Desilu Sales Promotional Coffee Mug

Desilu was a powerhouse in the television industry by the late 1950’s. Thus, a department called Desilu Sales Inc. was created to handle the sales, marketing and distribution of its shows and productions to markets across the country. Promotional items were created as gifts that were not available to the general public, such as this rare coffee mug.

The gold rimmed, off-white ceramic mug features a Lucy Ricardo stick figure along with Lucille Ball’s signature and the Desilu Sales logo underneath. What makes this particular mug extra special is a name was printed in the “Hi!” bubble. Could this be Bill Frawley or Bill Asher? Hard to say but most of these were made without a name. Other promotional gifts included pencil cups, ashtrays, letter openers and more. See the previous posts of Desilu Sales items as examples.

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.

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.