Where Was “A Christmas Story” Filmed?
Is Hohman, Indiana in “A Christmas Story” A real place?
Part of the charm of the movie is the relatable small town that the Parker family resides in. As much as it sometimes feels like it could be set anywhere, you might still wonder: where was “A Christmas Story” filmed?
As you may already know, “A Christmas Story” was adapted from stories written by author Jean Shepherd. His books “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash” and “Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories And Other Disasters” provide the storylines.
According to Good Housekeeping, the town of Hohman is actually based on the town of Hammond where Jean Shepherd grew up. To make the town of Hohman pop on the big screen, the filmmakers needed to film in a couple of different locations.
Did they film “A Christmas Story” in Indiana?
Now we know that the movie was meant to be set in Indiana. Now we can move on to answering the question: where was “A Christmas Story” filmed?
Most movies don’t actually film in the place where they set their story, but end up using several different locations to put together the best product possible. “A Christmas Story” is no different.
According to IMDB the movie was shot in Cleveland, Ohio, and Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They filmed the Park home interior on a stage in Toronto’s Magder Studios, now called Commercial Studios.
Notable Cleveland “A Christmas Story” filming locations
Fans of movies may already know that Toronto is a hub for film production. But you may have been surprised to hear that “A Christmas Story” was filmed in Cleveland.
According to Top Movie Locations, the main reason was none other than Higbee’s Department Store. Fans may remember this as the location where Santa tells Ralphie: “You’ll shoot your eye out!”
It turns out that Higbee’s was the only department store that would let the film crew shoot inside. The only stipulation that the owner of Higbee’s had was that the movie could not contain any profanity. This leads to some great comedy moments when Ralphie’s dad is muttering and saying indiscernible swears under his breath while trying to fix a faulty furnace. Higbee’s closed down in 2002, but you can still visit the building and see the familiar exterior.
One of the other locations that you can find in Cleveland is the exterior of the Parker family home! According to Movie-Locations.com, the home is at 3159 West 11th Street in Tremont. Today, fans can visit the home that has been painstakingly renovated to look like the interiors shot on the soundstage in Toronto. You can visit the “A Christmas Story” House and Museum if you want to see some props and history of the movie. If you want, you can even stay the night!
