A Christmas Story * FIRST TIME WATCHING * reaction & commentary 

Your "glitter strings" are called tinsel. I grew up calling them icicles. Galoshes are another name for rubber boots.

Ralphie asks his mom, his teacher and Santa for that BB gun...they all said no "You'll shoot your eye out" The one person he didn't ask was his father...and his father was the one who got it for him.

“What’s a bacchanalia?” It’s like a hootenanny.

"Has an icicle ever killed anybody?" Sounds like it's time for Die Hard 2.

The reason this movie has become a beloved classic is because it's so relatable. Everyone can look back on their childhood and remember wanting a special toy, daydreaming about being a hero, getting in trouble for saying bad words, doing dumb stuff with other kids on the playground, and a hundred other little things that make the family and the story feel so real and personal.

The dad, Darren McGavin, is an unheralded treasure of American acting. So many good performances on screen and tv. Miss him.

This film supposedly takes place in 1938. America was still in the depths of the Great Depression, and the fact that this household had food of any kind on the table was deeply appreciated by the family. Yes, they ate inexpensive foods, like potatoes - because it was more than lots of folks could afford. And there was no extra money for soda - milk was considered very healthy for growing children, and so they did their best to provide it. Homemade gifts were normal, and an expensive gift like an air rifle was truly a luxury. The original meaning of "bacchanalia" was a festival in honor of the god Bacchus, generally celebrated with a lot of wine, dancing and debauchery. It's use in the film is ironic. And on average, 15 people in the US die from icicles every year.

Her: Never seen A Christmas Story Me: Laughing at 'Fragile, it must be Italian' every Christmas for the entirety of my 29 years in existence.

Milk and mash potatoes almost every night growing up for me in the 50s and 60s. When this came out originally, it was hilarious because so many of us had gone through these same experiences, and the phrase "you'll shoot your eye out" was heard by all of us kids when we wanted a BB gun. I still find it hilarious and it brings back great memories. For someone your age, it loses a lot of that charm, and that is why it is not as special for you. Nothing wrong with that, it is just the way it is! :)

Ashleigh: "Did parents really actually do that?" (Referring to washing your mouth out with soap) Me: Yes, yes they did. To this day I know exactly what soap taste like.

"You used up all the glue ON PURPOSE!!!" best line in movie history

The mother's reaction to the duck's head being chopped off is real! She was given a script that left that part out so when the time came the shock would be real.

"Do you have to wear that many layers?" Ah, southerners. You'll never know the trials of a northern winter. My wife is from Mississippi so I had to confirm to her this is what getting ready for school was like. And she had to explain to me what the hell turnip greens were.

"Why were these kids not supervised?" Because 1940's, that's why. They're a few decades away from the obsessive supervision kids have in public schools today.

I think the difference in seeing certain movies for the first time as a kid as opposed to an adult makes more of an impact. Nostalgia is a powerful thing.

"My old man, overcome by art." Best line ever.

When i was 7 , my friend's teenage brother convinced me that calling my parents "assholes" would make them let me stay up later than normal .. so 2 hours later there i was sitting on the edge of my bed with a bar of ivory soap in my yapper ..

"A kid in a bunny onesie with a gun." I think that's the prequel to Donnie Darko.

I like when the brother comes out of the cabinet to eat and the dad gives that "wtf?" look but doesnt say anything lol

What I love most is that it was "the old man" who was the only one listening to Ralphie, even though he acted like he wasn't, it took me a long time to figure that out.

As a kid in the late 70's you didn't have many new toys, maybe some hand me downs, so you loved your few Christmas gifts all the more, and yes, sometimes slept with them.

Yeah, we had milk with every meal in the 70's and early 80's. too. Eating soap was a thing then as well. ;)

As a kid of the 60’s, there wasn’t anything we looked forward to more than the new Christmas catalogs from Sears, Penny’s or Montgomery Wards. I feel sad for today’s children because they don’t know what they missed.

This movie means more to an older generation because of the nostalgia factor with a lot of the things that you didn’t pick up on... Red Ryder BB guns were a rite of passage for MANY boys, including me and my brother. The old school Santa set up in the store... the Zeppelin, Sunday crossword puzzles in the paper, and many others.

