One of the go to Christmas movies for many people is the classic "A Christmas Story." There are a lot of things to love about it, but the most memorable part is the great desire that young Ralphie has for a BB gun for Christmas, specifically a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-shot Range Model air rifle with a compass and sundial. Ralphie looks in a display window and sees one, with a picture of Red Ryder himself pitching it to kids. This was a common thing. In many an ad, Red Ryder would tell kids to remind their parents to get them one for Christmas, or suggest that they buy it with their Christmas money. There were even "reminder kits" that kids could send away for with messages from Red Ryder to be placed in conspicuous areas for parents to find.

So he was obviously quite interested in kids getting their BB guns in any way possible, but who was Red Ryder anyway?

Red Ryder was, of course, the star of a comic strip, created by Fred Harman and which first appeared in 1938. Red was a cowboy who, along with his trusty steed Thunder and his kid sidekick Little Beaver, would rope up bad guys and do all the other stuff tough lawmen did in the old West. The strip ran for 26 years, ending in 1964. While that's not an extremely long run, the marketing machine behind it, led by Stephen Slesinger, was enormous. There were quite a large number of Red Ryder licensed products, and Red also appeared in comic books, a radio show, and movie serials. The strip itself was printed in 750 newspapers worldwide and was the most popular western comic strip ever, and even if you didn't see Red Ryder in the newspaper, it was hard to miss him everywhere else.

Daisy started selling the Red Ryder BB guns not long after the strip's debut, and from what I've read the movie is said to take place in the early to mid 40s. Thankfully, there are no anachronisms as far as that is concerned. Ralphie's dad does say that he had one of those when he was 8, but it obviously wasn't a Red Ryder BB gun, as it wouldn't have existed then. Daisy still sells the Red Ryder BB gun (only $39.99!), so even long after the comic strip ended, the famous name lives on.

For more information:

Red Ryder at Don Markstein's Toonopedia

Fred Harman at Lambiek Comiclopedia