Tag: Al Hirschfeld

Life With Lucy Cast & Crew Sweatshirt

Aaron Spelling Productions started a new weekly series on ABC for the Fall of 1986 called “Life With Lucy.” Lucille Ball would return to television in an attempt to resurrect the “Lucy” character fans all knew and loved. Wanting to get ‘back in her arena’ she called on veteran actor Gale Gordon to be her straight man and co-star.

This sweatshirt is believed to be a gift to the cast and crew or possibly a prototype. Since the show was unfortunately canceled early on, plans to potentially mass produce these ceased. It features the Al Hirschfeld caricature and a variation of show’s logo printed in a totally 80’s salmon pink with royal blue shadowing. Similar promotional items were made including hats, bumper stickers and a jacket (which was shared in a past post).

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Life With Lucy Prototype Members Only Jacket

Lucille Ball and company began a new weekly series on ABC in the Fall of 1986 called “Life With Lucy.” Her return to TV in a sitcom was well publicized and highly anticipated with fans getting to see another version of the “Lucy” character they all love.

This black satin members only jacket is believed to be a prototype, the only one created, as a possible gift to cast and crew. Featuring the Al Hirschfeld caricature and her signature ‘Love Lucy’ embroidered in hot pink and light blue on the chest, this jacket was given to Lucille’s cheauffeur and majordomo, Frank Gorey. Frank wore it to appearances at Lucy Conventions in the late 1990’s.

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Lucille Ball’s Wool & Silver Fox Fur Coat

Lucille Ball once said, “I love furs. I actually like them more than jewelry.” This black wool coat trimmed in silver fox fur was one of her favorites. For their one year anniversary Lucy and Gary decided to head East to New York City and celebrate where they first met. During the Thanksgiving holiday hiatus, Lucy and Vivian Vance flew into Idlewild Airport to meet their husbands on November 15, 1962 where Lucy was photographed wearing the coat.

An image of Lucy and Viv taken on this trip inspired famed characture artist Al Hirschfeld to capture the dynamic dou which he rendered into the well-known sketch of Lucille holding her purse and cigarette. This artwork would be used over the years for such things as the 1984 Museum of Broadcasting event honoring Lucy as the First Lady of Comedy.

Lucy Carmichael would wear the coat as part of a disguise on the March 22, 1965 episode of The Lucy Show entitled, “Lucy and the Beauty Doctor.” It is most likely around this time Lucille gifted the coat to close friend and actress Carole Cook who often guest starred in the series and lent her voice as ‘Lady Cynthia’ for this particular episode. Carole would wear and retain the coat for over the next 50 years.

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Lucille Ball’s Custom Backgammon Board

Lucille Ball loved playing backgammon. By the late 1970’s and throughout the 80’s she played for hours on end with whomever was up for the challenge.

She also often played at PIPS, a backgammon club in Beverly Hills founded by Hugh Hefner. It is very possible PIPS had this beautiful, custom backgammon board made for Lucy. It features a solid wood frame and bar, brown suede fabric and her famous Al Hirschfeld caricature.

Lucille Ball owned many backgammon sets. She even constructed permanent tables to be installed in her home, had several traveling cases to play on the go and often held private in-home tournaments with those close to her.

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Lucille Ball Gifted Rocks Glass Set

For Christmas during the Here’s Lucy years, Lucille Ball gave this set of eight rocks glasses to the cast and crew of her third hit series. One side features a large caricature of Lucy by Al Hirschfeld in black while the reverse has “Love, Lucy” mimicking her actual signature. Each glass measures 4 1/4 inches tall and has a heavy, solid base. These rocks glasses were made to accompany the black vinyl ice bucket featured in a previous post. Cheers to Lucy!

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Gold ‘Love, Lucy’ Wristwatch from Lucille Ball

For Christmas in 1986 Lucille Ball gave these gold wristwatches to close family and friends as well as those who worked on her last series Life With Lucy. The face of the watch features the Al Hirschfeld caricature above her ‘Love Lucy’ signature. Each watch had a black leather band and came in a hard shell case. Time pieces were a favorite gift of Lucille’s and would often be accompanied by messages reading – “I will always have time for you.”

Two styles were made – ones with large faces and etched lines on the edge were considered the men’s, while a slightly smaller face and smooth edge were for the ladies. The leather bands were also different with the men’s having textured leather (as seen in these photos) and the women’s being smooth. Less than 100 of these watches are said to have been made making them a special keepsake among fans.

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Lucille Ball Gifted Black Vinyl Ice Bucket

During the Here’s Lucy years, Lucille Ball gave this black vinyl ice bucket to the cast and crew of her third hit series. The front features a large caricature of Lucy by Al Hirschfeld in gold. The reverse has “Love, Lucy” mimicking her actual signature. The ice bucket stands 11 inches tall and measures roughly 8 inches in diameter. This particular bucket includes the original thongs just as it was given to a crew member of the show.

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Lucille Ball and Gary Morton Gifted Coffee Mug

A gift from the Morton’s sometime in the 1960’s was this off-white ceramic mug with gold rim. One side features a stick figure of Lucy which was the same image and signature used for the Desilu Sales items a few years earlier. The opposite side however has a rare stick figure and signature of Gary Morton swinging a golf club yelling “Fore!” This item may be the last time the stick figures were used because after forming Lucille Ball Productions, her Al Hirschfeld caricature would become the ‘standard’ for promotional products and gifts.

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Lucille Ball Gifted Solid Perfume Keychain

An interesting gift from the Queen of Comedy was this solid perfume keychain. Measuring roughly four inches long and in the original case, it features a small book-like container holding a square of solid perfume that smells like ‘1970’s musk.’ The entire piece is gold plated with an abalone shell plate engraved with Lucille Ball’s caricature by Al Hirschfeld and Love Lucy below in blue.

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Lucille Ball Productions Gifted Ceramic Mug

Another Christmas gift from The Queen of Comedy was this off-white ceramic mug with silver rim. The side features a caricature of Lucy which was originally drawn by Al Hirschfeld in 1943 for the MGM film, Thousands Cheer. Ms. Ball loved the sketch so much she used it as her logo after forming Lucille Ball Productions. Also printed on the mug is “Love, Lucy” which was found on many gifts from the red head over the years.

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