History Headscratchers / AChristmasStory

* When the Old Man shoos the Bumpus's hounds out of the house, does one of them have his tail or his ear caught in the door?

* At the end of the film the Bumpus's hounds crash the house to eat the turkey from the front door but how? The front door was closed.

*** When Mrs. Parker went to bring Ralphie in, she had left the main door open while the only door that was closed was the screen door. Thus, Bumpus's Hounds come and go with a full Christmas Turkey meal.

* About the old man mispronouncing the word "Fragile"... are we supposed to believe this middle aged man has never seen the word fragile before?

** Plus, there was a couple things about that kid that [[AmbiguousDisorder implied they weren't right in the head anyway]].
*** He’s a kid who is possibly on the autism spectrum or has a mental disability who is in a loud department store all alone excited to see Santa but later gets the shock of his life when he’s faced with a Santa that looks like he came from hell. If that doesn’t turn him off of Santa then he’s stronger then given credit for. This troper was terrified of heights as a kid, so he likely could have been too. Also those elves are scary. There is I’m tired I want to go home and there is I’m tired so I’m walking you to hell. (This movie made me afraid to see Santa that year and I was usually the kid that had no issues provided my parents were with me.)

** Children are assholes, but bullies are even bigger assholes. Of course Grover is a cowardly little weasel who runs crying foul at the first sign that his actions might have repercussions; he's a bully. In any case, given that no other adults stepped in to intervene and Ralphie never suffers any punishment, it would seem that Grover's tattling didn't do much good.

* Mrs. Schwartz immediately deduces that Ralphie heard the swear from his old man. Is this because Mr. Parker is known throughout the neighborhood as a potty mouth?

** Curly hair did exist in the 1940s. Why would it bug you?

** As the first respondent already stated, curly hair did exist in the 1940s (and prior — imagine that). And just because a given hairstyle (or name) wasn't common in a given time period, doesn't mean it didn't exist at all.

*** He’s a kid who is possibly on the autism spectrum or has a mental disability who is in a loud department store all alone excited to see Santa but later gets the shock of his life when he’s faced with a Santa that looks like he came from hell. If that doesn’t turn him off of Santa then he’s stronger then given credit for. Also this troper was terrified of heights as a kid he likely could have been too. Also those elf’s are scary. There is I’m tired I want to go home and there is I’m tired so I’m walking you to hell. (This movie made me afraid to see Santa that year and I was usually the kid that had no issues provided my parents were with me.)

** Children are assholes, but bullies are even bigger assholes. Of course Grover is a cowardly little weasel who runs crying fowl at the first sign that his actions might have repercussions; he's a bully. In any case, given that no other adults stepped in to intervene and Ralphie never suffers any punishment, it would seem that Grover's tattling didn't do much good.

*** He’s a kid who is possibly on the autism spectrum or has a mental disability who is in a loud department store all alone excited to see Santa but later gets the shock of his life when he’s faced with a Santa that looks like he came from hell. If that doesn’t turn him off of Santa then he’s stronger then given credit for. Also this troper was terrified of heights as a kid he likely could of been too. Also those elf’s are scary. There is I’m tired I want to go home and there is I’m tired so I’m walking you to hell. (This movie made me afraid to see Santa that year and I was usually the kid that had no issues provided my parents were with me.)

** Could have been a new snowsuit.

* When the mother is getting Randy dressed for school and he's crying that he can't put his arms down, why are they acting like they've never done this before? It seems obvious that it's been freezing cold for some time by that point.

* In the scene where the boys first encounter Scut Farkus, they are walking down an alley towards a dead end (from where Grover Dill emerges). Scut Farkus appears from behind them, as Ralphie notes, standing between them and the alley, blocking their escape. Why were the boys walking into a dead end in the first place? Where were they going?

** He also wears glasses and they might not of been able to find a pair to fit over them in time. Not to mention his mother didn’t want her 9 year old son to have a BB gun anyway she just didn’t feel like explaining why and went with a stock excuse. As for his father he either forgot to buy some or didn’t think he’d need any. Why neither parent taught Ralphie where and how to set up targets to shoot at, I don’t know. It likely came with directions but you’d still need an adults help on how to use and set everything up, Ralphie like most kids was too excited to play with his gift to ask for help and advice.

** He could of found the basket around the house and after asking his parents if he could use it went fruit collecting and then ask his mom to help him pretty it up. Likely not telling her it was for his teacher, because she would believe (rightfully) that he wanted to butter her up.
* Why does Ralphie think he'll get in trouble over Flick getting his tongue stuck? Schwartz was the one who tripple-dog-dared him. Ralphie had nothing to do with it except for being there when it happened.

** Maybe the poll was rusted over in a way that made it look like it was made out of wood, either way scared generations of kids out of trying it. Although possibly a tongue getting stuck to rusted metal makes what happened all the grosser.

* I know the reason is probably it was the 50s, but if his mother was so worried about Ralphie shooting his eye out, why not buy him some safety goggles?

*** He’s a kid on the spectrum who was in a loud department store alone with a Santa that looks like he came from hell. If that doesn’t turn him off of Santa then he’s stronger then most kids. Also this troper was afraid of heights as a kid, he could of been too.

** I think you may have stumbled onto the 1950's version of morality.

** He’s a kid on the spectrum who was in a loud department store alone with a Santa that looks like he came from hell. If that doesn’t turn him off of Santa then he’s stronger then most kids. Also this troper was afraid of heights as a kid, he could of been too.

*** Children are assholes, but Bullies are even bigger assholes. Of course that kid is a cowardy little weasel who runs at the first sign of trouble. He's a bully.