“Changing the Boys’ Wardrobe”

(S3;E10 ~ December 7, 1953) Directed by William Asher. Written by

Jess Oppenheimer, Madelyn Pugh and Bob Carroll, Jr. Filmed November 5, 1953 at Ren-Mar Studios. Rating: 67.2/79

Synopsis ~ Ricky and Fred infuriate the girls by wearing their old clothes in public. So Lucy and Ethel secretly sell their husbands’ clothes to a second-hand clothes dealer.

This episode is based on Lucy’s radio show, “My Favorite Husband” episode #95 titled “Husbands are Sloppy Dressers” broadcast September 2, 1950. The radio show is included on the “I Love Lucy” DVD for comparison. 

Sitcom Logic Alert!  The premise of this episode is somewhat unbelievable since the boys are usually impeccably dressed, even when they are just hanging around the apartment. The exception being when wardrobe designer wanted to indicate that they are engaged in some sort of manual labor. Geoffrey Mark Fidelman, author of The Lucy Book, is of the same opinion.

Unusually, this episode opens with a round of applause from the studio audience. These were generally edited out or covered by musical intros. 

At the start of the episodes the gang is heading to the movies to see “That picture we’ve been trying to get to for weeks with Marilyn Monroe.” The movie is either Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which premiered in New York City in July 1953, or How To Marry A Millionaire, which premiered (just in Los Angeles) one day after this episode was filmed. In either case it is likely that the title goes unmentioned because Lucy and Desi had just filmed The Long, Long Trailer for MGM Studios and How To Marry a Millionaire and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes were 20th Century Fox pictures.

When they return from the movie, Ethel remarks “Wasn’t that a wonderful dress she had on in the big number?”  Both films were musicals, so this doesn’t narrow it down very much. 

Much of the plot of “Second Honeymoon” (S5;E14) set aboard the S.S. Constitution, was copied from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Like Marilyn, Lucy also has a young boy for a dinner companion and also gets stuck in a porthole! 

In “Ricky’s Movie Offer” (S4;E5) Lucy dresses up like Monroe, including wearing a platinum blonde wig. As one of the biggest screen stars of the 1950s, Marilyn Monroe was mentioned by name many times throughout the series.

On November 5, 1953, the same day “Changing the Boy’s Wardrobe” was filmed, Monroe’s ascent to the heights of stardom was marked by two very different events. First, her new film How to Marry a Millionaire was released in the US. Second, the town of Monroe, New York, was temporarily renamed Marilyn Monroe! 

ETHEL (about sloppily-dressed Fred): “I couldn’t do a thing with Raggedy Andy.”

Raggedy Andy was introduced in 1920 as a companion to Raggedy Ann, characters from a series of childrens’ book written by Johnny Gruelle. Although Gruelle died in 1938, the books continued to be published under his name. In 1953 the most recent book was “Raggedy Andy’s Surprise.” Perhaps Lucy read it to Little Ricky?

After Lucy convinces Ricky to change for the movies, he discovers that Fred is wearing his old clothes.  

FRED: “Come on, Little Lord

Fauntleroy.”
RICKY: “That’s it!  Nobody’s gonna call me Little Fonterooey!”

Little Lord Fauntleroy is a children’s book by Frances Hodgson Burnett (author of The Secret Garden). The Fauntleroy suit (also known as the Buster Brown suit), created a fad for formal dress for American middle-class children.

• Fred dressed like Little Lord Fauntleroy when “Lucy Hires an English Tutor” (S2;E13). 

• Lucy Carmichael calls Mr. Mooney (Gale Gordon) out for being dressed like Little Lord Fauntleroy in a 1965 episode of “The Lucy Show.” 

One piece of Ricky’s old clothes that Lucy sold was a button down cardigan sweater with a big “H” on the front and “Universidad de la Habana” [University of Havana] on the back. In “Lucy Hires an English Tutor” (S2;E13) Ricky buys a t-shirt for his yet-unborn son that says “Havana U 1974” and brags about attending the college – even singing the school fight song.

Fred’s oldest piece of clothing is a pull-over sweater saying “Golden Gloves 1909,” which he supposedly won boxing. In real life, the first Golden Gloves competition didn’t take place until 1923. However, Fred frequently adopts a sparring posture, even when just kidding around with Little Ricky.

