A Christmas Story is one of the most notable Christmas comedies of all time for many reasons: the pink bunny outfit, Ovaltine, licking a cold lamppost. But who could forget the leg lamp? Surprisingly, early drafts of the screenplay had other ideas for the lamp. Inside the crate labeled “fra-gi-le” could have come something much, much different.
A GE light bulb
An early draft had Ralphie’s father winning a lifetime supply of light bulbs, but where was the sensuality in that? Boo. Next.
Jack-o-Lantern
The original script called for a spooky jack-o-lantern to be in the box. But for a Christmas movie, this seemed out of place.
Arm Lamp
It was just a long, slender arm with a black glove holding up a light bulb. But once it was illuminated, the cast referred to it as, “something out of a slasher flick.”
A lava lamp
The 1983 movie struggled to resist the idea of a huge lava lamp, but it wasn’t right for a film about the 50’s.
A bottle of Coca-Cola
One writer proposed a tall, red lamp in the shape of a Coca-Cola bottle. It would have been great for product placement if Ovaltine didn’t have the exclusive beverage rights to the film.
A standard table lamp
Where was the sensuality in that? Boo. Nope.