Ohhhh Fuddddddge! It’s A Christmas Story House

"You'll shoot your eye out, kid!" It is an iconic line rings throughout households, especially around this time of year. A Christmas Story is about a boy and his family's misadventures around Christmas time. These range from Raphie Parker (Peter Billingsley) wanting a BB gun for Christmas and everyone telling him he will shoot his eye out (including a guy dressed like Santa) to the Bumpus' dogs ruining the turkey and the family having to go to a Chinese restaurant. Other memorable moments include Mr. Parker (Darren McGavin) winning an award which is a leg lamp, with his wife (Melinda Dillon) being so embarrassed that Ralphie's classmate Flick (Scott Schwartz) gets his tongue stuck to the pole.

The movie is so beloved that around Christmas, stuff merch starts to pop everywhere, especially in Cleveland: leg lamps, pink bunny pajamas, candy bars, etc.

A critical part of the movie that remains in Cleveland, and people frequent it, especially around Christmas, is the former Higgbees store location and the house itself. 

One day, director Bob Clark was listening to some vignettes being read on the radio from a book called In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash. Bob was so fascinated with these stories that not only did he end up missing a date with a woman he had planned, but he also wanted to make a movie based on these stories. 

Bob sent scouts to search for the perfect locations. The movie locations included a school in St. Catharines, Ontario, for the school scenes and sound stages for the interior of the Parker home. Then, when they came to Cleveland, they found the Higgbees department store. While scouting out locations, they came across a yellow house they thought would be perfect for a movie set in the 1940s. When they knocked at the door, no one answered. They went to a local tavern called Rowley's Inn across the street, where they inquired about it. The owner of the house overheard the scouts asking the bartender and inquired about their interest in the house. Initially, the owner said no, as he was not a fan of Hollywood-type people, but after some drinks and negotiation, he agreed. One of the things that he was promised but never came to fruition was he was to have a cameo in the movie. 

When the movie was initially released, it was moderately successful, but it had some negative reviews and wasn't popular at the time of its release. Only a hundred theaters had the movie still showing by Christmas since its release on November 18, 1983.  

The movie grew a cult status over time as it aired on television channels for years. One channel, TNT, aired a 24-hour marathon of the film in 1997. People began taking interest in the house because of the cult following. The house opened as a museum in November 2006 after some renovation. 2018, the house started offering overnight stays, and the Bumpus house was next door. 

My sister and I went to the house a week before Christmas. The last time we went there was in 2019. We had lunch at the Rowley's Inn, where the deal was made. After lunch, it was time for our tour. We had a very enthusiastic tour guide who told the group the house's history. Inside, the house contains replicas of the furniture and props from the movie. The setup was to recreate the Parker house. It had Ralphie and Randy's room as well as the bathroom that was set up where Raphie was using a decoder pin to figure out the Little Orphan Annie's secret message. There were also fake props of the leg lamp and bibi gun that people posed with for photo ops. 

Across the street, the tour guide led everyone to another house where they held props and a wardrobe used in the movie. The authentic props include Mrs. Parker's robe, the chalkboard where the school teacher wrote A++++, one of the robber's costumes from Ralphie's dream, and the actual Red Ryder Gun prop. Some costumes were used in a deleted scene where Ralphie has another dream. There were also clippings of newspaper reviews from its initial release and fan art.

A Christmas Story house is not only a special place in Cleveland, Ohio, but also a staple when it comes to Christmas stories. 

Merry Christmas, everyone, and remember to drink your Ovaltine.