Monthly Archives: February 2016

50s Retro, Coffee Pot, I love Lucy Props, Kitchen, percolator

Lucy’s Stove Top Percolator

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In the episode Little Ricky Learns to Play the Drums there is a stove top aluminum coffe percolator on view in the I Love Lucy kitchen.
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A closer look at the coffee pot shows the distinctive shaped handle and the slightly curved lid with glass knob. The vintage coffee pots with glass knob are still popular for camping,
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A good match for the  shape of the handle  is seen on Comet Coffee pots like the one below. The Comet 6 cup Coffee Pot Aluminum Percolator with Glass Knob looks very similar to the one on the show.


Look for similar ones on eBay

50s Retro, I love Lucy Props, Little Ricky, Vintage Toys

Little Ricky’s Wind-Up Bear

Ricky uses a windup drummer bear to help Little Ricky get confidence to perform his drum act

In the I Love Lucy Episode, Season 6,  Little Ricky Gets Stage Fright which aired on October 22, 1956, a wind-up mechanical toy drummer bear plays a role in helping Little Ricky overcome stage fright.

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A similar bear seen on eBay is made in Japan in original box, and has a similar outfit and drum.
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See it on eBay HERE The bear was also made in brown fur like this one on ebay – the bear on the show may have been the brown version.

50s Retro, Figurines, Lucille Ball

Lucille’s Animal Ornaments

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Lucille Ball’s at home – animal figurines on shelf

Lucille Ball is seen in a publicity photo at home. She is in a domesticated  pose wearing frilly apron, busily sewing on her chaise longue . At the left side of the picture displayed on a shelf are a pair of horse figurines and a little ram/sheep planter on the lower shelf.  Pictured below are some similar items that seem to match quite well.
ram-planter horse-figurine foal

Ricardo's Bookshelf

Ricardo’s Bookshelf: Whistle Stop

Whistle Stop
Whistle Stop
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Whistle Stop by Maritta M Wolff

Here is another book from the Arnaz home, possibly the Chatsworth Ranch home. This book was a bestseller in the 1940’s, Whistle Stop By Maritta M Wolff. Winner of the major prize in the Avery Hopwood Award for 1940, and written during Wolff’s final year at the University of Michigan, this novel became the basis for the film starring George Raft and Ava Gardner. It received immediate critical praise, including that of Sinclair Lewis, quoted on the rear panel: “I suspect that in Whistle Stop we may have the most important first novel of the year.”

Ricardo's Bookshelf

Ricardo’s Bookshelf: How to Sing for Money

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The Book “How to Sing for Money” on the Arnaz bookshelf

Here is an interesting career related book from the Lucille and Desi Arnaz bookshelf at their home in the early years. How to Sing for Money: The Art and Business of Singing Popular Songs Professionally by Charles Henderson

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How to Sing for Money

SKU: 1452537577NAT
Title: How to Sing for Money: The Art and Business of Singing Popular Songs Professionally
Author: Henderson, Charles
Book binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Nelson-Hall company
Year of publication: 1945
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