Another consistent element of the I Love Lucy kitchen decor is a wall mounted cruet set in a wooden stand. Many sets of this type were imported from Japan in the post WW2 years, examples of which can frequently be seen on eBay.
The Cruet set on the show consists of a hand painted ceramic double neck oil and vinegar bottle with a matching ceramic handled wooden salad serving fork and spoon plus a funnel to decant the oil and vinegar into the separate compartments of the decorative bottle, all of which fit on a wall mounted wooden stand.
The set on I love Lucy has a hand painted Ivy design. An identical cruet was sold by George S. Thompson of Pasadena with a label with label ‘OLDE THOMPSON South Pasadena California’. Their hand painted ivy range named “Imperial Ivy” used on salt and pepper sets , salad sets and dining accessories, was marketed to co-ordinate with popular ivy patterned dinnerware from other manufacturers such as the Metlox California Ivy range.
As time went on we see the cruet set on the I Love Lucy has signs that pieces of the salad set went missing, the funnel was lost and the wood serving fork and spoon were replaced by metal ones.
Seen above is a similar salad cruet set that was listed on ebay recently although with a difference painted design.
Here is another set – missing the funnel- currently listed on eBay as I write this.
The ones on the show were a green color with silver painted ovals on the crown and base. Attached is a photo of what the real ones looked like. Also, one of them has a sticker on the inside that says Charleton.
