Lucy and Ethel use a Crestwood Tape recorder on the episode Oil Wells (15 Feb. 1954). The Ricardo’s new neighbors claim to be Texas oil tycoons and a tape recorder features prominently in the story line. The Crestwood tape recorder was a new model that was widely promoted that year. Reporting on the appearance on the show an article in the popular Tape Recording magazine 10-1954 p. 42 followed with a picture of Lucy and Ethel on set.
On eBay recently I came across a listing for a vintage Crestwood tape recorder that looks very like the one used on the I Love Lucy show – click on the picture below to see the listing.
The Crestwood is the second tape recorder we have seen on the I Love Lucy show – previously we looked at the Webcor tape recorder used by Ricky to record his song “There’s a Brand New Baby in Our House“.