“A Christmas Story” takes place somewhere you may actually know

If you’re as cuckoo for Christmas as we are, then you probably have A Christmas Story playing on repeat every single day of December like we do. What can we say? It makes us feel more festive! To celebrate the 1983 classic Christmas film, we studied up on everything A Christmas Story, including where it takes place.

Ralphie Parker and his family live in the fictional town of Hohman, Indiana. Hohman is based on the real-life Chicago metropolitan area city Hammond, Indiana. Author Jean Shepherd wrote about his childhood in Hammond in his 1966 compilation of short stories. These stories ultimately inspired the plot for A Christmas Story. Shepherd narrated the film and even has a cameo in the department store scene.

Fun fact: when adapting his stories to the screen, Shepherd chose to rename Ralphie’s town Hohman after one of Hammond’s busiest downtown streets.

To celebrate the author and film that made the town famous, Hammond, Indiana hosts an annual A Christmas Story Comes Home season-long event. During the holidays, the local Welcome Center houses an exhibit of six animated displays that depict memorable scenes from the film. The depicted scenes include Hibgee’s Department Store Window, The Triple Dog Dare, and the It’s a Major Award scene.

There’s even a bronze statue of Flick with his tongue stuck to a flagpole outside of the Welcome Center. The statue was erected in 2013 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the local South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority as well as the 30th anniversary of A Christmas Story.

The A Christmas Story Comes Home season-long event also hosts a mashed potatoes-eating contest, several screenings of the film, an “Oh Fuuudge!” Relay Race, and an ugly lamp contest. We seriously want to move to Hammond, Indiana ASAP.

Hohman/Hammond seems like the place to be when Christmas rolls around. If you’re a mega-fan of A Christmas Story, we highly recommend that you start planning next year’s holiday trip!