Some people might be hard-pressed to name their favorite holiday movie, but not Mitch Williams — he will tell you right away that it’s “A Christmas Story.”
Williams has watched the popular film probably more times than he can count — “dozens,” he said this week. It was released to theaters in 1983 and reappears every Christmas on television to the delight of viewers, telling the story of a 9-year-old boy named Ralphie Parker who desires only one present: a Red Ryder BB gun.
That aspect of the plot for a family oriented movie set in the 1940s revolves around a scenario familiar to generations of American males who’ve been warned that they would shoot an eye out if they received the coveted air rifle.
“I guess the fact that I could always identify with Ralphie’s quest for the Red Ryder BB gun,” Williams explained Wednesday regarding his appreciation for the movie.
“I remember there were years when I was wanting a special Christmas gift from Santa and would drop hints to my parents and Santa, hoping that it would be under the tree,” he added. “I also love the feeling of nostalgia presented by the music and old toys used in the film.”
Quest for sign
For Mitch Williams, his fascination with the charming story goes much further.
“My love for it runs so deep that I seek out and try to find antique toys and props that are shown throughout the film,” disclosed Williams, who is Mount Airy’s public works director.
“But my main fascination throughout the years has been trying to find an authentic advertising sign that ricochets Ralphie’s BB from his Red Ryder and nearly shoots his eye.”
In the movie, Ralphie is surprised to actually get the air rifle for Christmas, and takes it outside to fire at a target perched on the metal sign in his back yard. The ricocheting BB comes back and knocks off his glasses, and while searching for them Ralphie thinks he has indeed shot out an eye.
Williams thought for years that the sign was advertising either Coca-Cola, Pepsi or Orange Crush soft drinks.
After high-definition TV emerged and the scene became clearer, he realized that it was a Golden Age Beverage sign instead.
Williams advised that Golden Age was a regional company located near Cleveland which produced drinks from the 1930s to 1970s. The Parker family house where “A Christmas Story” was filmed is located in Cleveland, so the use of that sign was a natural occurrence.
Given his interest in trying to locate such items appearing in the movie, Williams searched the Internet only to learn that Golden Age Beverage signs were extremely rare and virtually non-existent.
In the past four years, only a few have shown up on the eBay marketplace website and those weren’t entirely made like the one appearing in “A Christmas Story,” according to the local man.
Didn’t stop there
Being someone who is artistically and mechanically inclined as a longtime professional engineer, Williams then decided to take matters into his own hands.
A few years ago, he was able to obtain some high-definition photographs of a “close-enough” original image of the sign. Using these photos, other online images and screen captures of the famous Christmas morning scene, Williams was able to recreate Ralphie’s sign in vector software that is used in graphic design to create digital art.
This was in 2017, when the local man had the correct artwork for the sign, but could not find a company to manufacture a replica of the marker.
“Luckily, Cyndy Goins Vipperman at Imperial Images helped me create two ‘prototypes’ that were made by wrapping vinyl prints over sheet metal,” Williams further recalled. “They were very, very nice but they did not quite have the feel of a genuine vintage advertising sign.”
Despite that, Williams took one of the prototype signs to the house in Cleveland in 2018.
“While there, I showed the sign to the staff and they later relayed to me that they were interested in acquiring one,” Williams related. “Since I was such a big fan, I eventually donated it to them thinking they were going to hang it in the gift shop or someone’s office.”
To Williams’ surprise, he received a picture a few days later showing that the staff had placed his recreated Golden Age sign in the back yard of the house. It was in the exact spot where the iconic scene was filmed in the early 1980s with the sign positioned vertically.
Mass production
Williams was elated about the use of his sign outside the building in Cleveland, which earlier had been restored and reconfigured inside to match the soundstage interiors and is open to the public as the A Christmas Story House.
“I’m humbled and honored that the staff of A Christmas Story House thought that my sign was detailed and authentic enough that they placed it in the back yard,” he remarked.
Yet Williams still wasn’t satisfied with just having rendered a couple of prototypes.
“I wanted to find a sign company that would produce them to original specs with the correct-gauge metal and embossed letters,” he remembers. “I also wanted them mass-produced so they would be available to fans of the movie.”
This quest led to Williams locating a reproduction antique sign company in late 2020, which was willing to take on the project to which he has devoted four years of efforts.
He sent it the artwork and after a few minor color-adjustment tweaks, the company began production.
It took about five months to manufacture the signs, which were distributed throughout the U.S. in May. Since then, Williams has seen them for sale on eBay, in antique shops and at flea markets.
The gift shop at the A Christmas Story House also offers the signs, which usually sell online for around $100.
“I haven’t made a dime off it yet,” Williams said of the venture.
However, he is pleased to have perpetuated a part of movie history — while also offering the usual admonition surrounding the initial appearance of the Golden Age sign:
“If you do buy one, please be careful and don’t shoot your eye out,” Williams warned.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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