Here is a nicely preserved Plas-tex shaker set hand painted in a floral motif. It is similar to Lucy’s salt and pepper shakers on the shelf in her kitchen. These are large sized and have a cool retro appeal.
Lucy’s Plas-tex Shaker Set
Category Archives: Kitchen
Lucy uses DUZ
A box of DUZ washing powder is seen on Lucy Ricardo’s kitchen counter in the kitchen set of I Love Lucy. Duz is a discontinued brand of Proctor & Gamble , it began as a powdered laundry soap and later, a powdered laundry detergent. there were promotional glassware and plates in each box. it was last made in 1980
Duz was a popular brand name in the 1950’s. Below is an original commercial for Duz Laundry Detergent that aired in 1953. There is actually a full unused vintage box of DUZ for sale on eBay currently: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Duz-Granulated-Soap-Box-1lb-4-5oz-Full-Puncture-/261994886163
Lucy’s Plastic Cookies Canister
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
I Love Lucy Kitchen Salt Box
The Salt box seen in the I Love Lucy kitchen was made by the same company as the ivy oil and vinegar double cruet, Olde Thompson, and has the markings on the bottom. It’s made of ceramic and is off-white/cream in color with a Rooster and floral design.
Above the salt box on the wall was a metal matchbox holder.
Olde Thompson Ivy Salt Box
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.
LA at Last: Coffee Cups
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:
I Love Lucy style Bread Box and Canister set
A fine Nesco breadbox and canister set expertly restored to look like the set in the Ricardo’s kitchen on I Love Lucy – pictured above- submitted by a contributor to this blog who was inspired by the previous blog posts. “With the help of my dad, who sandblasted, painted and clear coated everything and a friend who helped with the graphics, I too now have those Nesco canisters that are used in my kitchen every day!”
Read more about the original Nesco design in this post.
Wall Matchbox holder like Lucy’s
Seen on Etsy this week is a metal matchbox holder for your kitchen wall just like the one in Lucy Ricardo’s kitchen. You place an open matchbox with the open end down through the top and the matches can easily be accessed via the chute at the base. These were practical when the gas stove had to be lit using a match or flint tool. Now they are sought for their retro appeal.
Lucy’s Glass Candy Dish
In the screen capture above from the “Lucy and Superman” episode Lucy is sharing peanuts from her pedestal glass compote/candy dish. Lucy’s dish looks like the Fostoria ‘American’ Compote Candy Dish which can also be found with a matching lid. Hand washing is recommended it is not dishwasher safe.
Pictured below is an example of the Fostoria footed glass candy dish in the “American” pattern currrently on eBay HERE.
Fostoria’s “ice-cube” style American pattern, line 2056 is pressed glass (which you can tell from the seams in the glass) not cut crystal: The color called “Crystal” means clear glass, not lead crystal and does not give an indication of lead content. According to this article American pressed glass made after the Civil War does not contain lead. [If you are concerned about lead content and wish use a vintage bowl to hold dry food such as peanuts or unwrapped candy, line the class first with transparent plastic – cut a rounded corner from a plastic food bag to make a funnel large enough to fit the bowl place into the bowl before adding the food]
Vintage Cruet Set Finds
In the I Love Lucy kitchen you may have noticed a wall mounted salad set ( see previous post) Today I see these two sets -pictured below – that are not an exact match for Lucy’s set but will create a similar look on a kitchen wall.
