Lucy and Desi are frequently seen using their Franciscan Ivy dining set. In the opening scene of “The Freezer” episode Lucy apparently uses the light colored shaker to sprinkle fine sugar on her breakfast grapefruit. The ivy leaf shaped salt and pepper shaker set are easy to spot. The Franciscan Ivy pieces can still be found. The shaker set pictured below is currently on eBay
Monthly Archives: February 2015
Lucy’s Kitchen Apothecary Jars
In the above capture from I Love Lucy Season 1, Episode 4 “Lucy Thinks Ricky Is Trying to Murder Her” we see two porcelain apothecary jars on the kitchen shelf. The apothecary jars appear in several episodes as set dressing in the kitchen in various locations. I have not found an exact match for the jars on the show but similar ones are seen on ebay such as the example below.
To see this one on ebay Click here
Little Ricky’s Fish Bath Toy
The Rubber squeak toy Ricky finds is a Disney Pinocchio Cleo Rubber Squeak Toy from the Sun Rubber Co.
Little Ricky’s Froggy the Gremlin Squeak Toy
In the “I Love Lucy” episode The Ricardo’s Change Apartments Ricky discovers a squeeky toy under his seat cushion when he sits on the armchair. Froggy the Gremlin was a well known character on radio and TV during that era. In 1948 the Rempel Company produced a Froggy the Gremlin rubber squeak toy and the one Ricky has looks like the 9 inch version. 
Little Ricky’s squeak toy is a Froggy the Gremlin rubber squeeze toy made famous by Smilin’ Ed McConnell on the Buster Brown Gang radio show in the 1940’s and the later TV show.
An original Froggy in his box in good condition is a collectors item now and can easily sell for over $500 on eBay.
If you are buying one read the description carefully, the vintage rubber has hardened in some cases. The Froggy the Gremlin toy pictured above is on eBay this week CLICK HERE to view.
See Froggy the Gremlin on the 50’s kiddie show “Andy’s Gang”.
Tip for a DIY Lucy style cruet
If you like to paint its easy to mock up your own version of the “I Love Lucy” cruet.
Search eBay for a “Rooster cruet” like the one in the picture above Seen HERE . You will notice the back is blank. so you can paint your own ivy design like the I Love lucy one. You will need acrylic paint, green and yellow for the leaves (there is a touch of yellow at the tips of the leaves), and brown for the branches and some brushes including a fine one to do the fine lines. Use the picture of an original Thompson cruet below for inspiration. 
Click Here to find a Rooster Cruet on eBay
Oil & Vinegar cruet set from “I Love Lucy”
Seen on eBay this week is a cruet set advertised as the set from I Love lucy CLICK HERE to view the listing. There is a cert from a prop house but I don’t know if there is any direct provenance to anyone who can verify the authenticity. I am curious that the funnel is present because I assumed it went missing as the funnel is not seen in several episodes of the show. It appears that ivy leaf pattern on the cruet offered on eBay is not an exact match for the cruet seen in the screen shot above when you compare the placement of the ivy leaf shapes. The cruets were hand painted so no two are exactly alike.
If you read the previous post about the Thompson ivy cruet set you will be aware that similar cruet sets from George S. Thompson of Pasadena, Ca. under the Olde Thompson label can still sometimes turn up on for sale, so you may be able to find an identical one for less if you are patient.
Note: I am not an expert on original props and cannot verify the authenticity of any items claimed to be from the show. As always exercise caution and look for reliable provenance.
Little Ricky’s Toy Cars
In the episode “Ricardo’s Change Apartments” Lucy is running out of space to store all the baby items. In the screen capture above we can see some of the now very collectible 50’s era toys belonging to little Ricky. On the top shelf to the left there is a Cohen Fire Chief tin pull toy, On the second shelf on the left is a Mattel Tricky Trolly – the original box is to the right of the same shelf. On top of the Tricky Trolley box appears to be a toy drum similar to Ricky’s toy drum we looked at in a previous post.
The Cohen Fire Chief pull toy was seen on eBay recently with original box but missing the fire chief’s hat at the following link
http://www.ebay.com/itm/T-Cohn-Tin-Fire-Chief-Pull-Toy-Car-with-Box-/161543611109
Mattel Plastic Toy Windup Tricky Trolley Bus
The 1950’s vintage plastic windup Tricky Trolley, made by Mattel Toys was based on the classic “Toonerville Trolley” a popular Sunday comic strip.
See Tricky Trolley on eBay
Little Ricky’s Party Game
In the 1957 I Love Lucy episode “Lucy and Superman”, we see a traditional “pin the tail on the donkey” game at little Ricky’s birthday party. This game was a fixture at children’s parties for generations back to the 1800’s. Ricky Jr. game appears to be “Donkey Party” by Whitman Publishing Company.
Vintage Donkey Party game also known as Pin The Tail On The Donkey seen on eBay
Ricardo’s Bookshelf: An Introduction to French
In the scene pictured above from “I Love Lucy” episode Lucy Meets Charles Boyer we see Ethel speaking to Lucy on the set of Ricardo’s hotel room in Paris. In the background we can see the owl bookends we looked at before in the Ricardo’s living room, later they moved to a shelf in Ethel’s living room when she got Lucy’s old furniture, and now the are in the Paris hotel set. The book title appears to be “An Introduction to French” and a possible candidate for this book is:
- An Introduction To French by Robert F. Roeming (Amazon Link), Charles Edmund Young, published by D. C. Heath and Company, Boston, 1951
- Seen also listed on Abe Books
Lucy’s Superlon Salt & Pepper Shaker Set
Lucy’s kitchen had several salt and pepper shaker sets, usually they were on the large side up to 4″ or more which made them easier to spot on set. This time we are looking at a more average sized 3 piece plastic salt and pepper shaker set marked Superlon Product Chicago IL USA on the base of the holder. In the screen capture above they are next to the Plas-tex set we looked at previously.
