Google Earth Community: "A Christmas Story" House

If you grew up around New York City in the 60's and 70's, you may already be familiar with Jean Shepherd, the author and satirist who held forth nightly on WOR-AM. His radio work, which showed up in book form finally in his first collection of stories, In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash was the basis for the screenplay for "A Christmas Story".

Jean grew up in Hammond, Indiana, which became Hohman, Indiana in his stories. (There is a Hohman Ave. along the west side of Hammond) His actual boyhood home and Warren G Harding Elementary School, important locations in many of his stories and much of his radio work are placemarked here.
I recommend for your listening pleasure the following websites about Shep.
This web page has recordings of his work including "Red Ryder Nails the Cleveland Street Kid", the chapter which became "A Christmas Story" as read by Shep.
Flick Lives has much about Shep, including lots of links.

A web page about Shep's real boyhood home has a picture which looks a bit more modest than the one used for the movie.

2907 Cleveland Street, Hammond, IN. Shepherd's actual boyhood home. His room was upstairs. He became quite a ham radio fiend and had a large antenna out in the yard. In one of his stories he tells about the antenna being hit by lightning whhich was accompanied by a huge blast of thunder. One unsubstantiated account of the family history claims they moved right after that due to damage caused by the lightning strike.

The movie version in Cleveland, OH*

All images from www.flicklives.com except (*) which is from www.achristmasstoryhouse.com

as Shep would say. Oh, and "Keep your knees loose!"

mp050106

Edited by Hill (12/12/07 03:40 PM)

Post Extras