Merry Christmas Everyone! “Randy lay there like a slug. It was his only defense.”

Even as a kid my favorite character was the old man. Main difference watching this film as an adult is that the old man is so much more relatable than he used to be when I was a kid.

It's okay if you don't love something. For a lot of us, it's a nostalgia in which you can not really participate. It's not part of your tradition, so it's not going to touch you the same way it does me, at 50 years old.

8:52 *Everything* was a radio show at the time. This was the heyday of great radio shows - 1938 was the year when Orson Wells’ Mercury Theater did their infamous War of the Worlds broadcast. 9:40 Yes, car doors worked like that at one time, although the doors that opened from the front became notorious for popping open in accidents, and were nicknamed “suicide doors.” 10:11 Ooooooh, yes. “Washing your mouth out with soap,” was a real punishment for “dirty words.”

For many of us older folks, there is a lot of nostalgia for the old days that are represented in this film.

"Something to cry about." In the army, during an exercise I was being cheeky and used camo paint to give myself a cat face (black nose and whiskers on my cheeks). Lieutenant told me to wipe it off or he'd give me "something to meow about."

Fun fact: Flick, the kid who got his tongue stuck to the metal pole, was played by Scott Schwartz, who later got into the adult film industry. He grew up in Somerville and Bridgewater, NJ (misspelled as Sommerville on his IMDB page), and one of his math teachers was Tim Robbins. This is relevant only because I also grew up in Somerville and Bridgewater and had Mr. Robbins for Precalculus, and one day he paused class to go out in the hall and talk to a visiting former student, then told us it was Scott Schwartz, who played Flick in A Christmas Story, then grew up to get into the adult film industry. Yes, he told us about that. The whole math department there was great, especially Mr. Robbins, Mr. Hamilton (I wasn't in any of his classes, but by all accounts he was just as much fun), and Mrs. Neumann (my Calculus teacher).

My dad was born in 1935, yesterday we celebrated his 86th birthday. I never met my grandfather but my dad says this movie was exactly like his childhood in the 1930s and early 1940s. I am 51 and a lot of this movie is like my childhood too. Nothing like the smell of a real tree with tinsel (the glitter strings) and blinking colored lights.

Chinese rendition of Christmas Carols. "I'm not gonna laugh." Beheads Christmas Duck. "Challenge failed."

The “glitter strands” you asked about are called “icycles” also called “tinsel” and were very common up until sometime in the 1990’s.

"Randy lay there like a slug. It was his only defence." LMAO, one of my favourite lines. During my early years, I had a tree every Christmas. You don't need to water them, as they have no roots to water(as they're already chopped down, lol), but they drop a lot of pine needles you need to clean up and eventually turn brown(as dead plants do.)

The mother (Melinda Dillon) was also the mother of Barry in "Close Encounters."

Most people watch a Christmas Story when they are a kid and can identify with Ralphy. Then it sticks as a tradition.

Ashley: "I have no idea what this movie is about" Also Ashley, about 26 times: "Oh, is that this movie?"

Your reaction to the the Chinese restaurant singing was priceless. Long live the 80s.

"He lay there like a slug, it was his only defense" sounds like what I do when a watch these videos!

"Why are we singing around a dumpster on fire?" Because it's still 2020, but it's Christmas.

Fun Fact: They didn't warn the actress playing the mother that the goose would still have it's head on and then would be cut off, her reaction of half laughing half-horrified is genuine

This is and has been such a classic because all the sayings; getting ready to walk to school in snow; the threats and punishments; even the dad yelling at a piece of machinery that he was trying to fix, were all things we heard, or our parents heard, while growing up. I was told I’d shoot my eye out while playing tiddlywinks too aggressively. 🤣 We were told to clean up our language or they’d wash our mouth out with soap. I had that done to me. 😁🤗😆 We also would get some awful outfits made from aunts. One year it was cute teddy bear sweatshirts. They were great except she glued little red or green bows on his outstretched arms. That went over our breasts. Right on each nipple, or where it looked like they’d be.🤗🤣😂😆

I first saw this in the theatre in the '80's. I can now quote almost the whole thing I've seen it so often. You've got to remember it was taking place in 1939.

