A few months ago I was visiting family in Ohio. While there, I took a little day trip over to a Cleveland to tour a place I’ve always wanted to see in person. Afterwards, I shared this funny picture on the blog and asked if you could guess where it was taken.
I can’t get anything by you guys! Y’all had no trouble figuring out I was reenacting a scene from the well-loved Christmas movie, A Christmas Story.
I had a blast that day touring the Victorian home featured in the movie. The home is located at 3159 W. 11th Street in Cleveland, Ohio.
I took a lot of pictures that day and shared the home over a series of several posts. I will link to all those at the end of this post in case you missed them. If this is a favorite movie of yours, I think you’ll get a kick out of seeing the interior of the home. It’s been restored to the way it looked at the time of the movie and it will bring back so many memories of those funny scenes in A Christmas Story.
Back when I posted about the house, I never got around to sharing the pictures I took inside A Christmas Story House Gift Shop/Store or the A Christmas Story House Museum. Someone reminded me of that the other day 🙂 so today I’m taking you inside the store.
I was going to try to post the pics from the museum, too…but there are just too many for one post. I’ll post pics from inside the museum another day if you would like to see those, too. There was some neat stuff in there, including letters written to the parents and to the school by the producers of the movie.
So where is the museum and the gift store in relation to the house? When you’re upstairs standing in Ralphie and Randy’s bedroom looking out the window, you can see the A Christmas Story House Museum directly across the street.
Glance down the street to the left and you’ll see the A Christmas Story House Gift Store. It’s right next door to the museum. See those two garages in between the museum and store…those house vehicles from the movie. By the way, if you are interested in taking this tour, the sooner you go, the better. I was told that the closer it gets to Christmas, the longer the lines are to get inside for a tour. Plus, it’s blooming cold outside in December so it won’t be much fun standing in a long line in the freezing cold.
Let’s go inside the gift shop and check it out .
Of course, you knew they would have THE lamp for sale in the store. It comes in various sizes. If I had a picture window on the front of my home, there would definitely be one of these in the window for the Christmas season. I would not be able to resist! Ha!
I’m sure you recognize the bunny suit Ralphie wears for a short while in the movie, much to his dismay. 🙂 When I was shopping in the store, I tried to find one in my grandson’s size, but they were all way too big.
This was his first Halloween and a round, jolly pumpkin he was. 🙂
They had little leg-lamp night lights, too.
Wouldn’t this be a cute stocking stuffer. Kind of wishing I had bought one of those now.
The only thing I bought that day was this cute house ornament. It’s good size and probably too heavy for most Christmas trees (4-1/2 inches tall) so, I keep it here on my desk, a little reminder of the trip.
My favorite thing in the gift store were all the Dept. 56 village displays. Dept. 56 has created all of the major buildings, characters, etc… from the movie. This scene shows the house where the Parkers live, the one I toured and shared previously here on the blog. You’ll also notice the lamp is being delivered in its “fra-gi-le box…that’s Italian, you know. 😉
There’s the school bully, that mean ol Scut Farkus and his cronies!
Remember the scene where Ralphie finally can’t take it anymore and jumps on Scut Farkus, beating the daylights out of him? It would be so interesting to see how the folks at Dept. 56 actually mold/create the characters and people for the villages, especially the characters for A Christmas Story.
This scene depicts Ralphie’s teacher, Miss Shield’s home from the movie. I don’t remember it in the movie but it’s adorable in the Dept. 56 version.
One of the funniest scenes in the movie takes place in Higbee’s Department store when Ralphie and Randy go there to visit Santa. This scene below shows Higbees and the firestation…remember the tongue stuck to the lamp pole scene. lol Such an iconic movie with so many funny scenes.
I was surprised to see some Christmas Vacation movie products for sale in the store. I asked one of the employees about that and I think she said the two movies are now connected, like maybe whoever owns the rights to A Christmas Story also bought the rights to Christmas Vacation, something like that. Anyway, it was all I could do to NOT buy a set of the moose mugs. lol
Do you remember the scene in Christmas Vacation where Clark and Eddie are drinking from them? Is that right before the tree goes up in a blaze? I need to watch Christmas Vacation again this year. You can tour the home in that movie here: National Lampoons’s Christmas Vacation House Tour
Hope you enjoyed this little trip inside the gift store for A Christmas Story Movie House. We’ll take a trip inside the museum soon if you would like to see that, too. Go in person if you get a chance…it’s a fun trip if you are a fan of the movie.
If you missed the other four posts I’ve shared about this famous movie house, you’ll find them all at the links below. (Click on the titles or the pictures below to view those posts.)
Tour “A Christmas Story” Movie House: The House & Neighborhood
Inside The Kitchen of “A Christmas Story” Movie House
Tour A Christmas Story Movie House: The Living Room
Tour The Upstairs of the A Christmas Story House (Includes Ralphie and Randy’s bedroom and the bathroom where Ralphie had his mouth washed out with soap)
Here’s a link to the gift shop if your home needs a leg lamp. 😉 A Christmas Story Gift Shop (not an affiliate link)
A Christmas Story is my favorite Christmas movie…I decorate a portion of my home that is dedicated to this movie…yes, I have the iconic Leg Lamp and the bunny suit…Loved touring the shop…one day I would love to visit this house!….thanks for the tours Susan!