This is the second of six times Lucille Ball wears this Elois Jenssen white house dress with flower and leaf pattern at the waist. Lucy liked the outfit so much, Jenssen recreated it as a yellow housecoat for the film Forever Darling. By placing the pattern at the waist, Elois de-emphasized Lucille Ball’s height.

This is the third time Ricky sings "Granada,” written by Agustin Lara in 1932. It was previously heard on the un-aired pilot and “Lucy Is Enciente” (S2;E10). It is presented here in its entirety as a rehearsal, although it is performed with full orchestra and lighting. If an episode was running short, a song (however unrelated to the plot) was a good way to fill time.

Alberto Calderon, a member of the Ricky Ricardo (and Desi Arnaz) Orchestra, has a few lines in Spanish with Ricky and Fred. Interestingly, Desi / Ricky’s usual accompanist, Marco Rizo, is not at the piano for this episode. 

Lucy and Ethel sell their husbands’ old clothes to Allen’s Used Clothes  Emporium on 3rd Avenue and 32nd Street. Oliver Blake (Zeb Allen) starred with Lucy in Fancy Pants in 1950 as well as in playing Mr. Ludlow in The Long, Long Trailer, filmed just prior to this episode. He used his birth name Oliver Prickett for stage work at the Pasadena Playhouse, where he was a regular performer and teacher. 

Zeb phones Ricky at work to sell his old clothes back to him – for a profit! 

ZEB: “Buying men’s old clothes from their wives is a tidy little business, but I make my real money selling them back to the husbands.” 

In “Redecorating” (S2;E8), second-hand furniture dealer Mr. Jenkins (Hans Conried) buys the Ricardo’s furniture for $75, but when they want it back he charges $500!  Mr. Watson (James Burke), the man who sells the Ricardos and Mertzes “The Diner” (S3;E27), will say something similar:

MR. WATSON: “I make a fortune…selling this place and buying it back from people who want to go into business for themselves.” 

It seems the entrepreneurial spirit was alive in well in the fabulous ‘50s!

To get even with Lucy for selling his clothes, Ricky gets some empty boxes from Brooks Brothers and puts his re-purchased garments inside. 

Established in 1918, Brooks Brothers was known as the premiere men’s clothing retailer, specializing in suits. In 1953, the store pioneered the manufacture of poly blend wash-and-wear shirts that they called Brooksweave. 

When Ricky opens the boxes to reveal the worn-out duds, Lucy is caught in a lie that she accidentally burned them! [cue spider face] “Ewwwww!”

Coincidentally, Jerry, Ricky’s agent, arranges for him to receive an award as one of the ‘Ten Best Dressed Men in America.’ For the presentation and photo shoot, Ricky names Fred as his ‘fashion consultant.’ Jerry Hausner reprises the role of Jerry he created in the un-aired pilot and would play until 1954.

When Lucy puts Little Ricky (the Mayer Twins) into his playpen, she also give him a toy and tells him to “play with that big bug”. The toys she is referring to is a pull toy named Buzzy Bee, which was made by Fisher-Price from 1950 to 1985.  It previously turned up in “The Ricardos Change Apartments” (S2;E26, above) when Little Ricky was played by the Simmons Twins. 

Paul Power (Award Presenter) returned to the series to be in The Most Happy Fella audience in “Lucy’s Night In Town” (S6;E22). The Chicago native was born as Lester Vestergard. 

Lee Millar (Bill, the photographer) returns for his second of four appearances on the series. He was first seen as the announcer for the radio show “Females are Fabulous” in “The Quiz Show” (S1;E5) and will play Chip Jackson, host of the MGM executive’s show, in “Lucy and the Dummy” (S5;E3). He was also on “The Lucy Show” in 1964. In real life, his mother was actress Verna Felton, who played Lucy’s maid, Mrs. Porter. 

Busy Hollywood extra Forbes Murphy appears as one of the men at the award presentation, having been seen with Lucille Ball in That’s Right – You’re Wrong (1939), The Dark Corner (1946), and The Long, Long Trailer (1953), which wrapped filming a few weeks before season three began.