Lucy and Ricky’s Christmas decorations included a little Santa and Sleigh on the mantel. I see some examples from the era on eBay this week. These are hard to find pieces that have survived the years – click on the pictures to go to the eBay listings.
Above is a sleigh seen on eBay with five plastic reindeer – a single Rudolph in front – similar to the set on I Love Lucy except the base is different.
Below are a couple of similar looking alternatives:
The newly colorized Lucy Does a TV Commercial “Vitameatavegamin” episode from I Love Lucy plus “The Christmas Episode,” which is now colorized in its entirety, is to be aired tonight, Dec. 23 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
If you are familiar with vintage versions of the original props we have identified on this blog it should be interesting to compare them to colorized versions in the new episode.
Wishing you a happy and joyous holiday!
I found an original color publicity photo from “I Love Lucy Christmas Show” episode (1956 ) of Lucy and Desi at buzzfeed.com and corrected the contrast, saturation and background lighting in Photoshop and below is the result. The blue of the walls and woodwork came up when l lifted the brightness of the background and it corresponds to the blue in another original color photo – seen below . The beige color walls often seen in colorized pictures of the set may have been picked up from color photos of the Ricardo’s first apartment in the early episodes.
The color used for the Ricardo’s second apartment appears to have been blue at the time these photo were taken. It makes sense that there would be a color scheme change when moving to the bigger apartment and getting the new furniture.
I believe this photo has colors that are close to the original set colors because the Bolstad picture on the wall is correct and the rare seated chinese man statue to the right of Lucy has colors that are similar to an original one from the same factory.
Happy Holidays!
The Mantelpiece at the Ricardo first apartment for a holiday episode presents a very simple display with a retro appeal that is both charming and easy to emulate today.
Its never too early to look for choice vintage pieces such as a genuine vintage cutout sleigh like this one.
Here is a Vintage Putz Santa Claus in Sleigh with Reindeer for the mantelpiece. Spot-Lite brand, made in Japan in original box. 10-1/4” x 3” x 2-3/4” high. See it on eBay this week