Did the boy in A Christmas Story really stick his tongue to the pole?

His character, Flick, took the triple-dog dare in the 1983 holiday classic “A Christmas Story,” putting his tongue to the school flagpole. Thank goodness the 14-year-old actor’s tongue wasn’t actually “thtuck,” and no kids were hurt while they were filming the scenario.

 

 

Did the boy in A Christmas Story really stick his tongue to the pole?

Scott Schwartz, a native of New Jersey, will always be remembered for sticking his tongue out.

“Think of a vacuum cleaner, but the hole [in the plastic] was the size of a pinky nail,” Schwartz said.

According to Schwartz, the prop makers painted the pole to look rusty and ancient and covered a piece of plastic that was wrapped around it. A suction line led from a hole in the plastic to a motorized vacuum that was buried below in the snow.

His tongue felt a slight tug from the suction, but he was able to remove it gently.

If you genuinely affix your tongue to a flagpole, the situation changes. Your tongue’s heat will be robbed by cold metal, which will cause your spit to freeze to the surface like superglue.

Schwartz pulled off a well-thought-out stunt. For all the children gathered around the pole in Canada, the two-day, 12-hour shoots in bitter cold conditions were the most trying.