The Leg Lamp from A Christmas Story is one of the most iconic and recognizable movie props of all time. Replicas of the leg lamp have become prized “Major Awards” for fans everywhere. A Christmas Storyauthor, Jean Shepherd was inspired to create the leg lamp after seeing an illuminated Nehi Soda advertisement. The design of the leg lamp for A Christmas Story is the work of production designer Reuben Freed. Unsure of exactly what a leg lamp was or should look like Freed presented a couple sketches to Shepherd who said, “Yep, that’s it!” Freed then produced three leg lamps for the movie and went through several shade styles before settling on the large golden bell shade with black fringe seen in the movie. None of the three original leg lamps survived the production of the movie. All three props were broken on set during the filming. If you look closely during the scene (pictures below) in which Ralphie’s Mom breaks the leg lamp you will notice that the leg lamp is broken in two different ways.
“FRAGILE (FRA-GEE_LAY) it my be Italian!”
“It’s a Major Award!”
“It’s a lamp! What a great lamp!
“It’s indescribably beautiful!”
“The soft glow of electric sex gleaming in the window.”
“It reminds me of the Fourth of July!”
“You should see what it looks like from out here!”
“Not a finga!” Notice the “blooper” in the two photos above. The leg lamp is broken in a different manner in each picture. The leg lamp is broken in “chunks” in the first and lengthwise in the second. All three leg lamps made for the production of A Christmas Story were broken on set.
“The sound of Taps playing softly”
Nehi Beverages sign that inspired the leg lamp.
