Thu Dec 25, 2014, 06:19 PM

PCIntern (20,982 posts)

I am now going to ruin your Christmas:

If you watch one of our favorite films, A Christmas Story, you will see that the bully, Scut Farkas, has orthodontic braces on his teeth. The close-up of him reveals that he has bonded brackets which did not exist in those days - they used circumferential metal bands. Bonding was thirty years in the future….actually there aren't too many anachronisms in the flick (pardon the pun).

But it's OK…it's one of the greatest American films ever made, and my personal hero-of-the-media Jean Shepherd deserves almost all of the credit. BTW, Shep in his personal life was one of the worst people around…he had essentially nothing to do with his own kids and abandoned his family of origin almost totally.

But professionally, he was one of the greatest monologuists in the history of the country.

14 replies, 2289 views

Thread info Bookmark this thread Trash this thread

Reply to this thread

Always highlight: 10 newest replies | Replies posted after I mark a forum

Replies to this discussion thread

14 replies	Author	Time	Post
I am now going to ruin your Christmas: (Original post)	PCIntern	Dec 2014	OP
I wore those $#@ bands for a couple of years. Awful, and they did not work...n/t	monmouth4	Dec 2014	#1
I did too, and they did work	Uben	Dec 2014	#10
I always thought of his buddy Grover Dill as the poster boy for dental neglect anyway	tularetom	Dec 2014	#2
was it the actor's own braces that he needed	JI7	Dec 2014	#3
If I can handle spaceships making noise in space, I can handle anachronistic dental work	JHB	Dec 2014	#4
And those wonderful, billowing explosions in Star Wars & the like--	Jackpine Radical	Dec 2014	#7
They don't do it so much any more but back when, I used to love how space ships would..	BlueJazz	Dec 2014	#12
If they weren't his actual braces, they were probably removable prostheses for the part...	Hekate	Dec 2014	#5
FRAJEELE!	JaneyVee	Dec 2014	#6
I will now proceed to entangle the entire area	seveneyes	Dec 2014	#8
I listened to Jean shepherd as a kid	gwheezie	Dec 2014	#9
I have about 1100 of his radio shows...	PCIntern	Dec 2014	#14
I was a metal mouth	frazzled	Dec 2014	#11
Nice Post, Hitler.	Javaman	Dec 2014	#13

Response to PCIntern (Original post)

Thu Dec 25, 2014, 06:28 PM

monmouth4 (7,636 posts)

1. I wore those $#@ bands for a couple of years. Awful, and they did not work...n/t

Reply to this post

Response to monmouth4 (Reply #1)

Thu Dec 25, 2014, 08:05 PM

Uben (7,713 posts)

10. I did too, and they did work

I had a serious over-bite that was corrected, but it was nothing short of torture! The inside of my mouth was constantly bleeding from the damned wires. I also had what they called a tongue-thrust swallow. This, too, was corrected by me wearing a retainer for two years with wires protruding out of it so that when my tongue hit the wires, I would pull it away. Imagine having needles sticking out the back of your two front teeth....that's what it was like. Oh, it worked okay, but it was torture.

Reply to this post

Response to PCIntern (Original post)

Thu Dec 25, 2014, 06:30 PM

tularetom (23,664 posts)

2. I always thought of his buddy Grover Dill as the poster boy for dental neglect anyway

When Ralphie says "his lip curled over his green teeth" that sort of cinched it for me.

Reply to this post

Response to PCIntern (Original post)

Thu Dec 25, 2014, 06:34 PM

JI7 (82,587 posts)

3. was it the actor's own braces that he needed

Reply to this post

Response to PCIntern (Original post)

Thu Dec 25, 2014, 06:39 PM

JHB (32,470 posts)

4. If I can handle spaceships making noise in space, I can handle anachronistic dental work

Reply to this post

Response to JHB (Reply #4)

Thu Dec 25, 2014, 06:57 PM

Jackpine Radical (45,274 posts)

7. And those wonderful, billowing explosions in Star Wars & the like--

Yeah.

Reply to this post

Response to Jackpine Radical (Reply #7)

Thu Dec 25, 2014, 08:32 PM

BlueJazz (25,348 posts)

12. They don't do it so much any more but back when, I used to love how space ships would..

...curve in flight.

Reply to this post

Response to PCIntern (Original post)

Thu Dec 25, 2014, 06:45 PM

Hekate (66,230 posts)

5. If they weren't his actual braces, they were probably removable prostheses for the part...

Funny you should notice that. It's the kind of thing that gets to me too, sometimes, like having sand in your favorite sandals.

I will refrain from telling my neighbor this; he is such an utter fan of that movie that he watches it every single year.

Reply to this post

Response to PCIntern (Original post)

Thu Dec 25, 2014, 06:47 PM

JaneyVee (19,877 posts)

6. FRAJEELE!

Reply to this post

Response to PCIntern (Original post)

Thu Dec 25, 2014, 07:07 PM

seveneyes (4,631 posts)

8. I will now proceed to entangle the entire area

Must be because I had the flu' for Christmas and I'm not feeling up to par.
It increases my paranoia, like looking at my mirror and seeing a police car.
But I'm not giving in an inch to fear cause I missed myself this year.
I feel like I owe it to someone.

Reply to this post

Response to PCIntern (Original post)

Thu Dec 25, 2014, 07:12 PM

gwheezie (3,580 posts)

9. I listened to Jean shepherd as a kid

In my room with a transistor radio in the dark. He was on wor at 10pm past my bedtime.

Reply to this post

Response to gwheezie (Reply #9)

Fri Dec 26, 2014, 11:05 AM

PCIntern (20,982 posts)

14. I have about 1100 of his radio shows...

what a fascinating man and life's work.

Reply to this post

Response to PCIntern (Original post)

Thu Dec 25, 2014, 08:26 PM

frazzled (17,666 posts)

11. I was a metal mouth

and I can still remember the pain! My mouth was too small to accommodate all the adult teeth, and in those days, they just pulled four molars, hammered on those metal bands with a mallet ... and within hours (or so it seemed), all the rest of your teeth moved in to fill the spaces. Ouch. Applesauce and soup for a week.

My son had the same issue, but by his time the orthodontist pulled no teeth: he fit an appliance that had to be turned with a wrench one turn each night, for a long period of time, to stretch the jaw. Later, braces were fitted. My son ended up with a super handsome jawline (that orthodontist was an artist) and straight teeth. (Note to son: please shave the beard so the world can appreciate the thousands of dollars we poured into that jawline.)

Reply to this post

Response to PCIntern (Original post)

Fri Dec 26, 2014, 10:09 AM

Javaman (56,584 posts)

13. Nice Post, Hitler.

Happy Holidays!

Reply to this post

General Discussion (Forum)