“The Fur Coat”

(S1;E9 ~ December 10, 1951) Directed by Marc Daniels. Written by Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed November 9, 1951 at General Service Studios.

Rating: 44.1/67

Synopsis ~ When Ricky brings home an expensive fur coat he needs for a prop at the club, Lucy thinks it’s an anniversary gift for her. Ricky tries desperately (and literally) to steal the coat away from her.  When Lucy discovers the truth, she turns the tables. 

This episode is based on “Anniversary Presents” (#44) from Lucy’s radio show, “My Favorite Husband” which first aired on May 13, 1949.  

On the date this episode was filmed (November 9, 1951) Hungarian-born composer Sigmund Romberg died at age 64. He was famous for his operettas like The Student Prince (1924), The Desert Song (1926) and The New Moon (1928). His name was mentioned (fittingly) in “The Operetta” (S2;E5).

As a movie star and rich and powerful woman in Hollywood, Lucille Ball was frequently seen in fur in private life. For most of the 20th century, fur was seen as a mark of status and wealth. Shortly after this episode first aired, Ball got her first mink coat. She loved it so much and was so proud of its that she, like Lucy Ricardo, wore it all the time.

This is the first time Ricky says “Lucy! I’m home!” which will morph into “Honey! I’m home!” by the end of season two. Between the two greetings, Ricky utters these famous words a dozen times! The phrase has since gone on to become iconic sitcom dialogue representative of Desi Arnaz, Ricky Ricardo, “I Love Lucy,” and sitcoms in general. 

Ricky says the fur coat cost $3,500, which is nearly $35,000 today. The coat is in a box labeled “Simon’s 1600 High Street New York N.Y.”  This is probably an homage to Al Simon, the series’ Associate Producer. There is no High Street in New York City.  

Sitcom Logic Alert!  One wonders if Ricky ever thought of renting an imitation fur coat from a costume shop since this idea comes so quickly to Lucy when she wants to trick Ricky by substituting a faux fur to get back at him. 

Ricky says that he and Lucy moved in to the Mertzes’ apartment building on August 6, 1948. In real-life this was Lucille Ball’s 37th birthday.

William Frawley (Fred) is especially animated during the opening scene. Twice he puts on a high-pitched feminine voice (”Never! Never! Never!”) and he also pulls a few uncharacteristically comic faces. In the first moments, he is working on the Ricardos’ sink and holds a wrench.  But as the scene progresses, he doesn’t put it down – but holds it throughout the ensuing action – more than five minutes of screen time!  

Oops!  When Ricky is crawling along the bedroom floor, the camera reveals the edge of the stage where the carpeting ends.  This was not uncommon, especially on wide shots. It was nearly an every episode occurrence during “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy.” Ricky also seems to wear his wristwatch to bed!  Indeed, this iteration of the bedroom set does not feature a clock (that we can see, anyway). 

When Ricky leans over Lucy to ‘steal’ the fur, the camera catches a glimpse of Desi Arnaz’s St. Christopher Medal.  The medal was given to Desi by Lucille early in their marriage. St. Christopher is the patron saint of travelers. Desi was a Catholic immigrant who traveled from Cuba to the USA as a boy. In later seasons, Desi stopped wearing his wedding ring on his finger and added it to the chain with the medal. 

This episode also gives us a clear look at the framed portrait on the chest of drawers. It is a portrait print of Major John Biddle by the 19th century portraitist Thomas Sully (1783-1872). the original hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Biddle (1792-1859) served in the army in the War of 1812 when he was only 20 and he stayed in the army until 1821. In 1818, Biddle acquired 1,800 acres of land south of Detroit and built an estate there in 1835 which he named Wyandotte, after the Native American people who had once lived there. In 1853, he sold Wyandotte and the land was developed into the city of Wyandotte, Michigan. Today, a street called Biddle Avenue stretches through Wyandotte. 

Lucille Ball was about a year old when her family moved to Wyandotte so her father could take a job as a telephone lineman. They lived at 126 Biddle Avenue, now renumbered to 3738 Biddle Avenue. Lucille’s family lived there until Lucy’s father, Henry, died of typhoid fever at the house in 1915. Lucy was barely four years old. The family moved back to Jamestown, New York, where Lucy was born and her extended family still lived.

The house was demolished in 1963.

The death of Lucy’s father had a great impact on her and her work. There are few father figures on Lucy sitcoms. Perhaps this is why the portrait of Major John Biddle was selected over all others. 

Thinking that Lucy will take off the coat to wash dishes, Ricky searches frantically through the bedroom closet on her side of the bed and the hall closet, but neglects to look in the closet on his side of the bed, which Lucy earlier emerged from wearing the coat and inside of which are her dresses and hatboxes! 

 Oh, well – he soon finds out she’s wearing it!

Ricky asks Fred to pose as a burglar and break in and steal the coat. Naturally, a real thief beats him to it! 

Ben Weldon (Burglar) had appeared in Sorrowful Jones (1949) with Lucille Ball  and would go on to be seen in a 1963 episode of “The Lucy Show.” Earlier in 1951, he appeared with William Frawley in the film The Lemon Drop Kid starring Bob Hope. 