By the way. You know the mother is Barry's mother in Close Encounters.

Ovaltine is for old people because when they were young people it was for them. Also Ovaltine is dope.

"Three blocks away, Schwartz was getting his." Ralphie bears false witness against his friend, just to get the bar of soap out of his mouth for a minute. What a great kid!

I think what you miss, here, is that this isn't meant to be a traditional Hollywood comedy. This is more of a collection of short stories for the screen. These are a collection of xmas moments and stories that are like the ones that end up being the ones that matter in people's lives. Nothing amazing happens. It is just great good story telling - with a good dose of humor thrown in. There are two aspect to the film: 1) What it's like to experience xmas as a kid. It's just a series of what could be real-world events that one can experience growing up during xmas. As we watch, we can relate to Ralphie and remember that what it is like to experience xmas as a kid: wishing for that ONE toy, whatever it may be... red rider air rifle with this this that tells time and a compass in the stock, playstation, dollhouse, iPhone, etc, and having your world revolve around that event for a few weeks. The terrifying department store Santa. The bully. The little brother tagging along everywhere you go. It's real life. 2) Technically, it is a "Coming of Age" story. These are stories about moments where children start to become adults not because of age but because of their experiences, good and bad. They are about those moments that form our world view: Ralphie's disillusionment with Little orphan Annie once he realizes that the "secret message" is "just a commercial"; the moment when Santa looks at him and says "You'll shoot your eye out, kid"; and, most obvious of all, when he confront the bully. (And, importantly for his world view, when his mother covers for him with his dad after that fight.) All of these are moments where one's view of the world and one's view about how life should work start to form and are we are all influenced by moments like these growing up. As one walks through life, you appreciate these moments very much and getting to "live" them via watching this movie is a major attraction to people. Stand By Me, a Stephen King book-turned-movie, is a classic example of a coming of age story and I highly recommend it. Good story. Great characters. great acting.

People having not seen this literally surprises me. It's been on 24 hours during Christmas for the last 30 years.

Yes, soap was a real punishment, for myself and also for my kids.

I know this is months past due, but I would like to thank you for having an open mind and watching this. I really love your videos and the fact that you are trying to understand something beyond yourself. These are great and I hope you keep doing them. It really brightened my day today. Thanks again for all your hard work.

As long as you give your honest,true reactions,no one will hate on you

"It's a BB gun, you're not gonna do that" - Farm girl status confirmed

I was this kid's age in the 70s. We really weren't directly supervised by teachers during recess. It was basically pandemonium and survival of the fittest. If some kid actually got hurt someone would go get a teacher after the fact.

"who asks for a blimp?" lol I still remember one of my favorite gifts as a young kid was getting the original TMNT blimp

Two interesting notes: 1. The narrator, Jean Shepherd (whose stories inspired the movie) had a cameo as the guy telling Ralphie where the line to see Santa starts. 2. Peter Billingsley, who played Ralphie, had a part in "Elf" as one of the elf supervisors trying to find an appropriate job for Buddy.

"Has an icicle ever killed somebody?" Actually... yes, yes they have.

The dad was in a TV series in the 70's called the Night Stalker. Sort of a pre-cursor to X-Files.

First the mother knew damn well she was going to break that lamp by the look on her face. Secondly while I've never gotten physical with somebody but we've all had the "the wrong person messed with you at the wrong time when you were having a bad day" moment. And third the look on Ralphie's face when Santa told him "you'll shoot your eye out" 😅

Somebody has given this a thumbs down and it hasn’t even premiered yet. I feel sorry for anyone who’s that miserable.

"Has an icicle ever killed someone?" Wait until you watch Die Hard 2.

A door that opens the opposite of what you're used to is referred to as a "suicide door." They were really common in earlier vehicles, including some of the very first ones. When you hinge them that way you can make it easier for people to get into, sort of like a buggie or carriage back in the day.

