Monthly Archives: October 2018

Ethel Mertz, I love Lucy Props, Kodak Camera, Lucy Desi Comedy Hour

Ethel’s Kodak Box Camera


Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz sporting her Kodak Duaflex IV

In the Lucy Desi Comedy Hour, season 1, episode 5 “Lucy Goes To Sun Valley”, Ethel can be seen with a box camera in various parts of the episode. thanks to contributor Jamie, we have the ID of her camera: It is a Kodak Duaflex IV, which was manufactured from 1955 to 1960, as seen the following screenshots from the episode.

Kodak Duaflex IV

Kodak ad LIFE – Dec 2, 1957 – Page 100

I see several models on Etsy this week Click Here to view a current selection on Etsy
Following is a selection from eBay.com :

[phpbay keywords=”Kodak Duaflex IV” num=”8″ siteid=”1″ category=”625″ sortorder=”PricePlusShippingHighest” templatename=”columns” columns=”2″ itemsperpage=”10″ paging=”true”]

I love Lucy Props, Paper Mate, Papermate

Lucy Loves her Paper Mate Pen


Many thanks to Jamie for the following research on the Paper Mate pen prop seen on I Love Lucy. Says Jamie: “Lucy and Ricky as seen using a pen with a shiny top end and black lower end. I have identified this is a Paper Mate Deluxe pen, which came out in 1951 and pretty much revolutionized the ballpoint pen world. There is a great history page here: http://penshotsandthoughts.blogspot.com/2015/06/early-history-of-paper-mate-part-2.html
You can see on that page that it was even advertised by George Burns, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Gracie Allen!”
They are difficult to come by on ebay with the gold top, but there is one offered on eBay this week:

Vintage Early Model Paper Mate Ballpoint Pen – Black and Gold – Click here to see it on eBay

Following are various captures showing the pen in use on the show.





Zsa Zsa Gabor Ad for Paper Mate Pen seen on Etsy