Tag Archives: hollywood

1950s Furniture, Hollywood, I love Lucy Props, Plants

Lucy’s LA plants

plantontrellis
A trellis with plants is seen on I Love Lucy LA set. The plants appear to grow over time. Note the dates in the photos above which suggest they are real plants. An original color publicity picture of Lucy and Desi below appears to have been taken in front of the same trellis. The tall plant has red branched and small flowers/leaves with a shape similar to a type of orchid . An orchid expert at PacOrchidExpo on instagram has looked at it a said it is not an orchid.  My search fror a shrub with red branches  on google came up with Red twig Dogwood ( Cornus sericea ‘Cardinal’) or Cornus Sibericaredtwig-doogwood
On the left is a Red twig Dogwood shrub and on the right is the original color photo of Lucille and Desi taken on the I Love Lucy LA set. The red branches do look similar. Could the small flowers seen in the photo be from  another plant?lucy-plantphilodendron

The lower plants appear to include Philodendron,   Anthurium ‘Flamingo Flower’  and a Rubber Plant.rubberplant
dogwood-sibirica
This one is Dogwood Siberica ( Cornus siberica) with small leaf clusters.

lucyanddesiLAset

plantsincolor

My photoshop impression of the plants in color based on the color photo.

Thanks again to johndalessio and PacOrchidExpo on instagram for valuable input.

Hollywood, The Brown Derby

More on the Brown Derby

The Brown Derby location used in the “L.A. at Last” episode was located at 1628 Vine Street in Hollywood, just below Hollywood Blvd. Sadly, in 1987 this historic restaurant was lost in a fire. The Taft Building and a  facade of the nearby Dinner Bell cafe remains, which has been part of the Hollywood revitalization since the 1990’s.

The Hollywood Brown Derby
Screen Grab of The Hollywood Brown Derby sign from I Love Lucy Episode “L.A at Last!”

Here is the screen grab of the  ‘watering hole’ where Lucy, Fred and Ethel meet William Holden and  below a fun, vintage postcard of the actual location with arrow indicating the approximate colors of the same sign with the yellow neon of “The Brown Derby” and the white neon of “Restaurant”.

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Vintage postcard of the The Hollywood Brown Derby showing the approximate colors of the sign with the yellow neon of “The Brown Derby”


1950’s color footage of The Hollywood Brown Derby near the start of this video.
And  the same location as it is today…

The Taft building on left and facade of the Dinner Bell Cafe is all that remains in today’s picture

A comparison of a 1940 photo with a current picture shows the Taft building with its fire escape on the left and a facade that corresponds to the Dinner Bell Cafe ( the old street no. of the Dinner Bell Cafe was 1604-1/2 North Vine Street). The  Brown Derby location seen on the right of the old photo has been taken over by newer  buildings.

Scene from the Game LS Noire
Scene from the Game LA Noire

The Hollywood Brown Derby features in the the video Game L.A. Noire see walkthrough on Youtube here

Reference:

Hollywood, Recipes, The Brown Derby

Lucy Eats Spaghetti at the Brown Derby

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Lucy eats her spaghetti and meatballs at The Brown Derby in I Love Lucy, LA at Last!

At the Brown Derby Restaurant the meat sauce was a specialty of the house according the the 1949 Brown Derby cookbook, Lucy Ricardo ordered her spaghetti and meatballs with extra meat sauce, The set decoration scene looks very like the real Brown Derby. ( see archival photo here ).

Willow Pattern dinnerware at the Brown Derby
Willow Pattern dinnerware at the Brown Derby  L to R. Sally and Bob  Cobb of the Brown Derby, Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance.

In real life Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz along with many Hollywood stars regularly dined at the Brown Derby. Google image search brings up  numerous 1950’s photos that match the decor of the scene. The dinner ware in use in the restaurant was classic Willow Pattern  – in the original color photos of the day pink/red willow pattern dishes can be seen.

brownderbyspaghettisaucerecipe
Derby Meat Sauce original recipe from The Brown Derby cookbook.

derbyashtrayOriginal Vintage Brown Derby Ashtray Seen on Etsy – Click to View Details

Hollywood, Recipes, The Brown Derby

William Holden’s Cobb Salad

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William Holden orders Cobb Salad at the Brown Derby in I Love Lucy, L.A. at Last!

Bill Holden gets the Cobb Salad he ordered in the hilarious Brown Derby scene from the I Love Lucy show. The Brown Derby was the birthplace of the Cobb salad  invented by owner Robert H. Cobb. The original Cobb salad recipe uses a French Dressing – not blue cheese. Get the Brown Derby Old-fashioned French dressing recipe at the end of this post.

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The Brown Derby Cobb Salad Recipe from the Brown Derby Cookbook

 

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Vintage Brown Derby Luncheon Menu – the blank spaces are for pasting in the daily specials

 

The Brown Derby Sign in the background on the I Love Lucy set
The Brown Derby Sign in the backdrop on the I Love Lucy set
Recipes, The Brown Derby

Lucy’s Lunch at the Hollywood Brown Derby

lucy-ethel-fred-lunch-at-the-brown-derby-hollywood
Lucy, Ethel and Fred have Lunch at the Brown Derby in Hollywood

The I Love Lucy Episode “L.A. At Last!,” 1955, is memorable for the famous scene at the Hollywood Brown Derby. Lucy is hoping to spot  movie stars, so she and Ethel and Fred go to the Hollywood Brown Derby for lunch where she has the hilarious scene with Bill Holden. Lucy orders a Derby tossed salad and spaghetti and meatballs with lots of meat sauce and Ethel opts for the same.  I have an old Brown Derby cookbook – pictured below – so I looked up the recipes. You can find the Brown Derby Mixed Green Salad, on p. 74. Spaghetti Derby p 27 and the Derby Meat Sauce on p 28

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Lucy browses the menu at the Holly Brown Derby Restaurant

The Menu Lucy choses from is similar to the vintage menu pictured below

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The Brown Derby Luncheon Menu

 

Lucy,Ethel and Fred have Lunch at the Brown Derby in Hollywood
The Brown Derby Cook Book – click here to find it on eBay