40-foot tall leg lamp from ‘A Christmas Story’ stands in Chickasha in ‘indescribably beautiful’ glory

From Chase Horn, KFOR

CHICKASHA, Okla. (KFOR) – The City of Chickasha is known for its ‘Festival of Light’ display, but now there’s hope it will also be known for a giant leg lamp from the holiday classic ‘A Christmas Story’.

“I continued to think about what we could do to get people to come to Chickasha,” Economic Development Council Treasurer Tim Elliott said. “And make us a destination spot.”

After brain storming, Elliott says he came up with a triple-dog dare for the economic development council.

“I set my two-foot leg lamp up on the table, and I said, ‘How about a 150-foot leg lamp at the end of Main Street?’” Elliott told News 4. “They all kind of laughed and thought it was funny, but it was an idea.”

Little did Elliott know, the iconic lamp has a real connection to Chickasha through OU professor Noland James.

“Nolan kept telling her that he invented the leg lamp. The original leg lamp, that was his idea,” Elliott said. “I just blew it off as a very aged man that thinks he invented the leg lamp.”

James died in July, and in his obituary, it says he invented the infamous leg lamp.

Legend has it, the original one stood in Noland’s office and a man would often stop in to see it. Turns out, a few years later that man worked on the production team for ‘A Christmas Story’.

The city says the current 40-foot leg lamp is inflatable, but the Economic Development Council plans to build a larger, permanent structure in the future.