Red Ryder Air Rifle BB Gun -- Coolest Basement Find Ever

Quick, do you know who this is?

Image courtesy Exposay.com

I completely didn't recognize him in the 2006 Jennifer Aniston / Vince Vaughn movie The Break-Up, which he also produced. And I'm usually really, really good at this game. Ted and I will be watching some TV show or other, and I'll say "Hey, do you see that guy there? He played so-and-so in that really obscure movie we saw five years ago." And 99% of the time, I'm right. If only I could market such a skill!

Publicity still from The Break-Up, Universal Studios.

But I didn't find him even vaguely familiar, although the gorgeous baby blue eyes should have tipped me off, and maybe that's a good thing. Normally, this actor is best remembered for two roles he played as a child, and he may be tired of being reminded about them. But I'm going to do it anyway. Sorry, Peter.

As Messy Marvin in the Hershey's Syrup commercials. (Such a cutie!)

As Ralphie Parker in A Christmas Story.

So, why the brief detour into movie making history, and why is Peter Billingsley on my house blog? Well, because of this:

We recently found among the junk left by the previous owners a Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle BB gun with a compass in the stock and a thing which tells time. Actually, I don't think it's the same model Peter Billingsley used—this one doesn't have a compass or a clock—but how freakin' cool is this? Wanna see a closeup?

Like millions of other Americans, I tune in to at least one showing during the annual 24-hour broadcast marathon of A Christmas Story. Along with It's a Wonderful Life, Holiday Inn, Miracle on 34th Street, and every holiday special by Rankin and Bass, even the really, really, rare only-ever-released on VHS Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, watching it is a tradition. So when we found this Red Ryder rifle in the basement, my mom and I squealed in near unison, "You'll shoot your eye out!" I can't separate thoughts of Red Ryder rifles from the movie; the two are forever linked.

So now the Red Ryder Air Rifle is hanging proudly on the wall of what will one day be my office, and will no doubt become part of our holiday decorations at Christmas along with the sexy leg lamp I plan to get eventually.