This week on eBay there is a vintage Story & Clark Upright Piano like the one on I Love Lucy –see it on eBay here – we looked at a similar one before in a previous post HERE
Upright Piano Like Ricky and Lucy’s
Tag Archives: Ricky Ricardo
Ricky’s Baby Ben Alarm Clock & TV Guide
In the I Love Lucy episode “Ricky and Fred are TV Fans“, Series 2, dated June 22, 1953, Ricky Ricardo has set his Westclox Baby Ben alarm clock so as not to miss a sports program on TV. Here we get another look at the Westclox Baby Ben Alarm clock we saw in the previous post this time it is on the Mersman coffee table next to the Zippo table lighter. Ricky is checking the TV guide of May 29,1953 with Queen Elizabeth II on the cover “How You’ll See Elizabeth Crowned, Bishop Sheen’s Rugged ‘Angels’ Week of May 29 to June 4”
See 1953 TV Guides on eBay
Click Here to find Westclox Baby Ben on eBay
The Ricardo’s Baby Ben Alarm Clock
The Westclox Baby Ben alarm clock can be seen in several episodes of I Love Lucy. In the above picture it is on the far right of the bedroom shelf. The Baby Ben was produced from February 1949 until it was discontinued 1956 – the initial price was $6.50. It was approx 3.5 inches tall and came in an ivory color finish with either a brown or white dial. The one on the show had a brown dial. There was a similar larger 5.5″ model called Big Ben, however we can tell the one on the show is the smaller Baby Ben model by comparing the height of the clock to the height of the figurines. The height of the seated man and woman figurines ( As seen on eBay HERE) in the center of the shelf is known to be around 4.5 inches tall and those appear to be taller than the clock in the above picture.
Click Here to see this clock on eBay
Click Here for find more Baby Ben clocks on eBay
Booges: Ricky Reads a Bedtime story
In the I Love Lucy episode, “Lucy Hires An English Tutor” (Season 2, 12/29/52) Lucy decides she only wants the best English for her baby. When she gives Ricky a book to read aloud, he butchers several words with the “ough” sound.
In this hilarious scene, the writers make fun of Ricky’s English with the words bough, rough, through and cough.
In real life, Desi Arnaz completed high school in Florida and was bilingual, speaking and reading both English and Spanish fluently.
The book that Lucy gives Ricky to read from is actually a “Peter Pan” children’s book published by Wonder Books in 1952. It even had washable covers! The prop department deleted the title “Peter Pan” for the scene but one can detect the characters in the front cover.
Click HERE to Find it on eBay
Ricardo’s Bookshelf: Byron Nelson’s Winning Golf
Byron Nelson Winning Golf
Author: Byron Nelson
Year: 1946
A.S. Barnes and Co, NY.
Byron Nelson Winning Golf 192 pages
Ricky’s Thunderbird Country Club Golf Hat
In “The Golf Game” Ricky Ricardo played by Desi Arnaz is seen wearing a hat with a prominent Thunderbird Ranch & Country Club patch on the front. Lucille Ball and husband Desi Arnaz were early celebrity residents of Rancho Mirage, with a home at Thunderbird Country Club built in 1951, the same year that their hit television show, I Love Lucy debuted.
Desi was a keen golfer and Lucille and he spent a lot of their free time in their Rancho Mirage home facing the ninth and 18th fairways at the Thunderbird Country Club. Lucy was not a golfer, but she spent family time with Lucie and Desi Jr., swam in the pool and played cards with other ladies in the club. The Chamber of Commerce appointed Lucy as their first Honorary Mayor of Rancho Mirage. At one time, the valley’s honorary mayors were all members of Thunderbird or Tamarisk Country Clubs: Bob Hope, Palm Springs; Frank Sinatra, Cathedral City; Lucille Ball, Rancho Mirage; and Bing Crosby, Palm Desert. Lucy served as Rancho Mirage’s Honorary Mayor from 1958- 1965 and again from 1971 until the city’s incorporation in 1973.
The first logo golf caps were made by Cali Fame of Los Angeles for Thunderbird Country Club in Palm Springs, CA.
