Don’t Shoot Your Eye Out!

In November 1983, my friend asked me if I wanted to go to a movie. I said sure, but I didn’t know what was playing. She told me about a movie she had seen advertised that looked good, but I had never heard of it. It was called A Christmas Story.

I remember my mother dropping our two nine-year-old selves off at the movie theater in the mall. She was going to go shopping while we watched the film. Yep, we sat alone in the theater, at age nine. (The 1980s were a different time.) I was completely in the dark as to what I was about to see. In fact, this remains the only time I have gone to a movie that I knew nothing about.

Boy, am I glad my friend saw that ad. I absolutely loved it! Sadly, few people were lucky enough to see it in a theater because by Christmas the studio had already pulled it.

That is why it’s been so amazing watching A Christmas Story become a cult classic in the decades since its release. In fact, it would be difficult nowadays to find an American that hasn’t at least heard of the film. This is mostly due to its regular appearance on cable.

Many of the scenes have become legendary. The leg lamp. Ralphie swearing. Ralphie wailing on Scut Farkus. Flick’s tongue stuck to the pole. The pink bunny suit. The Christmas Duck dinner at the Chinese restaurant. And of course, that warning “Don’t Shoot Your Eye Out!”

Part of the reason that phrase is so iconic is because the idea of giving a child a BB gun for Christmas seems crazy to most of us today. However, thinking back a little, there were toys that we Gen-X grew up with that might have been just as dangerous.

For example, who remembers:

Lawn Darts —Mini javelins kids would throw, hopefully not at each other.

Clackers—Annoying when used, dangerous when shattering.

Creepy Crawlers ThingMaker Oven—An open-faced hot plate heated to 390 degrees meant burns galore.

Easy Bake Ovens (the lightbulb reached 350 degrees)—Little kids were using this.

Slip and Slide—Throwing yourself belly down on a thin sheet of vinyl. No cushioning necessary, of course.

And I just found out about a toy Boomers had that surpassed all others when it came to danger: The Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Laboratory with Radioactive materials included!

Thankfully, toys such as those mentioned above are not on holiday lists anymore. But this Christmas, as you begin your annual watch of A Christmas Story, it might be fun to tell young ones about the dangers our mothers warned us about.

“Don’t throw the dart at your brother’s eye!”

“Use a potholder when you remove your creature!”

"Make sure your playset doesn’t spread radiation in the living room!”

Happy Holidays!

Pamela M.
Antioch Branch