Shirley, I love that you have a portion of your home decorated in A Christmas Story style. Where do you have the Leg Lamp? I know it must give you a giggle every time you see it! 🙂 I should buy a small one to put somewhere here in the house for Christmas…wouldn’t that be fun to have out for a party! 🙂
I love this movie too and it is my Dad’s favorite Christmas movie. I like the Dept. 56 sets too. I would like to see inside the Museum too, when you have time. Your Grandson is precious!
Thanks, Charlotte! I miss him so much…he lives way too far away. I’ll be sure to post the pics from the museum soon.
Such a great movie! My family watches this movie every Christmas and it always brings smiles and laughter. Life seemed much easier but it really wasn’t. Thanks for sharing. I would love to visit this home just for fun.
Peggy, I always wonder about that. We crave simplicity and we always think life was better back then, but like you, I don’t it was either. Hope you get to visit one day, it was a lot of fun!
OMG Susan,
how precious is your grandson! 🙂
He is the sweetest and cutest pumpkin I’ve seen this year! 🙂
Susan, I’m probably the only one who hasn’t seen that Christmas Story movie, but I’ve often noticed those leg-lamps in several houses and always wondered why people apparently love them, now I know! 😉
Susan, “Christmas Vacation” is my #2 favorite Christmas movie of all time, right behind “Home alone”… #2 because of Chevy Chase (sooo funny) and #1 (o surprise…) because of the house … LOL
~Hugs to you~
Cecilia
Thanks, Cecilia! You have to watch this movie this year! Oh, that’s my favorite, too…still love Home Alone!
Cutest little pympkin ever (my heart melted)! I found the giftshop online at
redriderleglamps.com
Awww, thanks Patty! Miss that little pumpkin so badly! Thanks for the link!
We live about 30 min. from this house and recently visited last month. I especially loved the gift shoppe! Don’t have buyers regret about the night light… I think I saw it at Kohls along with a few other items for holiday gift giving.
Oh, there’s a Kohl’s close to me…I will look for it! I haven’t been there in ages and they always have lots of great Christmas stuff…thanks for reminding me of it!
It’s been sooooooo many years since I’ve seen that movie I can barely remember some of the scenes you mentioned, but never mind about that. How cute is that little grandson with his pumpkin outfit! I bet you just want to eat him up and I’m sure you wish he lived closer.
I remember buying a Halloween outfit for my grandson when he was two and it was…wait for it…wait for it…
A Beaver! lol. I think I ruined him for life!
lol How cute is that! I love it! Somewhere around this house is a picture of me dressed in a beaver costume. I was a volunteer working at The Chattahoochee Nature Center and for Halloween they host a nighttime nature walk along their boardwalk on the river and up through the trails in the wooded areas. I was a bat in the woods one year and a beaver on the boardwalk another. I bet his costume was a lot cuter than the one I was given to wear. LOL!
I have never found A Christmas Story to be a movie I enjoy. I am not a scrooge, just give me a Hallmark holiday movie any day. I am glad you came up to my part time home of Cleveland and I am glad you had such a good time visiting the Christmas Story house!
Susan, thank you so much for posting this, it was adorable going through the store seeing everything. I still have the image of you, though, in the cupboards!! 🙂 It is making me anxious now, to put my Christmas village into production. Will look forward to the museum when you have time (you should not have mentioned that! 🙂
Your grandson looks adorable in this pumpkin outfit, how quickly they grow!! *sigh*
Hi, Susan! So enjoyed this post: I would love to see the miniature displays from the movie! What a great shop. Your grandson is absolutely precious. I hope you’ll get to see him this holiday season (but your son better check your luggage before you leave to go home!!) Thanks for sharing……
Rosie
Oh, Susan, I am so glad that I actually know you because it makes reading your posts so much more fun because I can just hear and see you saying every word and describing everything as if I was right there. What a treat. I love all of the Christmas Story posts. Please show us the museum. Court is adorable. What a precious little pumpkin. I can see in his face some of his impish grandmother peeking through. Thanks for the picture. I can’t believe how much he grown.
Oh my goodness! I was so surprised to see Court in this post today. What a little bundle of adorableness. Wish I could hug and squeeze him. 😀 (Not too tight.) Hee … I hope he enjoyed his first Halloween. Next year he’ll be walking (and getting in to everything) so he’ll enjoy that one for sure! So glad we got to see a glimpse of him. I know you and the kids are full of love and pride over him, just as it should be. 🙂 You can just tell he’s a great kid.
Oh, my gosh, that grandson is THE CUTEST EVER!!! What a fun post. Thanks so much “A Christmas Story ” has always been my favorite!
Little Court is adorable…know you are the proud Grandma. Just celebrated my Grandson’s first birthday this past week-end. It is always so difficult to tear myself away from him when we have to return home. Love all the Dept. 56 pieces, as does Michael because it is one of his must watch Xmas movies…plus, he just loves anything that lights up. He sets up the best Halloween and Dicken’s Xmas village displays, and we have such fun putting them together. Now that he knows Dept. 56 has The Christmas Story village, I see a shopping trip in the near future. LOL.