Rabbit Box Blog

I have to admit that the first time I saw “A Christmas Story,” my mouth dropped open. Ralphie wanted a Red Ryder BB gun, but his Mom objected, saying “you’ll shoot your eye out.” My Mom opposed my owning a BB gun for exactly the same reason.

But in my case, Mom had facts on her side. One of Dad’s brothers, Sherman, had indeed lost the sight of an eye because of a BB gun. It happened like this, as Dad told us many times:

Toys were rare in his childhood. The family struggled to survive financially, and anyway Grandpa Charlie didn’t believe in spoiling his eight children. But guns were in a slightly different category. Charlie used an ancient shot gun to put food on the table, and he deputized the older boys to hunt when he was busy. A BB gun served as good training for the younger boys to help them get ready to take up the family responsibilities. I don’t know who bought it or exactly when they got it, but the boys shared a BB gun when Sherman was little.

But BBs were a recurring cost. Although they carefully used whatever BBs they managed to get, the supply never satisfied demand. Someone got the idea to use matchsticks as ammunition. 

All cooking and heating of the house was done with a wood-fired cookstove, and kitchen matches were an essential staple. Every new fire required at least one match, and a matchstick could be reused repeatedly in the BB gun, so the supply was virtually unlimited.

They discovered they could clean up a matchstick to remove the burnt end, and maybe sharpen it to a point, then stuff it down the barrel. The gun’s puff of air would propel the matchstick pretty effectively across the yard.

But aim was tricky. Often the matchstick would tumble or curve wildly. One errant matchstick caught Sherman in the eye, and he was immediately blinded. If memory serves, he did go to several doctors, but nothing could be done to restore his sight. If you ever see any photos of him, even as an adult, it’s clear that something is wrong with one of his eyes.

So years later, when I asked for a BB gun, even though Dad thought it was a good idea, Mom said no. I never received a BB gun as a gift, but I did eventually own one. That’s another story for another day.