This week on eBay there is a gilt frame that reminds me of the mirror that can be seen on the mantelpiece in numerous episodes of I Love Lucy. It is a Rococo style gilt metal frame that is about the right size and the scroll detail is quite similar. Click on the picture below for details on eBay. I have seen similar frames in gilt wood but they generally seem to be very expensive. The metal frames tend to be more affordable.
Category Archives: I love Lucy Props
Plas-tex Shakers as seen in Lucy’s kitchen
Recently seen on eBay are these Plas-tex red shakers like the pair seen in the screen shot above from the I Love Lucy kitchen. Lucy’s are salt and pepper shakers. The pair seen below are labeled Flour and Sugar but the are otherwise similar. Click picture below for further details on eBay.
Lucy’s Holiday Magazine
THE SAXOPHONE, Episode 40, S2, 9.22.52
While Lucy wants to make Ricky jealous (so he will not go on a road trip with his band) she plants Fred’s derby and gloves on the
coffee table. Next to it, is a copy of Holiday magazine. She later picks it up and waits for Ricky to rush around the apartment looking
for an alleged man hiding in the hall closet. The magazine is the February 1952 issue.
I Love Lucy Screen Used LA Prop Postcard
Lucy’s Postcard to Lillian Appleby – original prop from the show offered for sale on eBay at http://www.ebay.com/itm/I-love-Lucy-Screen-Used-Prop-1954-Post-Card-Season-4-episode-18-Very-RARE-/391678032281 “Dear Lillian, Having a wonderful time. So busy every day at the studio. Will let you know when my pictures play New York, Lucy.” The right side is addressed to “Lillian Appleby, 1423 E. 67th St., New York City, New York, New York.”
Sold last November at RRAuction.com Item 7393 – I Love Lucy Screen-Used Postcard Catalog 488 (Nov 2016)
Minimum Bid: $300.00
Sold Price: $1,226.23
Original Description from RR Auctions: “Rare screen-used and handwritten postcard from the I Love Lucy show, 5.5 x 3.5, depicting two colorful images of Hollywood on the front, with the reverse filled out in an unknown hand in blue ballpoint, in full: “Dear Lillian, Having a wonderful time. So busy every day at the studio. Will let you know when my pictures play New York, Lucy.” The right side is addressed to “Lillian Appleby, 1423 E. 67th St., New York City, New York, New York.” In fine condition, with minor corner creases. Played by Doris Singleton, Caroline Appleby was Lucy’s snobbish rival, part-time friend, and fellow Fine Arts League Club member. Caroline, whose original character name was ‘Lillian,’ had her name changed by producers after her first appearance in season three, dating this prop to around 1953-54. Interestingly, this particular postcard also seems to correlate with a prolonged story arc from season four, in which the Ricardos and the Mertzes head to Hollywood for Ricky’s big break. A fantastic early screen-used prop humorously reflecting Lucy and Caroline’s competitive relationship.”
I wondered if handwriting on the card was Lucy’s – I do believe the signature looks like Lucy’s. According to one observer ” I think the overlay writing is hers .. In the lower right where it looks like someone went over the ink again. In the opening scene she’s finishing the card so I think she went over the letters for the camera.” There were a pile of cards that Desi picked up on the show and this card is likely one of them if not the card he is actually holding in the photo.
Comparison of the postcard at auction and the one Desi is holding shows some differences, such as the angle of the postage stamp but the handwriting looks mostly similar, notably the large loops of the capital L as we see in Lucy’s original autographs.
Brock Egg Cups like Lucy’s
As seen on Lucy Ricardo’s kitchen shelf and they were used for coddled eggs in an early episode.
Now on eBay : http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brock-of-California-Harvest-Yellow-trim-2-egg-cups-/132110486451
Lucy’s Kitchen: Nautical Lamp Shade
In a previous post we looked at Lucy Ricardo’s nautical style wall lamp in the kitchen. This time we take a closer look at the lamp shade. It is rare to get a close look at the design in the on screen scenes but the picture above gives an idea what to look for. The shade is a clip-on shade made of paper with a novelty printed nautical theme.
I found a few examples in different colorways so we can try to guess which color might have been used in the kitchen. The first one below is a blue version, followed by the same pattern in orange and lastly a green one.
The green is certainly a possible choice for the show since we know that the color green is used on several other items in the kitchen – such as the ivy patterned dinnerware and the ivy cruet on the wall rack beneath the lamp. Green elements set off Lucille Ball’s hair color for the studio audience. The orange would also be possble as a compliment to the greens. Perhaps the blue one is the least likely as it would have clashed with the green of the cruet below it.
The shade is a clip-on novelty print paper shade – similar vintage shades can be found on eBay.com that date to the 40’s and 50’s.
Here is a link I use to search for similar shades:
Fred Buys a Toy Dragon for Little Ricky
In the opening scene of the I Love Lucy episode “Lucy Goes to Scotland” Fred comes in with a Chinese dragon puppet to bring back to Little Ricky. When Lucy mentions she had never seen anything like this before Fred replies “Well when I was a kid they had toy dragons.” and Ethel remarks “When you were a kid they had real dragons!”
The toy is an articulated Chinese dragon made of bamboo that has a hole in the base to insert a bamboo stick as seen on the show, similar to the vintage example pictured here.
Ivy Cruet on eBay – not exact but close
This is similar to a Walter Starnes ivy cruet we looked at in an earlier post, It is similar to the Olde Thomson cruet seen on I Love Lucy except the ivy is on the sides and not on the front.
See it on eBay HERE
Utrilllo Print from Night of the Living Dead 1968 offered on eBay
This Maurice Utrillo lithograph print entitled Restaurant Au Mont Cenis (1922) is like the one seen on I Love Lucy in the Ricardo’s livingroom, except it appears to be a smaller sized print. It is offered as an original item from the movie Night of the Living Dead (1968) at http://www.ebay.com/itm/Night-Of-The-Living-Dead-Framed-Maurice-Utrillo-Movie-Prop-Horror-Home-theater-/131957171297
The print on I Love Lucy was 26″ x 21″ and the smaller print image size is usually seen at around 11″ x 14″ unframed.
Details of the print from I Love Lucy in this post:
http://www.50slucy.com/i-love-lucy-prop-utrillo-painting-print.html
Note: There are a couple of other prints of this picture on ebay at present – one has water damage, another one looks darker in color than is usual and is overpriced in comparison with others sold recently. Continue reading Utrilllo Print from Night of the Living Dead 1968 offered on eBay
Florentine Rococo Giltwood Mirror
This is a carved oval giltwood framed mirror about 10″ tall that is similar in style but a little smaller than the one seen on the mantel of the Ricardo’s apartment on I Love Lucy. These italian carved frames are commonly seen on KPM porcelain plaques which tend to be very expensive. The vanity mirror seen on Lucy’s mantel was around 12-14″ tall and was free standing. This mirror on eBay is the closest I’ve seen recently to anything that looks like the one on the show. It would need a stand added to recreate the look.
Related post :http://www.50slucy.com/lucys-gilt-mantel-mirror.html