These false teeth were worn by Lucille Ball on two separate occasions. The first was in an epiosde of The Lucy Show entitled “Lucy and the Soap Opera” from season four where Lucille Carmichael disguises herself as a Japanese gardener (distasteful and offensive stereotype) opposite comedian Jan Murray.
The prosthetic front dentures were made by the Wilkinson Company of Santa Monica, CA who in the 1960’s and 70’s, was a leading dental manufacturer. The date stamped on the box reads October 6, 1965 which corresponds to the timing when rehersals and filming would soon begin for the January 31, 1966 airing of the show.
Lucy retained the teeth and use them again in 1974 during her appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. In a gag to shock and surprise Johnny, Lucy pulls them out of her purse when he wasn’t looking, pushes them on and casually acts like nothing is wrong. Remnants of Poligrip are still present on the teeth from them being used nearly 50 years ago.