How "A Christmas Story" Became a Cleveland Holiday Favorite

Editor's Note: This story originally published in our December 2025 issue, "A Very Cleveland Holiday." Read the rest of those stories of nostalgia and cheer.

The House 

Although the movie A Christmas Story doesn’t take place in Cleveland,  it was filmed here, making it a part of the area’s holiday history  ever since the flick arrived in 1983. The most famous spot of all is the yellow Christmas Story house, where Ralphie and his family lived, and the blue Bumpus House with rowdy dogs next door. Both homes are locally owned and have operated as tourist attractions since they were first bought off eBay more than 20 years ago. Gary Biletnikoff is an administrative assistant at the house, and he says they get between 80,000 and 100,000 visitors annually, most around the holidays, though they are open year-round. “It’s one of those things that’s just like bite-sized nostalgia,” Biletnikoff says. “You can step into the house and revisit a lifetime of memories of this film.”

The Higbee Building

The other famous filming location in the movie is the Higbee Building, where the Parkers make their annual pilgrimage to a not-so-jolly department store Santa. That building is now Jack’s Casino Downtown. Last November, the casino put up a plaque commemorating the site as a “historic filming location” for its role in A Christmas Story. Aleksandra Breault, the director of public relations and communications for the casino, says people often come into the building not just because of the movie but also to “reminisce about what the Higbee Building used to mean to them.” “So you have a lot of people who come down to the casino and say, ‘I remember coming down and being on this floor and shopping with my grandmother,’” she says. “Those memories still live within our walls.” 

The Higbee Slide 

Ralphie’s memories of the Higbee Building might not have been so warm and fuzzy. One of the most iconic scenes in the movie is when Ralphie claws his way back up a slide to tell Santa what he really wants for Christmas, only to be denied and then kicked down the slide. At Castle Noel in Medina, you can relive Ralphie’s slide escapades. Dana Klaus of Castle Noel says the original slide was just a prop that was destroyed after filming, so they built their own version in 2013. “Our whole motto is, We’re going to make you feel like a kid again,” Klaus says. “So this is about bringing out the joy in people of all ages.”

The Leg Lamp 

Many Cleveland businesses proudly display a lamp of a woman’s leg in fishnet stockings, and customers like to take photos and joke about how fra-gee-lay they are. At The Treehouse pub in Tremont, owner Paul Jones says some folks even try to steal the Major Award; he’s had to screw it into its stand. “You get people on bar crawls and scavenger hunts, and they all think they’re funny and want to take a piece of your place with them,” he says. “But that one’s going to stay.” Nearby, Banyan Tree boutique also displays a leg lamp for the holidays, and has sold leg lamp keychains, candles, greeting cards, ornaments and more. Owner Christie Murdoch says the leg lamp is synonymous with Christmastime in Cleveland. “It’s kind of taken on a different symbol,” Murdoch says. “It was absurd, but now it’s like, Oh no, this is Christmas.” 

The Pink Bunny Suit 

For the full Christmas Story experience, dress the part. Pink bunny suits are for sale in the house’s gift shop in adult and kid sizes, and for $10, you can rent one to wear while touring the house. “It’s something that is both joyful in how we remember it and also a moment of Ralphie not being too happy,” Biletnikoff says. “So it makes for all kinds of photo opportunities.” You can even stay overnight in the Parker or Bumpus house and rent the outfit for the night. Nothing says “Happy Holidays” like going to sleep in Ralphie’s bed in a pink bunny suit.

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