quote:Dating the story
Director Bob Clark stated in the film's DVD commentary that he and author Shepherd wished for the movie to be seen as "amorphously late 30s, early 40s," but a specific year is never mentioned. However, the Little Orphan Annie decoder ring has the year 1940 etched in on the side.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Story
I would say 1940 as 41 would of been a buzz about Dec 7th and the up coming war