Brian Jones was kind enough to send us a bio of what led up to the purchase of the house from "A Christmas Story", now a full-fledged museum for the movie, and more importantly, for fans of the movie.The path that has led 31-year-old Brian Jones from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis to “that little house on Cleveland Street” is a result of his love for his favorite movie, “A Christmas Story.” Last Thanksgiving, the ongoing relationship between Jones and his favorite film took on a whole new meaning with the opening of A Christmas Story House.
A Christmas Story House takes visitors on a nostalgic journey to the sights and scenes of the classic Christmas film. In addition to A Christmas Story House, visitors can explore the museum where items from the movie are on display, more than 100 behind-the-scenes photos are featured and movie-related memorabilia can be purchased.
A San Diego native, Jones had always dreamed of becoming a naval aviator like his father. After graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy with a degree in aerospace engineering, he went on to flight school. Once he arrived, however, he learned that he did not have the sight requirements to achieve his dream and become a pilot.
Obviously downtrodden by the sobering news, Jones’ parents decided they had just the thing to cheer him up. A couple of weeks after the unfortunate news, Jones received a large wooden crate marked "FRAGILE." When he opened it, he found the infamous leg lamp from “A Christmas Story” inside. His parents made him a leg lamp (the “major award” from the film) to help deal with the disappointment of not becoming a navy pilot.
The film was a family favorite, and Jones’ parents had such a good recollection of the lamp that they actually recreated one. While it was a difficult and time-consuming task, it also was a humorous project for the Jones’. After sending it to their son, they told him of the significant interest that the lamp received and the fact that many people requested one for themselves.
After he left the Navy to pursue a new career, Jones was forced to make a decision about what he would do next. Struggling with the possibility of having to move to the East Coast for a corporate job, Jones remembered the comment from his parents about how popular the leg lamp had been. Jones set out to figure out a way to turn this interest into a realistic business. On April 9, 2003, RedRiderLegLamps.com – a largely online venture that sells replica leg lamps – was launched.
In the second year of RedRiderLeglamps.com, Jones’ wife e-mailed him while on deployment in the Middle East. Her captain had alerted her to the fact that the house used in “A Christmas Story” was up for sale on eBay. She thought she would just send a funny e-mail about how he should buy it. For Jones it wasn’t funny – it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
In a move that any fan could appreciate, Jones told the seller that if he took the house off the market that he would pay $150,000 for it. As quick as a tongue will stick to a metal pole in the winter, the deal was done. Within 24 hours the house was his, and Jones flew to Cleveland for the first time ever to sign the papers.
Since its opening on Nov. 25, 2006, more than 36,000 people have toured A Christmas Story House, making it a top tourist and pop culture destination in Cleveland.
Brian also answered a few of my other questions:
What's your favorite part of the movie itself?
I don't have a favorite part of the movie and I think that is what makes the movie the classic that it is. There are no bad scenes -- they are all hilarious and all so true to life. You don't find yourself waiting for one scene to be over so that your favorite scene is coming... they are all hilarious!
What got you started selling leg lamps?
I started selling leg lamps because I was getting out of the Navy and did not want to take a corporate job. Such a job seemed to carry with it all the things I did not like about my job in the Navy. Selling leg lamps
seemed the logical way to avoid that corporate hassle. I of course bought
the house in my second year in business because I love the movie and wanted
to see it preserved. It also made sense as a natural extension of the leg
lamp business. Why not give it a shot?
What part of buying the house are you happiest about?
I don't know if proud is the word but I am happiest when I see people coming through the house and museum or to see the actors at the convention and they are having the time of their lives and quoting all the lines.
Unfortunately I get recognized as the owner quite a bit because I some times
like to blend in a see how much fun people are having. On the site I am most
proud that we have gone from selling one product the leg lamp to now over 80
different products... 10 of them focused around the leg lamp. There is one down side to owning the house. I often catch myself looking at the background of the set while the movie is playing to see what we need to do next to make the house even more exact. Its actually kind of funny and I have to mentally slap myself so I go back to just enjoying the movie.
That's a great story about answering when opportunity knocks. It just so happens that in my home town of White Rock, BC, Canada, we also had the filming of a recent Christmas movie, "Deck the Halls" starring Danny Devito and Matthew Broderick. They created the set from scratch in a residential area and "built" two houses and a culdesac from the ground up. Then they put a huge tennis court bubble over it and, in the middle of June, added thousands of christmas lights and a zillion tons of fake snow. Presto, Christmas in June! It was a real hoot for all us locals to see first hand the craziness surrounding a movie set. When filming was over, alas the houses were dismantled too and real ones built in their place.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to how they did it:
http://www.csc.ca/news/default.asp?aID=1239
BTW, thanks for all the great Department 56 Christmas village info!
Leanne
HookedOnDepartment56.com