If you drive on Highway 61 through Potosi/Tennyson during the winter holiday season, you may notice something strange. Many of the Potosi/Tennyson residents have a leg lamp displayed in the window for people passing to see. Not only are they on the “ridge” on Highway 61, but there are also many on Tennyson Street. Even the Tenosi Pump & Go is sporting one of these lamps as well. It makes you wonder if it is just a coincidence, or if there is more of a story behind it.
The 1983 movie A Christmas Story featured the iconic leg lamp, which in the film was won and displayed by the main character Ralphie’s father after he solved a series of newspaper puzzles. The writer of the film got the idea from a Nehi Soda advertisement. They added the lamp shade, fishnets, and illuminating lights, and the iconic leg lamp was born.
In Potosi, a new tradition started in the winter of 2012 with two neighbors, Lori Langkamp and Tom Sedwick. They acquired their leg lamps as gifts from their children and decided to post the lamps on Facebook, asking people to join. The Tennyson Leg Lamp Association was born.
“It took off like crazy,” stated Langkamp. Not only are there members of the association in Potosi and Tennyson, but also Dickeyville and Kieler. There are twenty-three houses in the area that display this leg lamp, as well as a few businesses like Tenosi Pump & Go and Haverlands Bar.
Some residents don’t just have the lamp; they have many other pieces of memorabilia. These include shirts, hats, Christmas ornaments, mugs, and even a miniature leg lamp that plugs into a wall outlet as if it were a night light. On the south end of town, Stacey Wagner has displayed one of the most iconic scenes from the movie in her front yard. This includes a statue of Flick, a young boy from the movie, who gets his tongue stuck to a flagpole after being “triple dog dared” to lick the frozen pole.
The residents all agree that this is just another way for the community to do something together that is light-hearted and fun. It is an impressive show of community and Christmas spirit that a movie made forty years ago has had such a positive impact on our town. Hopefully, the leg lamps will live on for many Christmas seasons to come.