Factual error: The movie was set in the mid-to-late 1940s, however, the red wagons shown in the display in Higbee's corner window at the beginning of the film, bear a Radio Flyer script logo which was designed in 1967. (00:03:10)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Ralphie's mom asks him what he wants for Christmas and he blurts out "a red rider BB gun" there's a spoon that moves from the table next to the plate, to on the plate in the next shot. (00:05:00 - 00:10:00)
Continuity mistake: Near the beginning, when Ralphie runs from his house to catch up to Flick, on the way to school, notice that Flick is carrying a school book, which has a beige cover visible to the camera. In the next shot Schwartz joins the group from the very next house on the block, and within a time span of approximately two seconds, Flick's book cover has become blue in color. (00:13:50)
Visible crew/equipment: As the buck teeth are being handed out at the beginning of the classroom scene, the camera pans to follow Miss Shields and you can very briefly see the shadow of the boom microphone on the wall at the top of the screen. (00:15:00)
Continuity mistake: In the school classroom scene, the teacher writes "Silas" in cursive on the blackboard and very emphatically dots the "i" in Silas with her chalk. The dot is visible then and even in the long shot from the back of the classroom, however, in the next, more close-up shot, as the students are filing past her desk and handing in their fake buck teeth, there is no dot above the "i". (00:15:20)
Factual error: Ovaltine stopped sponsoring Little Orphan Annie in 1940, and there is a date of 1940 stamped on the decoder Ralphie got in the mail. The Wizard of Oz was released in 1939. The movie setting, therefore, would have to be 1940. The chattering teeth seen in Miss Shield's desk weren't invented until 1949. (00:15:55 - 00:33:50)
Continuity mistake: Looking out the classroom window, in the scene where the teacher has gone out to help free Flick's tongue from the flagpole, we see the fire truck has arrived and that a police car has just pulled in from the left and has stopped. The shot changes to show Ralphie saying "Oh no," and then another closer shot from outside, during which the police car is again pulling up at the very same spot. (00:19:05)
Continuity mistake: When Farkus grabs Schwartz and tries to make him say "uncle", the end of Schwartz's stocking cap is hanging loose in front of him. But in the following shot - showing Farkus throwing Schwartz to the ground - the end of the stocking cap is behind Schwartz's back. (00:23:00)
Other mistake: When the father "won" and he tells the family it was going to be sent "on tonight", he accidentally closes the door on one of the hound's ears. The dog starts moving up and down, which means the ear was thin enough to move around. If the ear was thin enough to move around, the dog could've just pulled itself out. (00:25:30 - 00:26:00)
Suggested correction: I'm sure the dog could have pulled itself out, however, that doesn't necessarily mean it would once it felt frightened from feeling its ear caught in the door. Dogs are funny like that, especially when they get scared. Sometimes they'll freeze and do little to help themselves even though they could. For some of them that's simply their survival instinct.
Continuity mistake: When Ralphie is deciphering the code, the 18 on the bottom line alternates between 18 and 8. 18 is the correct 8=X. (00:50:10)
Continuity mistake: After Melinda Dillon breaks the leg lamp, she holds the broken leg in her arms in a pile of three separate pieces. After Darren McGavin asks "What broke?", the 'leg' magically heals itself into one single, straight, yet loosely-knit piece. (00:52:20)
Continuity mistake: Just after the fight between Ralphie and Farkus starts, there is a shot of the two from the side and already there is quite a bit of blood on Farkus's face. But then in a shot from over Ralphie's shoulder, there is no blood visible on Farkus's face at all. (00:57:35)
Continuity mistake: When the father is reading the paper on Christmas morning, the dogs run by him coming from the front door, but in the previous scene the only door open for the dogs to come in through was the backdoor. (01:25:25)
Other mistake: At the end when Ralphie takes his gun outside to use for the first time the shot bounces back and hits him, knocking him off his feet. His gun comes in from the side a second later like someone tossed it into the shot. (01:40:00)
Continuity mistake: When Melinda Dillon breaks the lamp, it is broken into many pieces, but when Darren McGavin is gluing it back together it is now in much fewer and bigger broken pieces. Obviously different broken lamps were used.
Other mistake: When Ralphie and Flick are walking to school for the first time, they meet up with Schwartz, coming down the steps of his house which appears to be two houses down from Ralphie's. Later, when Ralphie is lying in bed after the soap in the mouth scene, the narrator (older Ralphie), states how "Three blocks away, Schwartz was getting his."
Continuity mistake: When Ralphie's father is sitting in the chair reading the funnies (before the dogs ruin the turkey), there is a small gold lampshade sitting on the table next to him. In the first shot, there is a Christmas bow on it. In the following shot, the bow has disappeared.
Continuity mistake: When Raphie's mother is working on the turkey on Christmas morning, there is a jar of pickles on the table next to the turkey. In the next scene the mother is coming up from the basement carrying a jar of pickles and places them on the table in the same place.
Visible crew/equipment: Towards the beginning of the movie when Ralphie's dad is in the basement fixing the furnace and the entire family is staring at the door, you need to keep an eye on the left side of the screen. There is a crewmember in the family room, who is on the screen by mistake. You don't see the person right away, but it is in that sequence when you see the mom in the shot, then you can see the leg of the person very quickly in the background.
Other mistake: Melinda Dillon's name is misspelled "Dillion" in the end credits.
