You may not recognize the title of the book, but you should recognize the move it inspired – “A Christmas Story”. You will find some of the scenes in the movie in this book, a few verbatim, along with various other stories that would not necessarily be appropriate for a family movie. The story is set in the author’s hometown, which is fictionalized to Hohman, Indiana. He describes in great detail his trials and tribulations as a young boy in the last years of the Depression, in an industrial town. His exploits are in some way reminiscent of Mark Twain’s character’s adventures. While he, as a child, is not really aware of the political issues of the time, you will get a good idea of some of the popular pastimes of kids, and adults, in that era
One thing that struck me in this book, is that many of his neighbors seem to be from a wide variety of ethnicities. While the author may have used what we would today consider ethnic slurs, there does not seem to be any animosity. While the movie is mostly humorous and upbeat, this is a somewhat darker narrative. The humor is there, but he doesn’t shy away from the sadder aspects of life at that time and place. Some of the detail is fascinating, such as going to the movies just to get the premium they were giving away that week.
The main reason I read this book is because watching the movie based on this author’s work has become a Christmas tradition for many people. Of course, it is one of many movie watching traditions. You may have spent much of December watching Christmas movies! Our family’s tradition is “The Muppet’s Christmas Carol”. However, “A Christmas Story” is probably one of the first, and probably one of the most quoted. If you have ever double dog dared someone, or called something “fragiley”, you know what I mean. Plus, it pretty accurately reflects childhood in that era. No wonder some kids are afraid of Santa!
If this was your family, how would you research them? If this was your ancestor, one place you might find him would be the high school year book; he mentions playing in the marching band. He mentions families disappearing overnight when their homes were repossessed; bankruptcy records would help you find out what happened.