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Forum Topic
Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss

Subject	Message	Replies
What decade does Shep write about? Date: 02-16-2009 By: duane	After viewing several of the stories made into movies, I've got a question I've not been able to answer. What decade is Shep supposedly writing about? I just watched Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss and there are 1957 and 1958 Chevy's in those movies, so it has to be at least 1958 or possibly up into the early 1960's. This would put me roughly about Randy's or Ralphie's age in the movies, but yet I think Shep was many years older than me. And he always talks about the depression in his writings (There used to be "work" around here) so I assumed that most of his writings were set in the early 1940's. In ACS, they have a radio and no TV, so the 1940's would fit. Were they just sloppy in selecting cars for some of the other movies?	4

Replies

Date	Member	Message
02-17-2009 ( Reply#: 2774 )	Bill Bucko	Shep is very inconsistent. For instance, introducing "Snow White" into "A Christmas Story." There is no way to reconcile the chronology of the various movies--I've given up trying to, and decided to simply sit back and enjoy them. I recently bought Max Schmid's set of 3 movies on DVD, at http://www.sheptapes.com/shop/ -- a real bargain: Jean Shepherd Movie Set - 4th, Phantom, Josephine Digitally enhanced from my best copies of home taped shows, You will not find better quality on these lost Shepherd films. They are recorded one movie per DVD to preserve the highest quality. These 3 movies are not as good as "A Christmas Story" or "My Summer Story." But they're the next best thing. Highly recommended! Bill Warren G. Harding Class of '63
02-21-2009 ( Reply#: 2788 )	Bill Bucko	Nor is Shep consistent in his characterizations. In "Phantom of the Open Hearth" he tags poor Flick as having "the mind of a weasel." In "The Star-Crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski" he even alleges that Flick had a "later career of shifty real estate scams, dealing blackjack in Vegas, seedy hotel rooms and hasty flights from the law" (!) Which does not fit at all with the portrait of Flick as a decent average Joe in "A Christmas Story" and IGWT. Bill Warren G. Harding Class of '63
02-22-2009 ( Reply#: 2790 )	spiderman	Not to mention the Brunner family transmogrifying into the Kissels... "Drop the tools, we've got you covered!"
02-22-2009 ( Reply#: 2791 )	Bill Bucko	And which house was which? The Bumpuses supposedly moved into the (Emde) house on the corner. The Parkers (Shepherds) were in the second house. And the Kissels lived in the third. Yet when the Cosnowski's moved next door, into the house formerly occupied by the Bumpuses, they were somehow on the other side! Bill Warren G. Harding Class of '63