‘A Christmas Story Comes Home’ oozes with nostalgia
“A Christmas Story” is less amovie than a series of vignettes, but when the stories are as charming as this, it’s tough to argue against it as a holiday favorite. There are haters out there for sure, but this movie that had a modest box office haul in 1983 has become a bona fide holiday tradition for many families, in no small part because it has been broadcast each Christmas for 24 straight hours on TNT or TBS since 1997. Like “It’s a Wonderful Life” before it, TV is where “A Christmas Story” really began to shine. This Christmas, it will be on TBS; it is also available to rent on Amazon.
My dad, who inspired my love of movies, introduced meto it sometime in the mid-1980s, and it quickly became regular holiday viewing. Heck, the year I spent Christmas Day in the hospital, one of the things that made me feel somewhat normal was tuning in to Ralphie’s quest for the beloved Red Ryder BB Gun.
“You’ll shoot your eye out!” “Fra-gee-lay. It must be Italian.” “Only I didn’t say fudge.” Themovie is full of memorable quotes. In Walmart the other day, I sawa large display of Red Ryder BB guns in the exact packaging used in themovie. (For the record, I amon the side of Ralphie’s mom, and most of themovie’s other adults, on the subject of BB guns.) It is not surprising the Indiana Welcome Center in Hammond has leaned in hard on its “Christmas Story” connections, opening an exhibit based on the holiday classic in 2008. Jean Shepherd’s book “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash,” channels Shepherd’s childhood memories of Hammond.
“A Christmas Story Comes Home” is free and open to the public daily from9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Jan. 3. Masks are required and admission will be staggered in the large exhibit hall to allow for social distancing. Santa will be visiting on the weekends. The Indiana Welcome Center will update its Facebook page and website with any changes to the exhibit or procedures. Go to a christmas story comeshome.com.
On the cusp of this holiday season, we’ve been highlighting the things that you can do in 2020.
In 2012, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress
for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
There are few reminders left of Shepherd’s childhood in Hammond— you can still take a cruise down Cleveland Street, but that’s about all, said Erika Dahl, Director of Communications at the South Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau in Hammond.
The windows, the first six of which were originally developed for Macy’s Department Store in New York, portray scenes from themovie, seven in all. The newest, A Hero’s dream, was created for the Indiana Welcome Center in 2013 with cooperation from Warner Brothers.
Visitors can view Higbee’s Department Store, Flick’s Tongue and the Triple Dog Dare, It’s a Major Award, Santa’s Mountain at Higbee’s, the Bumpus Hounds, A Hero’s Dream, and the Parker Living Room. The seven scenes usually are not all used in the exhibit at the same time, but the unusual pandemic holiday season provided an opportunity to bring them all out, Dahl said.
“Usually, Santa’s Mountain is in here, but it has been moved to the (on-site) theater,” Dahl said.
This year’s Santa’s Mountain is in a larger area, andwill feature online reservations, distanced families, and a pane of glass between Santa and the kids. “Many are putting the sheet of plexiglass in front of Santa; we decided to put it beside him, so it will barely showup in pictures,” Dahl said.
Kids can take off their masks for a moment for pictures, but parties need towear them before and after the photo is shot. Santa and the kids will be surrounded by trees decorated in “Christmas Story” era fashion, with tinsel and lights, but no ornaments.
Rounding out the exhibit are some holiday trees decorated by local businesses and groups in the middle to heighten the holiday spirit.
Outside, a statue of Flick with his tongue on the flagpole is a popular site for photos.
The free exhibit can shed a little light— coming froma leg lamp, of all things— on this strange holiday season.
Three bits of trivia from ‘A Christmas Story’
This year, when you sit downto watch the holiday movies (and you know you will, don’t bother denying it), here are three bits of trivia for you:
The main drag of Hammond, Hohman Avenue, inspired the name of the town Shepherd’s book and themovie is set in, which is Hohman, Indiana.
Bob Clark, director of “A Christmas Story,” is featured in the scene where The Old Man proudly displays his Major Award, the leg lamp, in the window. Clark is the neighbor standing on the street and asks what is going on as Ralphie’s mom cowers in embarrassment inside the house.
Tedde Moore, the actress who played Ralphie’s teacher, Miss Shields, was pregnant when the movie was filmed, including the scene where she runs outside without a coat after Flick has stuck his tongue to the flagpole.