All posts by Patricia

I Love Lucy Nursery, I love Lucy Props, Little Ricky, Vintage Toys

Little Ricky’s Froggy the Gremlin Squeak Toy

February 27, 2015 Patricia

froggythrgremlintoy

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. Andy's-Gang-Pasta-Fazooli-vs.-Froggy-the-Gremlin 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.

Froggy-the-Gremlin-rubber-squeeze-toy — 9 Inch Froggy the Gremlin on eBay – Click Picture for details

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”.

Click Here to see more Froggy the Gremlin toys on eBay

Cruet, I love Lucy Props, Kitchen

Tip for a DIY Lucy style cruet

February 24, 2015 Patricia

The complete cruet set seen at an early date in the I love Lucy kitchen

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

I love Lucy Props, Lucy Style, Olde Thompson

Oil & Vinegar cruet set from “I Love Lucy”

February 24, 2015 Patricia

cruet set

cruet (3) — Cruet Set offered on eBay Credit: eBay

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.

cruet (2) — Ivy Cruet set Offered on eBay recently. Photo: eBay

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.

I love Lucy Props, Little Ricky, Vintage Toys

Little Ricky’s Toy Cars

February 23, 2015 Patricia

rickyjuniortoys — Little Ricky’s Toys in the episode “Ricardo’s Change Apartments”

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.

cohn-tin-fire-chief-car2 — Cohen Fire Chief tin pull toy

cohn-tin-fire-chief-car — Cohen Fire Chief tin pull toy and original box at liveauctioneers.com

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

matteltrickytrolly — Mattel Tricky Trolley in original box seen on eBay -Click image for details

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

Books on I Love Lucy, Owl Book Ends, Paris, Ricardo's Bookshelf, Travel

Ricardo’s Bookshelf: An Introduction to French

February 21, 2015 Patricia

The — Owl Bookends on the set of “I Love Lucy” Lucy Meets Charles Boyer 1956

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

50s Retro, I love Lucy Props, Kitchen, Salt & Pepper Shakers

Lucy’s Superlon Salt & Pepper Shaker Set

February 20, 2015 Patricia

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.

superlon-salt-pepper-shaker-set — Three piece plastic salt and pepper shaker set marked Superlon Product Chicago IL USA similar to the set on I Love Lucy

superlon-salt-pepper-shaker-set2 — Similar set on eBay this week – click picture to see it on eBay

See all posts about Salt and Pepper Shakers on I Love Lucy

Art, Paris, Travel

Lucy’s Paris Painting

February 19, 2015 Patricia

lucysparisartistpainting
In the I Love Lucy Season 5 episode Paris at Last Lucy sets out to explore Paris and “discovers” an artist whose paintings she hopes will become valuable some day. However Lucy’s meets another kind of artist – a con artist. The painting Lucy buys is a view of Notre Dame Cathedral from the Left Bank. Of course this scene is filmed in the studio, however assuming the “artist” is painting the scene before him, this places Lucy and the artist Charpentier in the vicinity of Quai Saint Michel. The building with the awning to the right of the painting is Hotel Le Notre-Dame SAINT-MICHEL which I recognized immediately because it is where I stayed when I was in Paris a few weeks ago. It is an interesting boutique hotel in a listed Paris building, with interior decor by Christian Lacroix. It’s a great location for exploring the area and we had a view of Notre Dame from the room and a Brasserie on the ground floor under the awning. Just around the corner is the famous Shakespeare & Co bookstore.

parispaintings — View of Notre Dame from Quai Saint-Michel, Paris

notredame — Google Maps View of Quai Saint-Michel, Paris, Hotel Notre Dame on the right – click for Google street view

americanexpressparis1950s — Establishing shot of **American Express at 11 Rue Scribe, Paris,** from I Love Lucy episode Paris at Last

Incidentally, Lucy meets the artist in front of the American Express office, a film clip of American Express at 11 Rue Scribe, Paris, is used to establish the scene. This is approx 2 miles away from the Notre Dame location the artist is supposed to be painting.

amex-11-rue-scribe — American Express building at 11 Rue Scribe, Paris, in Google Maps

The American Express building at 11 Rue Scribe, Paris, is now home to a Nespresso Cafe and is no longer an American Express office.

Books on I Love Lucy, Ethel Mertz, I love Lucy Props, Ricardo's Bookshelf, Travel

Ricardo’s Bookshelf: Lucy & Ethel’s London Guide Book

February 19, 2015 Patricia

In the Season 5 episode Lucy Meets the Queen the Ricardos and the Mertzes arrive in London, and Lucy and Ethel go to the palace in hopes of seeing the Queen. Ethel is seen referring to a copy of the Britain 1955 edition of Fodor’s Modern Guides – Lucy is hoping to catch a glimpse of the Queen but gets distracted when she tries in vain to make one of the palace guards smile, and as a result she misses her chance when the Queen does come out.

fodors-britain-1955 — Britain 1955 edition of the Fodor’s Modern Guides series.

The guide book Ethel refers to is titled Britain 1955 from the Fodor’s Modern Guides series – Fodor’s Modern Guides, Inc was founded in 1949 to provide practical information for tourists, with updated yearly editions . For that era, this was new concept in guides books which became essential for the 1950’s traveler.

Find Fodor’s Modern Guides at amazon
Currently there appears to be a copy at :
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=8649948430
Find Fodor’s Modern Guides on eBay

Chalkware Figurines, Figurines

Lucy’s Chalkware Figurines

February 14, 2015 Patricia

Most of the bedroom figurines on the shelf over the beds in the I Love Lucy bedroom set were Made in Japan porcelain imports. This courting couple pair of figurines were chalkware and they were usually not placed side by side on the shelf which made it a bit more difficult to find them. Chalkware is more vulnerable to the passing of time being made of plaster/chalk so pieces can be scarce.

Here is a pair I found on eBay recently. The woman is holding her flounced skirts in a curtsy and the man has a dog beside him. Notice the dark gold band around the base, which helps to identify them. To find a similar pair search on eBay or Etsy or Bonanza – search for “chalkware courting couple” or “chalkware victorian” or “chalkware colonial”