Category Archives: 50s Clocks

The Ricardo’s Baby Ben Alarm Clock

May 28, 2015 Patricia

Westclox Baby Ben Alarm Clock on the I Love Lucy Bedroom set

The Westclox Baby Ben alarm clock can be seen in several episodes of I Love Lucy. In the above picture it is on the far right of the bedroom shelf. The Baby Ben was produced from February 1949 until it was discontinued 1956 – the initial price was $6.50. It was approx 3.5 inches tall and came in an ivory color finish with either a brown or white dial. The one on the show had a brown dial. There was a similar larger 5.5″ model called Big Ben, however we can tell the one on the show is the smaller Baby Ben model by comparing the height of the clock to the height of the figurines. The height of the seated man and woman figurines ( As seen on eBay HERE) in the center of the shelf is known to be around 4.5 inches tall and those appear to be taller than the clock in the above picture.

Click Here to see this clock on eBay
Click Here for find more Baby Ben clocks on eBay

50s Clocks, Lucille Ball, Lucy Style

Lucy’s Ansonia Royal Bonn Clock

May 24, 2015 Patricia

lucille-ball-mantel-clock10--1941article — This publicity shot from a 1940’s magazine article shows Lucy receiving her Ansonia Royal Bonn clock.

Antique Original Ansonia Royal Bonn “Rainbow” Model

lucyathome — Lucy’s Ansonia Royal Bonn clock on the mantelpiece at her home.

In the previous post we looked at the Bohemian Glass pieces at each end of Lucille Ball’s Mantel. Pride of place in the center went to her antique Ansonia Royal Bonn porcelain clock. I found a picture of the similar clock on google image search and the color is green with floral motif which would co-ordinate with green and white bohemian pieces on the mantel.
An auction house (details and pictures here) gives this description for the Ansonia Rainbow model: Lot 54: Ansonia Clock Co., C.1905, standard line “RAINBOW”Session 1: Saturday Evening, May 15th 2010 at 5pm by R.O. Schmitt Fine Arts, LLC
“Description: Ansonia Clock Co., C.1905, standard line “RAINBOW” porcelain china cased clock, with 8-day, gong strike movement with open escapement on porcelain dial, in a medium green case, with multi color floral transfers to the front and sides.” Reference: Ly’s Ansonia book, page 602, fig 2564; price guide = $850 for year 2004. Height 11.25″

The “Rainbow” was produced from 1901 – 1915 in different colors such as green, violet, pink and blue. A similar clock in blue tones was sold on eBay recently- see details here.

Find Ansonia Royal Bonn Clocks on eBay

50s Clocks, Vintage Hair Care, Vintage Shaver

Ricky’s Schick Electric Razor

February 5, 2015 Patricia

ricky-shaver — I Love Lucy Season 1 Episode 23, **The Mustache**,

In I Love Lucy Season 1, Episode 23, The Mustache, Ricky uses an electric shaver to remove the mustache. The logo on the shaver can be seen in the screen capture above and it looks like a good match for Schick 20 Electric Razor pictured below,which is a working model currently for sale on eBay.

Vintage-SCHICK-Electric-Razor — Vintage Schick 20 Electric Razor with Original Case on eBay – Click Picture to view the listing.

The Schick 20 was widely advertised in 1952 the year this episode was made.
See all Schick 20 Shavers on eBay
Incidentally, Ricky is shaving while looking into the Bacchus Mirror we identified in a previous post. Continue reading Ricky’s Schick Electric Razor →

50s Clocks, I love Lucy Props

Lucy’s Other Tole Wall Clock

February 1, 2015 Patricia

Sessions Tole Wall Clock — Tole Wall Clock in Season One Episode **Be A Pal**

sessions-tole-clock — Sessions Tole Clock on eBay – Click picture for details.

In the first few early episodes of I Love Lucy we see a round toleware wall clock over the mantel in the Ricardo’s livingroom set. This clock was soon replaced by the octagonal one we looked at in a previous post. The round tole clock with handpainted leaf design is very similar to the Sessions tole clock with the matching hand painted leaves seen on eBay this week. The green Sessions clock pictured above is an electric model. the dial is a bit different from the one on the show but the metal casing is a good match – the hand painted leaves on each clock appear slightly different due to the hand painting. I have seen similar hand painted tole wind-up clocks made in Germany. The Sessions clock seems easier to find than the octagonal one and is found in a few different colors.

