A ‘Major Award’ and Roadside Attraction Can Be Found in Oklahoma

Who knew a "major award" could be this big? One of the many memorable scenes in the holiday movie classic A Christmas Story is when the old man wins a prize for solving a newspaper quiz. A giant crate arrives at the house marked "Fragile" or "fra-gil-ay," and you know the rest.

The original leg lamp is in the front window of the House from A Christmas Story tourist attraction in Cleveland, Ohio. The leg lamp statue is in Chickasha, Oklahoma. Why? More on that in a minute.

The lamp's creator, Noland Jones, was born in Chickasha and made the town his home for most of his life. Jones gained a love of education from his time in the Air Force. After being honorably discharged, he attended the University of Oklahoma and studied mechanical engineering, painting, and design. He would go on to teach at OU Art School for 33 years.

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The giant leg lamp statue was installed in November of 2022.

But wait, there's a twist to this story. When the statue was installed, Warner Brothers Studios (they own the rights to the movie) cried copyright infringement. Jones designed the leg lamp, but the filmmakers copied his design.

New reports on the copyright case are as recent as a month ago:

No copyright/trademark issues have ever affected the 'Christmas Story' house, and I'm guessing it's because it was used in the film. This attraction is about 10 hours away, but if you are headed west next week or this summer, how can you not stop and admire it?