Oops!  In the next morning kitchen scene after the bungled burglaries, the camera stays on Ethel long after she has left the shot to cross the kitchen. This gives the viewers time to notice that there is no cityscape background outside the kitchen window!  There are also no kitchen curtains!

Ethel finally spills the beans about the burglar and the coat. 

LUCY: “I’ve been living in a mink’s paradise.” 

The original script had an additional scene where Ricky turns up the thermostat to try and get Lucy to take off the fur coat. When Ricky asks Lucy how she can stand the heat, she implies that she’s naked underneath the coat. This line was deemed too risqué for television and cut.

During the cross fade from Lucy and Ethel plotting in the kitchen to Lucy putting the fake fur coat on Ethel in the bedroom, viewers can tell that the actors are holding still (coat half on) waiting for their cue: “Action!” It is only for a brief moment, but sharp eyes can see it!  It bears remembering that this is only the ninth episode of a new series which was reinventing the way television (a relatively young medium) was done. There were bound to be some rough edges in early episodes. 

LUCY: “Hey, look at me!  I’m a fur stylist!” 

Oops! When Lucy is cutting up the faux fur, it is obvious that the places she pretends to cut have been loosely basted together with thread so that Ball can merely tear them away. By the time she gets to the right sleeve, she doesn’t even pretend to use the scissors – she just pulls!  

---

FAST FORWARD!

This episode was rerun during Lucille Ball’s maternity leave. A new intro was filmed where Lucy pretends she’s cold and needs to bundle up as a way to get Ricky to buy her a fur. She also leaves the newspaper open to ads for fur coats.

In “Sentimental Anniversary” (S3;E16) Ricky gives Lucy stone martens which she wore in “Lucy is Envious” (S3;E23, above), “Ethel’s Birthday” (S4;E8), and many other episodes. In “Lucy Cries Wolf” (S4;E3) it is mentioned that Lucy also has a lynx stole, which Fred wants to use as a bath mat! Lucy nearly gets her mink in “Redecorating the Mertzes’ Apartment” (S3;E8), but the cost of the coat ends up paying for new furniture for the Ricardo apartment. 

ETHEL: “What happened to your mink stole?”
LUCY: “We’re sitting on it!”

At the start of that episode, Ricky forbids Lucy to tell anyone else about her mink, so she takes it as an opportunity to play a game of charades. This is something Lucille Ball was expert at and frequently had written into the scripts. 

In “Lucy Changes Her Mind” (S2;E21), much of the action is set at Henderson’s Furs. 

In “Oil Wells” (S3;E18), Lucy and Ethel get decked out in expensive furs when they think they will be rich from an impending gusher. 

What Becomes Lucy Carmichael Most? 

In “The Fur Coat” Lucy Ricardo loves her new mink coat so much, she even wears it to bed and while washing the dishes!  In

“Lucy the Stunt Man” (TLS S4;E5), Lucy Carmichael loves her new leopard fur coat so much, she also wears it to bed and while washing the dishes!  Lucy purchased the coat from Felix Franco the Friendly Furrier and then must take a job as a stunt performer to pay for it. .

While living in Danfield, Lucy Carmichael shopped at Madame Fifi’s fur salon in “Lucy Gets Amnesia” (TLS S3;E4).

Madame Fifi was played by French-born Broadway actress Fifi D’Orsay. 

In “Lucy Makes a Pinch” (TLS S3;E8), Officer Lucy is loaned furs from Madame Fifi’s to go undercover. Jack Baker played the Detective.  

In “Lucy and the Stolen Stole” (TLS S6;E19), the gray fur stole that lands Mr. Mooney and Lucy Carmichael in jail is the same costume piece that Mary Jane (Mary Jane Croft) purchased with five others and loans to Lucy in “Little Old Lucy” (TLS S6;E7).  

The opening of “Lucy and Pat Collins” (TLS S5;E11) is set in a fur salon featuring Georgia Holt (Cher’s mom) as the fur model.  

In a 1971 episode of “Here’s Lucy” the Carters go undercover to rob

the Supreme Fur Salon

thinking they are on an episode of “Candid Camera” – of course, they aren’t!  

In June 1956, Lucille Ball paid $10 to store one of her mink coats at Edwards & Kroll of Beverly Hills.  

In 2001, a Polish remake loosely based on “I Love Lucy” titled “Kocham Klara” (”I Love Clara”), presented “There Will Be Fur Tomorrow” loosely based on this episode and co-written with the cooperation of the original “I Love Lucy” writers.

Kuba brings home an expensive fur coat that he borrowed for his cabaret show at the club. Due to a misunderstanding, Klara is convinced that this fur is for her and thanks Cuba for not forgetting their wedding anniversary. Kuba, who of course forgot about their anniversary, now does not have the courage to tell Clara about the actual purpose of the fur. The day of the show is approaching and the devastated Kuba has only one solution: a burglar will sneak into the house, the fur coat will be stolen, and the show will be saved.