"Has an icicle ever killed anybody?" Time to get her to watch Die Hard 2, gang.

"They eat alot of mashed potatoes in this family. Drink alot of milk, eat alot of taters..." Yes, that's bc this takes place in the mid west during the post WWII era and most families were working class, so they repeated meals quite often.

Little boy that played Ralphie was also one of the supervisory Elves in “Elf”.

What I like about this movie is that it depicts a daily life in the 40's through the eyes of a kid and shows how people celebrated Christmas back then. The "glitter strings" on the tree is called Tinsels, it's a very common decoration for Christmas trees.

Santa spitting snuff in your eye is the funniest thing I’ve heard today. Shout out to grandma!

Fun fact: Ralphie grew up to be the guy Jeff Bridges shouts "Tony Stark built this in a cave with a box of scraps!" at in the first Iron Man.

My family never pulled the "you'll shoot your eye out." Their cautionary warning was always, "if you fall down and break both your legs, don't come running to me."

I think those of us who are older and grew up in the upper midwest Great Lakes region get far more out of this movie. Thanks for watching it and letting us oldsters share some of our fond memories with you. Slainte!

9:47 Soap in the mouth was a VERY real punishment! It was still common as recently as the late 1980s when I was a kid. I had it used on me once, and it not only tasted terrible, it also left a burning sensation in my mouth for about an hour afterwards. My sister once called me a forbidden word and was warned she might get the soap treatment. Her response was, "I don't care. I LIKE soap! It's yummy!" Her sentence was commuted from soap to three days of grounding (she probably would have preferred the soap in hindsight, as she was the "social butterfly" type). With her kids, she now uses a similar punishment, but with one of the more powerful kinds of hot sauce instead of soap.

I think the reason this is considered a classic is because it is one of the few films that is told from the perspective of a kid at Christmas. Even though it takes place in a different era than I grew up in, I can relate to that feeling of being a kid and wanting that one gift so badly. It's almost like going back to my own childhood. Also the real Santa only uses Massey Ferguson tractors.

You asked why this movie is so beloved. I don’t know if it will make a difference, but here’s my story of A Christmas Story... It became a tradition in my family when TBS started playing it for 24 hours straight on Christmas Day. At the time, I laughed at the jokes and I identified with Ralphie when it came to that one Christmas present that you set your heart on. Especially when there was the new popular video game systems that everyone else had and I just wanted to feel like I was in with my classmates. But it also spawned other traditions in my family as time has gone by. We now eat Chinese food every Christmas Eve/day (sometimes AT the restaurant). My mother has a collection of A Christmas Story items such as the BB gun, Leg lamp, and even the Little Orphan Annie decoder pin. Over the years, I’ve become a parent and I’ve grown to really appreciate both the mother and the ole’ man. My son in particular, at the age of 3, had his heart set on Mario Lego this year. Seeing his face light up just like Ralphie’s made me giggle just like the Ole’ Man. It’s clear that despite the adventure that Christmas, the Ole’ Man loved his kids and against everyone else, he got the gift Ralphie wanted. Being able to sit with my son and help him build those Legos made me feel that same level of joy, especially seeing that joy on his face. I know this is long winded, but the more and more we watch the film, the more and more I appreciate the aspects of childhood Christmas and adulthood Christmas. Christmas changes as you get older. For me, this film has spoken on that journey and I appreciate it every year.

One of my nephew's favorite movies. He has a leg lamp. What helps make it a classic is being an accurate depiction of growing up, northern winters, and Christmas activities back then. All the scenes were still common growing up in the 60s as I did. That's called tinsel to decorate the tree and add sparkly reflections. PS there's nothing wrong with meat, mashed potatoes, and washing it down with lots of milk!

It's a classic! A blimp was cool back in the day, there were no electronics and it was mainly basic toys and fire trucks. Yeah, I'm gonna need you to do the milk challenge 😂 I enjoy your reactions a lot.

How Ralphie felt about the decoded message was exactly how I felt when the Indiana Jones Adventure ride at Disneyland opened. We were given “decoder cards” at the beginning of the ride, but everything you read in line was like, “Thank you to our sponser, AT&T” and “Be sure to stay seated during the ride.”

