LUCY IS MATCHMAKER, Episode 62, S2, 5.25.53
When Fred decides to ward off Ricky in a hotel (so he will not catch Lucy allegedly having an affair with Eddie Grant) he stops at the magazine stand. Here are some of those magazines of the day.
Tag Archives: Fred Mertz
Fred and Ethel’s Painting Print
REDECORATING THE MERTZESAPARTMENT, Episode 74, S3, 11.23.53
When the Ricardos offer to redecorate the Mertzes’ apartment, Fred insists they are not to touch his favorite chair, and the famous rickety lamp behind it. The painting on the wall is entitled “Roses with a Blue Tit by a Stream” by artist, Jean Baptiste Claude Robie
Here is an Ebay link:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Jean-Baptiste-Robie-Bouquet-Of-Roses-Print-Bird-Bee-Floral-Delight-/322361747845
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.
Fred Mertz’s Sports Illustrated Magazine
In the I Love Lucy episode Little Ricky Learns to Play the Drums Fred Mertz is seen reading a copy of Sports Illustrated dated Nov 22 1954. This was actually Season 6 (1956–57) of I Love Lucy and the film date of this episode was June 28, 1956 which aired on October 8, 1956 so the magazine was over a year and a half old when the episode was filmed. This was not just any back issue though, it was the magazine’s first cover to feature a professional football player.
Vol. 1 No. 15 Sports Illustrated November 22, 1954 with San Francisco 49ers quarterback and Hall of Famer Y.A. Tittle on the front cover.
See one on eBay HERE
Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y._A._Tittle
Ethel’s PAA Airline Bag
When Ricardo’s and the Mertzes board their Pan Am flight to return from their European tour Ethel is seen carrying her new PAA flight bag. “Isn’t that cute!” she says to Fred. “That’ll come in handy won’t it.”
