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FARMINGTON -- A Utah man's love of a classic holiday movie has translated into a full-time job. Andrew Clark runs his company, Aunt Clara's Creations, out of Farmington.
It's a business devoted entirely to making and selling the pink bunny pajamas little Ralphie gets as a present in the movie "A Christmas Story." In the movie, Ralphie's father describes the hated Christmas gift as looking "like a deranged Easter bunny" and a "pink nightmare."
Clark says the idea was born somewhat out of necessity. He and a high school friend had enjoyed watching the movie together, so he thought he'd get his friend pajamas like Ralphie's as a joke for Christmas.
"I scoured the Internet looking for pink pajamas for adults," he said, figuring he'd have to get some footed jammies and modify them. "I couldn't find anything."
So he bought a copy of the film and started studying Ralphie's pajamas from every angle, including the two bunnies on the feet, the fluffy cotton tail, the soft pink fleece and, of course, the ears. He contacted Utah seamstresses and had them help come up with a prototype, then tracked down a manufacturer who could produce the outfit.
"I started getting a lot of orders, first hundreds, and then over 1,000. And at that point I realized that I really probably should do -- spend more time doing that," he says. "But it's kind of a crazy thing. You know, you don't want to quit your day job to do something as hare-brained as making pink bunny pajamas. And I still laugh when I tell people that's what I've been doing for the last couple of years."
The timing of Clark's search for the pajamas and subsequent business venture has had at least one unintended benefit for the U.S. economy. He says he initially thought about outsourcing the labor to China, but in talking to the seamstresses who helped him make the prototypes, he realized that sewing manufacturers in the U.S. had already lost too much business overseas.
"It's made me really proud to say these are all made in the U.S.A., all made locally," he says.
Clark says he thought at first he'd only have business at Christmas, but he's been surprised by orders year-round, especially in October, when adults apparently like to dress as Ralphie for Halloween.
If the pink bunny pajamas aren't enough, Aunt Clara's Creations also sells Ralphie's coveted Red Ryder B.B. gun. Just don't shoot your eye out.
E-mail: bbruce@ksl.com