"Random strings of glitter" is called tinsel lol

This is truly my new favorite channel. I am so happy every time I see you watching these classic films. Your reactions are so great!

I just love her reaction to this movie, I remember my mom telling that how it was back then, especially the snow suit scene. When the movie first came out it wasn't well received, but though the years it became a classic.

“Trading Places” has Christmas AND New Years. Just sayin’.

"Has an icicle ever killed anybody?" John Mcclaine would like a word with you ...

My grandmother was from West Tennessee and absolutely as country as could be, but she never told me Santa would spit snuff in my eye if I was awake when he arrived. That's a good one!

I just read the other day, the scene with the duck head, they didnt let the actress know about the whole scene and that was her real reaction.

The "Glitter strings" are tinsel. They used to be a very popular decoration, but you dont see them much anymore.

When your daddy's Kolchak, strange things will happen.

Growing up in the 70s, we kids (in the Midwest) had milk with every meal. After my dad died, it was soda pop.

The reason this movie is such a classic is because it is quintessential growing up in the 60's-70's.... There's so much in it that's a sign of the times, relatable for anyone raised during that time period and, really, anyone raised by someone who was raised in that time period, and educational for everyone else ie. children being unsupervised at recess, cleaning out the mouth with soap, ect.

Merry Christmas, Ashleigh and Beans.

My dad grew up in Michigan in the 30s and 40s and said this movie was a very accurate depiction of his childhood.

"What is it?" It's a major award; weren't you paying attention?

I got tinsel on my tree right now. Never knew it had gone out of fashion as some of the other comments mention. I remember my parents putting up the same mid 1960s Christmas decorations well into the early 2000s. Tinsel everywhere.

"Would I ever watch it again?" you get to watch it for 24 hours straight every Christmas on TBS

The only thing funnier than watching the singing of "Deck the Halls" at the Chinese restaurant is watching a millennial watch it. Your reaction was priceless.

The reason this movie hit home to so many, was it was such a glimpse into real childhood growing up in the midwest, and we had so many of the same types of memories.

That part where they bring out the duck and then cut it's head off was kept secret from the women who played the mom, so her reactions were completely real lol. I love this movie so much!

I was a kid in the late 60's/early 70's in western MA, and we were dirt-poor, and I remember my childhood being exactly this primitive and scary. At that age, this was my Xmas experience, pretty much note for note. Back then, culture was still driven by the older generation, so we were still doing things the way our parents and grandparents did things. That's why I love this movie. From my personal experience, it's a pretty accurate cultural snapshot for its time. Thanks for reading, and Merry Christmas. :)

"Glitter string" is tinsel. Yup, people do put it up. Since you haven't had real trees, that's probably why you haven't seen it before. 'Cause it gets thrown out with the tree. Easier than cleaning it off an artificial tree.

In answer to why *this* seems to be one of - if not THE - quintessential Christmas movies, I think its because it really captures the EXPERIENCE of Christmas best, from the point of view of an actual kid. It isn't corny, it doesn't talk down to the audience, and it still manages to be funny in ways that feel timeless.

For my generation, I'm 54, the movie came out in the '80s which were my teen years. So there's a huge nostalgia factor. The movie takes place in the '30s - '40s, before tvs so radio was the big entertainment of the day. Many early tv shows originated on radio. Little Orphan Annie started as a comic strip in newspapers. I think their diet was due to the country was either in, or recovering from the Great Depression. We had "icycles" up to the '70s but they were a bitch to clean up and pets would notoriously eat them. They eventually fell out of fashion. Also, travel by blimp was a thing, up until the Hindenburg disaster, which pretty much killed that mode of transportation. That's why Randy was excited for his toy blimp. Frankenstein came out in the '30s and was a huge boxoffice success. The Frankenstein head was most likely a mask and popular for boys at the time. Having a historical perspective, although it took place way before my time, adds to the nostalgic value.

Merry Christmas everyone, stay safe and be sure to drink your Ovaltine.