to tell Mr. Parker his leg lamp is waiting at the freight depot.

 

["Skeet" McD]

Yes I have listened to just about all of Jean Shepherd's shows in mp3 form. You're lucky, I never got to hear him on the air. I was six when the ACS movie came out, so I kinda missed the boat on that.

Yup, I was lucky. Found him twisting through the dial, heard "that" voice, and stopped dead. But had no idea who he was, or what the show or station had been. So spent the next few weeks trying to find him again...and then listened religiously until going off to college; my "Shep years" were about 1964 (or 65, perhaps) until 1971 or 72. It was infinitely fascinating, although sometimes opaque to a 9 year old; I remember hearing about the "role reversal" the first time...there must have been something else in that show about Shep's love of airplanes and flying, because I kept wondering what kind of an aerobatic manouevre that was?

"Skeet"

 

[shortbow]

Hope you manage to find a "gal leg" lamp as well.

 

[RetroToday]

Hi shortbow, thanks, I have.

The Canadian distributor of the "A Christmas Story" House museum gift shop is only a 30 minute drive from my house. I called them and they accept local pickups, very cool.

http://www.redriderleglamps.ca/

The downside is, they don't have the full size one in stock right now, it looks the best of all the sizes too.

 

[The Wolf]

Gloriosky, that is a great collection!
I can't believe you tracked down the magazines, radio, etc.
Did you check to see if your decoder matched Ralphies translation?

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[epr25]

These are on here in another thread. But we got married at the Christmas story house. I walked into the little orphan Annie theme song. I only had one photo of our leg lamp so srry about the dress in front of it. But you can get the idea. I have more photos of the rest of the house if anyone is interested.

Our Leg Lamp

[/IMG]

Our TV entourage (We drew allot of attention for being the 1st people to get married there)

[/IMG]

In the living room of the house.

[/IMG]

 

[RetroToday]

Gloriosky, that is a great collection!
I can't believe you tracked down the magazines, radio, etc.
Did you check to see if your decoder matched Ralphies translation?

Sincerely,
The Wolf

Thanks a bunch Wolf,

I checked the decoder and no, it doesn't work with the message announcer Pierre Andre relayed to Ralphie. The movie is edited so you don't hear Pierre say all the numbers, I got mine by looking at Ralphie's paper. Not sure of every number because Ralphie's left hand scrawl is a little tricky to read.

So, I set my decoder to B2, just like Pierre said. Right off the bat, the first number (12) was a W!!!

WKBGAOKXPA..... This is the first part of the real translation: wasn't a crummy commercial after all - unless you're from another planet!

 

[RetroToday]

These are on here in another thread. But we got married at the Christmas story house.......

Amazing epr25!!! :eusa_clap You're a true die hard ACS fan... wonder if I'll ever go that far to recreate the movie experience?

Thanks for giving me the heads-up on the pics, would love to see more. I'll look for your other thread too.

 

[Caity Lynn]

Lol A red ryder BB gun was the first gun I ever shot!!! my brother found one stuck up our chimney Christmas morning lol

 

[shortbow]

Some folks need to be committed. Er, I mean ARE committed.lol

Well done!

 

[John in Covina]

Randy! Ralphie! Get your butss down here, on the double!!!!

 

[RetroToday]

The madness continues..... another detail added to that little obsession of mine.

I photoshopped a couple of real Western Union Telegrams from the 40s to create this fake Telegram based on the one that Mr. Parker (The Old Man) received in the movie. It informed him that he won "A Major Prize" for one of the puzzle contests he entered. You never see the face of the telegram in the movie, but I had a fairly good idea of how it might read.

I'll explain some of the reasons I put what I did into this telegram:

- I dated the Telegram Nov 8, 1940 because the lamp was supposed to arrive earlier than the old man received it, around Christmas time - 1940 was based on the decoder pin date.

- Hohman is the fictional town in Indiana where the Parker family lives, on Cleveland Street.

- It was revealed in the script that the old man's name is FRANK Parker.

- I made the NEHI Beverage Company the sponsor of the award, because their advertising gave Jean Shepherd his inspiration to put the leg lamp in the movie.

- The freight depot is where the lag lamp was before it was sent to the old man.

Today I also found some vintage Christmas lights to add to the scenery.
The old man sticks the bottom of one bulb in his mouth to make a better electrical contact - it ends up blowing a fuse in the house.

 

[The Wolf]

Man, you've got it bad...and that's good.
You done a great job. i continue to be in awe.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[John in Covina]

The major charactors in American Fiction -The Lone Ranger's Nephew's Horse is named Victor, everybody knows that...

 

[St.Ignatz]

OK John, What were the REAL names of Fury and Flicka in the TV series?
Tom D.

 

[John in Covina]

Couldn't tellya. ( I watched neither as a kid.)

But my uncle Arthur pointed out that the original Trigger, Roy Roger's horse was used a lot in the the Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn.