Feeling a bit nostalgic?
Check out nearby locations from ‘A Christmas Story’ creator Jean Shepherd’s childhood that inspired the Christmas classic.
Cleveland enjoys a holiday film connection with “A Christmas Story,” since the 1983 movie was filmed there on location.
However, Northwest Indiana still has the better bragging rights, since the teller of the tale of BB guns, bullies and parental soap-in-mouth punishment, Jean Shepherd, scribe and radio broadcaster, fashioned the story and memorable characters from his own youth on Cleveland
Street in Hammond.
The movie’s late director Bob Clark acknowledged in interviews that itwas his preference to shoot the film in Shepherd’s all-too-familiar northwest Indiana. However, studio location scouts preferred the landscape of Cleveland, even though Shepherd’s actual childhood home still stands today at 2907 Cleveland St. in Hammond.
A number of key locations and the family homes of characters depicted in “A Christmas Story,” as adapted from Shepherd’s 1966 published short story, “In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash,” are often-overlooked residential landmarks in Hammond’s established neighborhoods.
“Shepherd loved the irony that the film was shot in Cleveland and he had grown up living on Cleveland Street in Hammond,” said Hammond film maker Nick Mantis, who produced and directed the documentary “Shep,” found at www.shepdocumentary.com.
“Shepherd spent time on the film set, since he has a small cameo in the film as the grouchy man waiting in line with his children to see Santa at the department store. It’s Shep who points to Ralphie and Randy and tells them to go to the back of the line.”
While Clark, as the film’s director, did not get his wish to film “A Christmas Story” in Hammond, he did win his battle with studio brass to hire Shepherd to lend his distinctive vocals for the film’s narration.
“While over the years, Shepherd earned a reputation for criticizing Hammond and his hometown roots, he still always remembered his connection to northwest Indiana,” said Mantis, who is negotiating with networks about the first airing rights to his documentary.
“Shepherd was once quoted saying that when you really loved something enough, then you can joke about it as a form of appreciation.”
The following old haunts of Shepherd’s are still on the map
for a fun and nostalgic holiday drive-by to discover the inspiration for the author’s detailed descriptions brought from book pages to the big screen:
Shepherd’s Childhood House,
2907 Cleveland St., Hammond: A large privacy hedge nearly obscures that famous open porch and the living room window where Shepherd, as a boy, daydreamed of the adventures that awaited with his adult career in writing and broadcast. While the family’s last name in the story is changed to Parker, it’s still a nod to Shepherd, whose middle namewas Parker.
Shepherd’s pal Schwartz’s Childhood House,
6810 Arizona Ave., Hammond: While Ralphie’s long-suffering friend in the story is named Scott Schwartz, the real life counterpart from Shepherd’s youth was Paul Schwartz, who lived just a few blocks away. In the movie, Schwartz is taunted by bullies and, though innocent, is punished by his mother, after he is blamed for teaching Ralphie the “big one” of all swearwords.
Shepherd’s other pal Flick’s Childhood House,
3024 Cleveland St., Hammond: Classmate Jack Flickinger lived just down the street from Shepherd and is forever associated with accepting a triple-dog dare to stick his tongue on a frozen flagpole in the schoolyard. Jack’s father owned a local tavern in Hammond called Flick’s Tap.
Warren G. Harding Elementary, 3211 165th St., Hammond: The original wood-framed school building constructed in 1927 where Shepherd attended from 1928 to 1933was demolished in 1948 to makeway for a new school, and even that buildingwas torn down to makeway for amore modern elementary school, which opened in 2006. This elementary school still bears the name of the 29th president, and, of course, there’s a flagpole in the schoolyard. During a March 10, 1982, guest appearance on the late-night talk show of fellow famous Hoosier David Letterman, Shepherd said his elementary school “was named after theworst president in history.”
Home of Shepherd’s Elementary School Teacher Miss Shields,
51 Lawndale St., Hammond: Shepherd made many references to his teacher, Miss Ruth Shields, in his books and broadcasts, and she plays a key character in “A Christmas Story.”
Down town Hammond,
5206Hohman Ave.: While Shepherd changed the name of his hometown to fictional “Hohman, Indiana,” in his published works, it’s easy to see how he dreamed up that name, given the name of Downtown Hammond’s primary stretch of road. Now long gone, the Cam Lan Restaurant once stood at 5256 Hohman Ave., and is depicted in the film’s final Christmas dinner scene. Just a block away, also on Hohman, is where Goldblatt’s Department Store stood until 1993, the site of wishful young Shepherd’s nowinfamous moment giving his gift wish list to a grumpy Santa while sitting on his lap. Though the store no longer exists, you can still see Goldblatt’s iconic clock focal point now displayed in the lobby of the Hammond Public Library, just a few blocks away at 564 State St. in Hammond.
WJOB Radio Station,
6405 Olcott Ave., Hammond: In 2023, WJOB will celebrate a century birthday, and Shepherd began his broadcast career there before heading to Cleveland, Cincinnati, and, ultimately, New York City at WOR to earn acclaim. The 1,000-watt transmitter and 400-foot tower behind the studio built in 1956 make the station easy to spot.
The original station studios were in Downtown Hammond at 402 Fayette St. at the intersection of
Hohman Avenue. Later, the studio moved to 449 State St., where young radio hopeful Shepherd gained experience doing sports broadcasts before the station and tower finally settled at the Olcott Avenue location.