Click here to see more on eBay

50s Clocks

I Love Lucy Tole Wall Clock

December 15, 2014 Patricia

I Love Lucy Style Wall Clock Image Source: eBay

This is a Tole Wall Clock like the one on I Love Lucy as you can see from the picture above. This is one of those hard to find items that is well known to I Love Lucy fans.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Living-Room-Clock-as-seen-on-I-Love-Lucy-Lucille-Ball-Collectible-Prop-Alike-/181609105277

50s Clocks, I love lucy, I love Lucy Props

I love Lucy’s Banjo Wall Clock

September 13, 2014 Patricia

The Wall Clock frequently seen on set next to the kitchen door on “I Love Lucy” is an electric banjo clock made by the Trend Clock Company in Zeeland, Michigan, Model 606.

The Trend Clock Company founded in 1937 was in business until it was sold in 1968 and afterwards renamed the Sligh Clock Company.

See similar clock on eBay

The founders of Trend Clock Company were Garrett Van Temelen and his son Gordon who began making mantel and desk clocks part time, in the basement of their home in Zeeland, MI. and sold their products locally. During the war years when clock parts were scarce they switched to making wood novelties, and eventually bought a factory building and picked up the clock business again successfully in the post war years. They produced a popular line of planter clocks and early American styles, and by the 60s were making grandfather clocks until they were bought out by the Sligh Company.

Reference:

50s Clocks, I love Lucy Props, Radio, Vintage Electrical Appliances

Lucy’s Clock-Radio

September 3, 2014 Patricia

In the Season three episode “Ricky Loses His Temper” Lucy tries to provoke Ricky by turning on the radio at 4:00 am when he is trying to sleep.

Lucy turns on the Radio to annoy Ricky - WESTINGHOUSE Model H-420T5 — Lucy turns on the Radio to annoy Ricky – WESTINGHOUSE Model H-420T5

Her bedside clock-radio is a WESTINGHOUSE Model H-420T5 which cost around $30 US in the early 1950’s. If you can find a vintage one for sale in good working condition you can expect to pay more than that now. Occasionally they turn up on eBay and Etsy and other online sites.
There is one just like it on Etsy but not reported to be in working condition Click HERE to view

There is also a green one on ebay for parts or repair Click Here for details

Specs:

Country: United States of America (USA)
Manufacturer / Brand: Westinghouse El. & Mfg. Co. – see also Canadian W.
Alternative name: Westinghouse El. Int.
Year: 1954 ?
Type: Broadcast Receiver – or past WW2 Tuner
Valves / Tubes 5: 12BE6 12BA6 12AV6 50C5 35W4
Principle: Super-Heterodyne (Super in general); ZF/IF 455 kHz; 2 AF stage(s)
Tuned circuits: 6 AM circuit(s)
Wave bands: Broadcast only (MW).
Power type and voltage: Alternating Current supply (AC) / 117 Volt
Loudspeaker: Permanent Magnet Dynamic (PDyn) Loudspeaker (moving coil)
Model: H-420T5 Ch= V-2157-13 – Westinghouse El. & Mfg. Co. –
Material: Modern plastics (no Bakelite or Catalin)
Shape: Tablemodel with Clock ((Alarm-) Clock Radio).
Price in first year of sale: 30.00 $

For More Specs: www.radiomuseum.org/r/westinghou_h_420t5h420t_ch_v_2157_13.html
Caution:If you have or buy a working old vacuum tube radio such as this one never put your hands inside one of these old radios when it’s turned on or plugged in. Never leave these radios turned on for an extended period of time unattended. Do not operate these devices on a metal table. Do not operate these radios on a wet surface.
Source:http://www.retroradiofarm.com/collections/frontpage/products/beautiful-gumby-green-retro-jetsons-1955-westinghouse-h-385t5-tube-am-clock-radio-works

50s Clocks, 50s Retro, I love lucy, I love Lucy Props

I Love Lucy’s Toleware Wall Clock

August 16, 2014 Patricia 4 Comments

The Toleware Wall Clock is hard to miss on the I Love Lucy show. It can be seen over the mantel in the Ricardo’s living room for most of the early episodes. In a rare color set photo ( detail above) we see that the octagonal tole clock was a deep red color. I have seen this model on ebay from time to time in other colors too.Tole clocks are usually made of painted tin. This one has hand painted floral decorations and was a wind up model. The clock we see above was actually the second tole clock to be used, in the first few episodes of I love Lucy there was a round one with leaf decorations in its place on the same spot.

Collectors looking for one should search ebay for “tole wall clock” or “toleware wall clock”. There is actually one just like it on ebay as I write this click here for details or on the picture above.

50slucy.com