Among the items Desi Arnaz retained in the divorce settlement with Lucille were a golf cart and a membership in the Thunderbird Country Club in Palm Springs.
References
- http://www.ranchomiragecctest.com/pdfs/justatouch.pdf
- http://www.golfcalifornia.com/departments/features/thunderbird-golf-history-600.htm
- http://www.thunderbirdcc.org/Our-Club/History.aspx
- http://www.paulrwilliamsproject.org/gallery/1950s-houses/
- http://www.golfcalifornia.com/departments/features/thunderbird-golf-history-600.htm
Ricky’s Super Speed Safety Razor
In the I Love Lucy episode Ricky Sells the Car (24 Oct. 1955) Ricky finds his safety razor – minus blade – attached to Little Ricky’s toy rifle.
Ricky’s safety razor is a Gillette Super Speed Safety Razor.
The toy rifle is a 1950’s Hubley Davy Crockett Buffalo Rifle Cap Gun
Find a Hubley Davy Crockett Buffalo Rifle on eBay
Ricardo’s Bookshelf: Masks of West Africa
In the episode LUCY GOES TO THE HOSPITAL which aired January 19, 1953 the show opens with Ricky researching ideas for a mask for a “Voodoo” number for his show. The book he refers to is Masks of West Africa – 1952 by Leon Underwood
http://www.amazon.com/Masks-West-Africa-Leon-Underwood/dp/B0006DCVHG
http://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/masks-of-west-africa/author/underwood-leon/
Update: Scan of the page from the book Ricky is looking at:
Ricky’s Schick Electric Razor
In I Love Lucy Season 1, Episode 23, The Mustache, Ricky uses an electric shaver to remove the mustache. The logo on the shaver can be seen in the screen capture above and it looks like a good match for Schick 20 Electric Razor pictured below,which is a working model currently for sale on eBay.
The Schick 20 was widely advertised in 1952 the year this episode was made.
See all Schick 20 Shavers on eBay
Incidentally, Ricky is shaving while looking into the Bacchus Mirror we identified in a previous post. Continue reading Ricky’s Schick Electric Razor
Ricky’s Hair Loss Treatments: Scalp Exerciser
Thanks to another Ricky for today’s post.
Rick writes: “This was an hysterical scene to say the least and Lucy & Desi played it to the hilt. If you recall, Lucy tortured Ricky with several things; one in particular was an Electric Scalp Massage Vibrator. In the scene, she even mistakenly goes too low on his face and starts massaging his eyes.
I cannot locate a similar 1950’s version that was used on the show, but it really did exist in the 1920’s and 1940’s.
Here are a few articles on these torturous devices and a few screen grabs.”
NEW SCALP EXERCISER IS DRIVEN BY ELECTRICITY
BALDNESS seems to be the fear of all men. Here is the newest remedy for that fear. The new motor-driven scalp exerciser is guaranteed to give the scalp all the exercise that it needs. Scientifically the principle that this machine exemplifies is correct. Since blood is the food on which all the tissues of the body feed, the supply must be kept fresh and plentiful. Exercise will draw the blood to that portion of the body that is being so developed. The scalp does not receive sufficient exercise to warrant the growth of hair and as a result baldness ensues. To overcome this condition, the use of hair tonics became common. The chief value of any tonic is the process of application. The rubbing that is always prescribed makes the blood circulate and thus helps the hair gain new life. It was found that the hand could not deliver as much exercise as was really necessary, so the inventor of the scalp exerciser got busy. His machine possesses four rubber pads that are comparable to the human fingers. The motor is at the top and by means of vibrating rods causes the pads to move, which action exercises the scalp. (Popular Mechanics Feb 1929)
Multiple Electric Vibrator Massages the Scalp
FOUR hundred and eighty artificial fingers give the scalp a gentle and beneficial massage, in a multiple electric vibrator just introduced. Light in weight, the appliance may easily be self-manipulated as at left, with the aid of two convenient hand grips, while four vibrating disks do their work in unison. The machine is said to stimulate the circulation of blood to scalp and brain cells and to remove all dandruff and loose hair. Source Popular Science – Oct 1940 – Page 126