MOVIE URBAN LEGEND: There was no secret decoder ring in A Christmas Story. A Christmas Story was a 1983 film by director Bob Clark based on radio personality/writer Jean Shepard's stories about his childhood. It follows 9-year-old Ralphie Parker in the weeks leading up to Christmas in some unnamed year in the late 1930s or early '40s (Shepard was born in 1921, and Clark in 1939, so Clark.. In all of those decoders, there never was a ring. No decoder rings. The movie "A Christmas Story" got that part right, and used an actual 1940 Orphan Annie decoder badge as a prop. The decoder "ring" is just another common myth. Rings were just too small to fit all the necessary letters and numbers for a decoder. So they were usually larger pins and badges. The movie may have intentionally.
Get the best deals for Christmas Story Secret Decoder at eBay.com. We have a great online selection at the lowest prices with Fast & Free shipping on many items!. However, even back in early 20th Century, little kids merged the two concepts (secret decoder pins and hidden compartment rings) and talked about "secret decoder rings" to the point where it just became part of popular culture. Finally, in the 1960s, PF Shoes made the first actual secret decoder ring for the Jonny Quest television program.