See it on eBay
This red and white Luster Ware plastic cookie canister looks like the one in Lucy’s kitchen, however the one on the show appears to have a handle on top more like the Burrite canisters in yellow pictured below.
Lustro Ware ad from 1954 5-pc Starter Set priced $9.95
See it on eBay
Burroughs Mfg., Burrite, Yellow Plastic Canisters
Or a Red set HERE
A 2-tier bowl stand with spindle legs can be seen on I Love Lucy in the Ricardo’s living room. Here is a picture of one just like it.
This 33″ tall colonial tiered bowl style stand or dumb waiter with spindle legs was found at the Rose Bowl Flea Market with no maker mark. There is a long metal bolt down the center with a brass handle on top. The bowls are solid carved/turned wood the widest bowl is 16″ diameter.
Lucy used hers as a fruit stand but in the past this type of bowl stand was also used as a knitting yarn holder. A single bowl on a stand was used as a dough bowl in colonial times.
I have been looking at vintage turned wood bowls on eBay to identify possible sources – Woodcroftery made bowls that look very similar – if anyone knows the make or has a similar one please leave a comment.
A patent for a single tier stand was filed in 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DESIGN FOR A KNITTING 0R SEWING BOWL William James Hamilton, Jr., Westfield, N. J. Application February 17, 1940, Serial No. 90,339 .
For a DIY option I think a custom wood turner could easily make the stand sections – and make the center hole in two vintage wood bowls (bowl sizes are 16″ and 11″) the center bolt and finial is easily sourced – e.g. lamp making supplies
On eBay this week is a vintage Olde Thompson Salt Box in the Imperial Ivy design. The ivy design was also featured on the Olde Thompson cruet seen on I Love Lucy. The Ivy salt box was not seen on the show but there was an Olde Thompson salt box in the same shape on the wall near the kitchen sink.
In the I Love Lucy episode Don Juan and the Starlets Ricky is seen holding an interesting metal waste basket. It is decorated with an antique song sheet.
There was an identical trash can on Etsy recently as pictured below. You can see more pictures of it on the Etsy listing.
See it at Etsy (US)
The sheet music is reproduced from an original copper plate print by engraver George Bickham. The sheet of music entitled “To Chloe” (#63) is from The Musical Entertainer circa 1737 and 1739
An exerpt from George Bickham’s “To Chloe” from the publication The Musical Entertainer
References:
Vintage prints of the 1922 Utrillo picture seen on I Love Lucy seem to be quite rare. There is one on offer online CLICK HERE to see it – still available as of Oct 9 2015 – I don’t know the size.
Read more about the picture in my previous post:
http://www.50slucy.com/i-love-lucy-prop-utrillo-painting-print.html
Lucy Ricardo’s coffee grinder can be seen in various locations in the kitchen throughout the I Love Lucy series. In the early episodes it is easily spotted on the kitchen shelf. Lucy’s coffee mill is a wooden hand cranked grinder with an ivy design on the front. I came across one just like it pictured below. The ivy decal appears to be hand painted. The wooden box has a 4.25″ square base and curved corners and the drawer has a distinctive metal handle, the knob on the crank arm is an inverted teardrop shape. I have searched extensively for an ID of the maker. One would assume this is an ordinary coffee mill much like any other but when you begin searching the subtle differences stand out. Some of the vintage European made wooden coffee mills look similar but only one I have come across matches well.
The only make I have found up to now that fits the form factor, measurements and shape of the components is the B.O. Garantie square Wooden Coffee Grinder that was made in Czechoslovakia until production ceased when the company was taken over by the state in 1950. They may have been imported and sold under a US brand but I have no information on that as yet. Below is a page from a vintage catalog showing some of the products of the B.O. Garantie firm. However I have not seen one with an ivy design in any of the old catalog pages I found online.
The B.O. Garantie firm has reopened in recent years under the name Lodos and they still produce coffee grinders today.
Vintage shabby B.O. Garantie coffee grinders can occasionally be found online. If you are a DIY enthusiast it should be easy enough to strip the paint from an old shabby one and and restore it to look like Lucy’s coffee grinder. [ For paint removal on any vintage item I recommend a safe paint stripper that can render inert any leaded paint layers for safe disposal (Lead Out™ Paint Stripper is highly recommended ).] Look for one that has no dovetail on the front seams, which you can tell by the vertical straight lines that appear on each side through the worn paint as seen in the picture to the right. (if it were dovetailed the square shapes would be seen). To restore the metal parts see the handy link below in the reference section.
References:
In the I Love Lucy episode LA at Last there is an Asian themed figural table lamp in the bedroom of their LA hotel suite. I saw a lamp base just like it on eBay.
In a hilarious scene from the I Love Lucy episode LA at Last Lucy finds a novel use for a cup of coffee. The cup and saucer are square shaped and the cup handle forms a distinctive ear shaped curve. We now have an ID for the coffee cup thanks to a generous contributor to this blog.
The coffee cups and saucers seen on the show are by Franciscan Ware ( a trade mark of Gladding, McBean & Co ). The Franciscan Tiempo single color line was produced from 1949 – 1954. It featured a squared shape and came in several colors including apricot, yellow,white,grey, lime green, olive green, brown and tan.
This design first appeared in the 1940 Metropolitan range that used a two color pattern by Franciscan Ware designed by Morris B. Sanders in 1940 as an entry for the Metropolitan Museum of Arts 1940 Exhibition of Contemporary American Industrial Arts, and was one of the first “square” dinner sets
The Metropolitan range were colored white inside the cups. The single color design called Tiempo appeared in 1948/49.
[phpbay keywords=”Franciscan Tiempo cup saucer” num=”2″ siteid=”1″ sortorder=”BestMatch” templatename=”columns”]
References:
Ricky Ricardo is seen on his home projection screen in the I Love Lucy episode Home Movies. A closer look at the logo tells us it is a Radiant DeLuxe Champion Projection Screen from the Radiant Manufacturing Corporation. The original Radiant Champion model was renamed as the Radiant DeLuxe Champion in 1949 and was advertised at a price of $15 that year. It was described as made from a new glass beaded fabric called Vyna-Flect “which overcomes the hazards of fire and mildew“.
In the video clip above there is a section of the western sketch in Lucy’s home movie where the video and sound in some of the segments run backwards, on youtube there is anther video clip from the show that reverses the video so you can find out what they are saying at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57oENa8VeXc
References
In the Season 5 episode of I Love Lucy entitled Lucy Hates to Leave Lucy is awake at night worrying about the move to their new house in the country. On the bedroom shelf there is a hexagonal alarm clock.
The shape and dial of the clock is an exact match for the white dial verson of the Telechron “Dorm” alarm clock. A closer look at the clock in the screen capture reveals it to be missing the cover in front of the dial. With the cover removed we notice clips at edges of the clock face to keep it in place. Pictured below is a black version of the same clock on Etsy (US) and from the photo we see how the window in front of the dial is curved and catches the light and would be too reflective for the studio lights- a practical reason for removing the front cover on set.
Telechron Alarm Clock on Etsy (US)
