I grew up watching A Christmas Story; heck, I even still have a VHS copy of the movie! It is truly a holiday tradition for me.
A Christmas Story House is actually made of three components: (1) the ultra-fabulous Gift Shop, complete with the pink bunny outfit - or you can just get the slippers, and every configuration of leg-lamp items, (2) the House itself, and (3) the Museum.
All tours start at the Gift Shop, then a lovely guide walks you across the street while sharing the Christmas Story story. How the house fell into disrepair, and there was a motorcycle repair shop in the living room space. How the owner/uber-fan Brian Jones bought the house sight unseen and began the process of returning it to it's movie glory. How Jack Nicholson was originally pegged to play the Old Man. The great stories just went on and on!!
And here it is! Can you see the leg lamp in the front window?! We also learned that only certain scenes were filmed in the house, due to space limitations. But, the Fragile box was delivered up those stairs and into the living room. The Christmas dinner scene with the dogs running through and destroying the turkey were filmed here on the first attempt.
These are my two favorite details:
The coolest thing is that you can actually wander - and wonder! - around the house, and pick up the replica wall phone, or Randy's bib, or the Orphan Annie decoder ring. Too cool!
Then there's the Museum where the real stuff is presented and protected. Here's Randy's snowsuit. We learned it was stuffed with upholstery foam, so Randy really couldn't put down his arms. Plan to stroll through rooms with the chalkboard from the A+++++ scene, and see one of the Red Ryder guns actually used on film. Truly an awesome experience for me!
Who wants to roadtrip to Cleveland?! I understand there's also a music museum of some esteem we can also pop into!
Click here for A Christmas Story House's website.
LOVE you are continuing Susan!!! Carol
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