Lucy Meets Orson Welles
All posts by Patricia
Lucy Shops for Skin Diving Gear
In the I Love Lucy episode Lucy Meets Orson Welles she goes shopping with Ethel for her trip to Florida. In the department store sports department she sees skin-diving gear and decides to try it on.
When Orson Welles appears at the store Ethel calls for Lucy who rushes out from the changing room to meet him wearing a full face rubber dive mask.
Lucy’s Stove Top Percolator
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.
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,
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.
Lucy reads McCall’s Magazine
In the I Love Lucy episode “Ricky Has Labor Pains” (1953) Lucy is reading the January 1953 issue McCall’s Magazine – notice the reference on the cover for the article “Why I Love Lucy” by Desi Arnaz.
See it on eBay.
Little Ricky’s Wind-Up Bear
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.
A similar bear seen on eBay is made in Japan in original box, and has a similar outfit and drum.
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.
Lucille’s Animal Ornaments
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.
Ricardo’s Bookshelf: Whistle Stop
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: How to Sing for Money
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
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
The Ricardo’s Framed Military Prints
Several small framed decorative prints can be seen on the living room walls of the I Love Lucy set. A set of cavalry sword men appear on the wall next to the fireplace and also on the back wall on either side of the larger Utrillo picture.
These prints framed by Borghese are not identical to those pictured in the screen grab above but they are from the same series of cavalry prints derived from an antique publication of broad sword exercises by Thomas Stephens.
Mid Century Sofa Slipcover
This vintage sofa slipcover has a medallion pattern that reminds me somewhat of the sofa in the early episodes of I Love Lucy.
