Contest #853 – “A Christmas Story” Leg Lamp Statue, Chickasha, Oklahoma, USA

In the Movie “A Christmas Story”, the father character enters a contest and wins “a major award”. Unaware of what it is, the family awaits the arrival until this very moment:

Ok, so how did that become this? And why in Chickasha, Oklahoma, USA?

Well, it’s quite a circuitious story.

A professor at the University of Oklahoma Art School, Noland James, was born in Chickasha. At some point in his life, he created a lamp using the bottom half of a mannequin

This lamp sat in his office for most of his teaching career and was a subject of interest for many students, faculty and vistors. Once such “admirer” was later to find himself on the production team for “A Christmas Story” and designed the leg lamp for the movie. Was he inspired by Dr. James’s lamp? No one seems to know, but the city leadership of Chickasha took that info and most definintely ran with it.

Starting in 2020, they started using a giant inflatable leg lamp in their Christmas parade. They used the same inflatable in their “Christmas in July” parade in 2021 and their 2021 Christmas (presumably in December?) parade. Such was the publicity and acclaim, that they decided to erect this monstrosity er, statue in the town square by the old train station.

If you visit this small town 50 or so miles south of Oklahoma City, you can also see Dr. James’ original artwork, at the Grady County Historical Society.

Those who won the “Major Award” by finding it before the hint:

  • Graham Hedley
  • hhgygy
  • Garfield
  • Bas van Limpt
  • Angie CF
  • Martin de Bock

and those who had to settle for a “Minor Award” by finding it after:

  • Ashwini Agrawal
  • Paul Voestermans
  • Phil Ower

Contest #850 – Institut sénégalais de recherches agricoles (ISRA), Sinthiou Maleme, Senegal

This site is part of a network of laboratories and research centers dedicated to agriculture advancements and improving food access in this west African nation. It appears to be a station of the larger Centre National de Recherches Agronomiques division of ISRA.

Those who found the location were:

  • Eloy Cano
  • Garfield

Which, also means that Eloy and Garfield are the winners of this series with 19 points each. Congrats!!

For those into the stats of this game, we’ve been to Senegal twice and on both occasions have had only two correct responses: for those wanting a challenge made easier by the fact you know the country, here is the image from the other time:

Contest #846 – Birth place of Martin Luther King Jr, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Martin Luther King's Boyhood Home

Often mistaken to be a parsonage, the house where Dr. King was born was owned by the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, not the church itself. Reverand Williams and his wife bought the house in 1909. His daughter Alberta married Dr. King’s father (then named Michael King) in 1926, and the couple moved into this house. His son Michael was born in 1929. Michael King Sr took over the church when Reverand Williams died in 1931. In 1934, he travelled to Berlin for the Baptist World Alliance Congress in 1934, and while there, ended up studying the life and works of Martin Luther. When he returned home, he legally changed both his name, and his son’s, to Martin Luther King.

The home is now a part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park and is administered by the US National Park Service. Tours of the home conducted by Park Rangers are sometimes available.

Those who figured out that we dumped the New Years theme and went here before the hint were:

  • Eloy Cano
  • Garfield
  • Paul Voestermans
  • Martin de Bock
  • Lighthouse
  • Phil Ower
  • Jason Hattermann
  • hhgygy
  • Bas van Limpt
  • Zorro the Fox

And those who cursed our name once the read the hint:

  • Angie CF
  • Graham Hedley
  • LawnBoy
  • Ashwini Agrawal

Contest #845 – Gold’s Gym Khalda, Amman, Jordan

It’s a new year, and with it, a staggering number of people setting out to new year’s resolutions, among the top of them to “get into shape”. Lots of people all over the world flocking to gyms, so we thought we would include one.

Here is the largest commercial gym in the world as of posting. Gold’s Gym Khalda in Amman is 6 stories tall (3 reserved for women only) and over 140,000 square feet of space. There are 4 swimming pools and 2 cycling studios. As several of our contestants noticed, there is also a full padel court.

Those who “worked it out” (sorry, just couldn’t avoid the pun) before the hint:

  • hhgygy
  • Paul Voestermans
  • Eloy Cano
  • Lighthouse
  • Martin de Bock
  • Garfield
  • Graham Hedley
  • Phil Ower
  • Zorro the Fox
  • Angie CF

and after the hint:

  • Bas van Limpt