Magazines were the internet of the 1950s. A couple of episodes of “I Love Lucy” were built around getting magazine coverage of Ricky and his career. Most times characters were just seen casually reading magazines, the way we would check our phones. Lucy and Desi frequently featured magazines on camera as a way of thanking them for promoting “I Love Lucy”!
In “Men Are Messy” (1951) during the show’s first season, Lucy’s hillbilly antics turned up on the cover of Look! Although the real August 14, 1951, issue was used on camera, Lucy’s photo covered a trio of Hollywood starlets.
When Look turned up again in “Lucy
Gets Ricky on the Radio” (1952), the June 3, 1952, issue actually had Lucille Ball on the cover!
Look was part of a 1952 flashback intro during Lucy’s pregnancy. Vivian Vance has her hand over Ball’s photo. Inside is an article by Desi Arnaz about his wife.
Look showed up one last time in “Ricky Loses His Temper” (1954), showcasing the March 9, 1954, issue. Lucille Ball made the cover of Look nine times during from 1937 to 1971, when the magazine printed its final issue.
This cover of LIFE inspired Lucy and Desi to create the episode “Ricky’s Life Story” (1953), which featured an inside spread of photos on the Ricardo family.
LIFE’s May 11, 1953, issue was prominently featured in the episode, although the back page had to be replaced because it was a full-page ad for Lucky Strike cigarettes, the main competitor of “I Love Lucy” sponsor Phillip Morris. Even the writers were prohibited from using the word “lucky!” The cover featured model Gloria Barnes for an article “Denim Gets Dressy.”
This same issue of LIFE turns up again two years later in a stack of magazines Lucy purchases to read on her trip during “The Great Train Robbery” (1955).
When the girls return from shopping in “Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress” (1953), Ricky is reading the September 21, 1953, issue of LIFE. Lucille Ball appeared on the cover of LIFE twice more: in 1962 and 1976. The photo magazine was a weekly from 1936 to 1972 and a monthly from 1978 to 2000. It maintained a web presence until 2012.
Although it is never seen on screen, Lucy says she saw “Ethel’s Birthday” (1954) present – an outrageous pair of hostess pants – in Harper’s Bazaar.
Another ‘meta’ magazine appearance was in “Ricky
Has Labor Pains” (1953) where a pregnant Lucy is reading the January 1953 McCall’s (January 1953), which clearly has a cover that say “Why I Love Lucy” by Desi Arnaz!
Also in 1953, in “Lucy Wants New Furniture,” Lucy tried to be casual when Ricky came home by glancing at a copy of Woman’s Home Companion (May 1953).
Lucy read this same issue of Woman’s Home Companion a month earlier in “Lucy Hires a Maid.”
Settling in to wait for the phone to ring during “Lucy Does a TV Commercial,” Fred picks up a copy of Radio and Television Mirror from April 1949, with Arthur Godfrey on the cover. Coincidentally, “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts” was “I Love Lucy’s” lead in. Godfrey closed his show asking viewers to stay tuned. This issue was already three years old at the time of filming. The issue also had an article about Red Skelton, one of Lucille Ball’s inspirations for her Vitameatavegamin routine.
McCall’s turned up “In
Palm Springs” (1955), when Ethel pages through the May 1955 issue to pass the time. Viewers never knew it, but Vivian Vance was actually reading about herself! This issue includes an article titled “I
Don’t Run Away Anymore – Vivian Vance”. Vance was a staunch advocate of mental health, and talks about her award from the National Association of Mental
Health. She shares with readers some of her darker days. Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles, Fred thumbs through the March 21, 1954, issue of Sports Illustrated. Both Mertzes are waiting out a rainstorm. Although McCall’s stopped publishing in 2002, Sports Illustrated is still on news stands as of this writing.
In “Little Ricky Learns to Play the Drums” (1956), Fred is trying to catch up on his reading with a November 1954 copy of Sports Illustrated. At the time of filming the issue was 19 months old! On the front cover is San Francisco 49′ers Quarterback Y.A. Tittle, the first professional football player on the cover. Y.A. Tittle will be mentioned again on a 1969 episode of “Here’s Lucy.”
The boys tended toward masculine publications like The Fisherman, as they do in “Deep Sea Fishing” (1956).
Although a specific issue of House & Garden was not seen on camera, the plot of “Lucy Raises Chickens” (1957) involved a team of reporters from the magazine visiting the Ricardo’s colonial home in Westport. When they show up at the end of the episode, they are horrified to see the gang herding hundreds of baby chicks through the living room! Its US edition ceased in 1993, and was closed again in 2007.
When traveling in Italy, Lucy reads about film director Vittorio Philippi in Teatro, a real-life Italian-language movie magazine that she must have translated by the bellboy. The result is the hilarious grape stomping scene in “Lucy’s Italian Movie” (1956).
In “The Sublease” (1954) both Lucy and Ethel catch up on the news by reading the same April 19, 1954, issue of Time. Lucille Ball had appeared on the cover of Time two years earlier.
In “Ricky Sells The Car” (1955), Lucy tries to look natural by perusing the
the September 13, 1954 issue of Time Magazine, more than a year old at the time of filming. On the cover is Alicia Patterson, the publisher of Long Island Newsday.
During the return home from Europe, Ethel reads the April 9 1956 issue of Time Magazine. Coincidentally, the cover story is about the President of American Express and also features a travelers cheque, a steamship, and an airplane!
Not to be outdone, September 2, 1957′s Newsweek got some airtime in “Lucy Hunts Uranium,” a 1958 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” set in Las Vegas. Lucille Ball was on the cover of the news magazine in 1953.
Movie-star mad Lucy dreams about her future life in Hollywood in
“Ricky’s Screen Test” (1954) by pouring over the November 1954 issue of Modern Screen with Debbie Reynolds on the cover. Lucy shared a cover with Doris Day in 1969.
The American Weekly was a Sunday supplement magazine that turned up in “Lucy is Matchmaker” (1953). As the bottom banner says, this particular issue (May 3, 1953) contains the article “It Happened To Us” by Lucille Ball!
In that same episode, the action is set in a hotel lobby that displays a myriad of magazines on its rack: Showmen’s Trade Review, American Magazine, McCall’s, Collier’s, True Stories, True Love Stories, Liz Taylor, Companion, Newsweek (3 issues), Vogue, Sunset, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, and House & Garden.
In “Lucy’s Schedule” (1951), Alvin Littlefield (Gale Gordon) reads the May 25, 1952 issue of American Weekly. The cover art is titled “Raining Car Wash” by Euclid Shook.
In “The Courtroom” (1952) there is a rare glimpse of Mademoiselle magazine. This is the April 1952 issue, which was four months old at the time of filming.
Holiday was a travel magazine that was published from 1946 to 1977. Lucy looked through the November 1951 issue in “The Saxophone” (1952).
BUT WAIT – THERE’S MORE! KEEP READING…
Papermoon Loves Lucy 
Leave a comment