Oklahoma town celebrates its ‘A Christmas Story’ ties with new 50-foot leg lamp statue

CHICKASHA, OK. — Inspired by local legend, a 50-foot-tall recreation of the iconic “A Christmas Story” leg lamp — complete with a black high heel, fringed lampshade and box marked “fragile” — has become a permanent statue.

Built entirely out of fiberglass, the permanent sculpture is located in Chickasha’s new downtown park. It measures 40-feettall, stands atop a 10-foot crate and boasts “the soft glow of electric sex” that Ralphie admires in the classic 1983 movie, Joe Hutmacher told The Oklahoman, part of  USA TODAY Network.  

How is Chickasha connected with the ‘A Christmas Story’ leg lamp? 

When Chickasha native Noland James died in 2020 at the age of 89, many people were surprised that his obituary included the line, “Noland always felt his lamp was the prototype for the one in the movie ‘A Christmas Story.'” 

Hutmacher’s voice trembled with emotion as he recalled the towering leg in his town and the man who inspired it.

“Noland was so gifted … and the guy was very humble. Only to his close personal friends would he mention that he built the original leg lamp. He didn’t promote himself in that manner, which is a strong indicator of character and personality to me. He was also one of my closest friends,” Hutmacher said.

James, who taught at Oklahoma University in the School of Visual Arts for 30 years, used a women’s mannequin for an unusual art display in his office until he retired.

The bottom of this novelty was a lamp devised of the mannequin’s two slender legs clad in black hose and pumps, while the torso was a waste basket. The whole figure was dressed in a lacy black-and-white outfit.  

Just a few months after James died, the Chickasha Economic Development Council displayed a 40-foot inflatable version of the “A Christmas Story” leg lamp perched on a 10-foot box labeled “fragile.”  

“For us to be connected to it in an unusual way, we’re glad that so many people love that movie — and that the leg lamp is such a big deal to people,” said Development Council Director, Jim Cowan.

“The whole story went viral,” Cowan added. “The amount of excitement it brought to Chickasha was just absolutely overwhelming.” 

The inflatable statue was torn down multiple times by strong winds, so the town decided to make a permanent statue for people who wanted to see it, Cowan said.

So why did James think his lamp inspired the movie?

The way James’ obituary tells it, a man looking for employment at the university “became tantalized with the lamp and came by Noland’s office many times to look at it and ask about how it was put together — he nearly took it apart to see how it was made.”

“A few years later, this same man was on the production team that produced the leg lamp from a hosiery leg for a 1983 movie,” the obituary claims.  

James’ display has two legs instead of one, “yet you can see where there’s a similarity between the two of them,” Cowan said. 

What ‘A Christmas Story’ creators have said about the leg

The film is adapted from humorist Jean Shepherd’s 1966 short story collection “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash,” and in the tale titled “My Old Man and the Lascivious Special Award That Heralded the Birth of Pop Art,” Ralphie’s father, played by Darren McGavin, receives a lamp in the shape of a sexy stockinged leg as a prize in a contest, thrilling Ralphie and embarrassing his mom, played by Melinda Dillon. 

According to the A Christmas Story House & Museum’s leg lamp history, Shepherd dreamed up the leg lamp after seeing an illuminated Nehi Soda advertisement. The design for the “Old Man’s major award” in “A Christmas Story” is credited to production designer Reuben Freed, who produced three leg lamps for the movie. As the movie’s plot dictates, all three props were broken during filming.