CLEVELAND -Brian Jones' purchase of a house in Cleveland has linked the California man's future to A Christmas Story
the nostalgic holiday film he loves.
He wants to create a museum in the home where the film family lived and the main character, a boy named Ralphie, daydreamed of shooting bad guys with the BB gun he hoped his parents would buy him for Christmas.
I'm getting overwhelmingly positive feedback Jones, 29, of San Diego, said of owning the house. People who are fans (of the film) think it's the greatest idea ever.
The former Navy man with a degree in aerospace engineering could not resist when his wife, who is serving on a Navy ship, informed him by e-mail that the house used in A Christmas Story was for sale on eBay. The starting bid for the four-bedroom house was $99,999.
He closed the deal for $150,000 and flew to Cleveland for the first time Dec. 27, heading directly to the house.
Jones hopes to restore the home, built in 1895, from its current gray vinyl siding exterior to the deep yellow with green-trimmed windows that it had in the movie.
Jones also said he would like the inside of the house to resemble how it appeared in the movie. In addition, he plans to open an on-site gift store selling items linked to the movie, including Ovaltine, Little Orphan Annie decoder rings and leg lamps like the one Ralphie's father proudly displayed in the front window of his family's house.
Everyone loved the leg Jones said. My mom said someone could make good money selling them.
Two years ago, Jones started the Web site www.redriderleglamps.com and he has sold about 3,000 of the 45-inch-tall lamps of a woman's leg in a fishnet stocking and high-heel shoe. A bulb under the shade lights up, along with the leg.
A Christmas Story
centers on the childhood of Ralphie -a bespectacled boy growing up in the 1940s -and his quest to get a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas.
-The Associated Press
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Brian Jones, 29, of San Diego, poses with one of the Leg Lamps he offers online through his company, RedRiderLeglamps.com, iin San Diego.
