Lucy is a Soda Jerk

S1;E23 ~ March 4, 1963

Synopsis

To
pay for her school drum majorette uniform, Lucy’s daughter Chris
takes a job as a waitress at an ice cream parlor. When Chris can’t
make it one day, Lucy and Viv take over with disastrous
results!

Regular
Cast

Lucille
Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Vivian Vance (Vivian Bagley), Jimmy Garrett
(Jerry Carmichael), Ralph Hart (Sherman Bagley), Candy Moore (Chris
Carmichael)

Guest
Cast

Paul
Hartman
(Mr. Wilbur) was ‘born in a trunk’ in 1904 to a theatrical father
known as ‘the Ziegfeld of the Pacific Coast’. He performed
as part of a family act from the age of six weeks and was part of a
tour to Japan in the cast of The
Mikado
at the age of two.
With
his wife Grace
he
formed a famous ballroom-dancing partnership, touring the vaudeville
circuit and also appearing on Broadway. In 1948, they had a huge hit
with the revue Angel
in the Wings,
both winning Tony Awards as Best Leading Players in a Musical, the
first such awards ever given out. He is probably best remembered as
Emmett Clark on “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Mayberry R.F.D.”
This is his only appearance on “The Lucy Show.”

Lucie
Arnaz (Cynthia)
is
the real-life 12 year-old daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
She was born in 1951 just before the premiere of “I Love Lucy.”
Lucille Ball was actually pregnant during the filming of the show’s
pilot. Despite rumors to the contrary, Lucie Arnaz never appeared on
“I Love Lucy.” She made an uncredited appearance on this series
in “Lucy is a Referee” (S1;E3) as one of the spectators at the
football game. Here she plays Chris’s friend Cynthia, a character
mentioned in the premiere and in many subsequent episodes. Lucie also
appeared with her mother and brother Desi Jr. on “Here’s Lucy.”

Although her arrival was much-anticipated, the character of Cynthia returns in just one more
episode, “Lucy is a Chaperone” (S1;E27). Lucie Arnaz, however,
returned to the show in later seasons in other roles.

The
Customers at Mr. Wilbur’s Ice Cream Parlor are played by:

Ruth
Crews
was previously seen as Dorothy in “Lucy and Viv Are Volunteer
Firemen” (S1;E16), although the role of Dorothy was taken over by
Dorothy Konrad in “Lucy’s Barbershop Quartet” (S1;E19) probably because the character needed to be able to sing well enough to carry four part harmony. This is
Ruth Crews’ final appearance on the series.

James
Gonzales (above left) was
a popular Hollywood extra who first acted with Lucille Ball in the
1953 film The
Long, Long Trailer.
He was previously seen on the show as Stan Williams, a friend of
Harry’s he brings along to date Viv when “Lucy Digs Up a Date”
(S1;E2). He will be seen in 21 future episodes of “The Lucy Show”
and 3 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”

James Gonzales is seated with Desi Arnaz Jr. in the final scene.

Desi
Arnaz Jr.
is, of course, the real-life son of Lucille Ball. His 1953 birth was
worked into the plot of “I Love Lucy” although Desi Jr. never
played the role of Little Ricky Ricardo. He did, however, appear on
the final half-hour episode of the series “The
Ricardos Dedicate a Statue” (ILL S6;E27)
in
a crowd scene. His first series appearance was as one of the pee-wee
football players in “Lucy is a Referee (S1;E3). He plays Billy
Simmons in four future episodes of the series and also appeared with
his mother and sister on “Here’s Lucy.”

Jerry
Hausner
marks his return to the Desilu family. He was featured as Jerry,
Ricky’s agent in the pilot and first three seasons of “I Love
Lucy.” He left the show after a disagreement with Desi Arnaz.
Interestingly, Desi Arnaz left “The Lucy Show” and Desilu before
Hausner’s return. Although this is his only appearance on this
series, he does return for a 1973 episode of “Here’s Lucy.”

The original script was titled “Lucy is a Drum Majorette.” Jimmy Garrett’s mother, Helen Moore Garrett, coached Lucy and Chris in baton twirling. Helen had been a champion baton twirler and marched in the Rose Parade for many years. It is likely that the original version had Lucy filling in for Chris as a drum majorette rather than as a soda jerk.

The
title refers to the employee behind the soda fountain that makes the
ice cream sodas and milkshakes which was a popular mid-20th century
hangout for teenagers.
During this time drug stores often featured food counters and were
not strictly places that distributed pharmaceuticals.

When
she was starting out in New York City, auditioning for Broadway
shows, Lucille
Ball
worked
as a soda jerk at Walgreens. She later said that she was fired for
forgetting to put bananas in the banana splits!

Broadway
icon Ethel
Merman
was in the studio audience for this episode’s filming. Desilu
produced a pilot for Merman called “Maggie Brown” (above) which was aired
as part of CBS’s “Vacation Playhouse” in September 1963. In
return, Lucille Ball and Gary Morton attended the filming of Merman’s
pilot, which was not picked-up for series. Instead, Merman would be
featured in the season two opener of “The Lucy Show.” In 1963,
Merman had left her Broadway career behind for a bit, to concentrate
on films such as It’s
a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World (1963).
Vivian
Vance understudied Merman on Broadway in Anything
Goes
(1934).

Lucy
fell asleep reading Elite Magazine, a periodical that appears to have
been made-up by the props department. On “I Love Lucy” Desilu
often used the names of real magazines in order to
thank them for promoting their show.

Chris’s
high school team is the Danfield Bears and Chris and Cynthia have
been selected as drum majorettes. Lucy is enthusiastic at first, but
she loses her enthusiasm when she hears that the uniform will cost
$40. Lucy says she
won a twirling cup for Jamestown High School. Viv adds that she was
19th runner up. Lucy says that her uniform only cost $7.50. If we go buy
Lucille Ball’s real age, that would put the date around 1925 and be
the equivalent of $13 in 1963’s economy.

Lucille
Ball demonstrates some baton twirling and marching that are similar
to the moves she displayed singing “Hey Look Me Over” in
Broadway’s Wildcat.

Chris
wonders if Doris Day started out as a Soda Jerk. Doris
Day,
a popular singer and actor of the time, was previously mentioned on
“No More Double Dates” (S1;E21) and will be mentioned again in
“Lucy Goes to a Hollywood Premiere” (S4;E20).

Much
of the action of the episode is set at Wilbur’s Ice Cream Parlor.
According to the signs, Malts and Hot Fudge Sundaes cost 55 cents. The average cost
of a one-scoop sundae at Baskin Robbins today is about $4.50 so the
cost has kept up with the rate of inflation. Another sign says “Try
Wilbur’s Special” but it is never stated what the special actually is.

Lucy
and Viv’s rhyme for remembering the ice cream flavors is sung to the
tune of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”:

“Chocolate,
Strawberry, Rocky road, Coffee
Coconut,
Tooty-Fruity, Huckleberry, Toffee
Peppermint,
Pistachio, Chocolate Chip
Cinnamon,
Burnt Pecan, Tangerine Whip
Cranberry,
Fudge Ripple, Lime, Vanilla
Pineapple,
Lemon Crunch and Marshmilla

(to
the tune of “Shave and a Haircut”)

….the flavor of the month is – Kumquat!”

This
episode features the age-old TV trope of sliding drinks down a long
bar to the server. In this case it is ice cream sodas and the bar is
a counter. In comedies, the items usually hit the floor,
which they do here as well. This same gag was part of the “Western
Frolics” in “Milton Berle Hides Out at the Ricardos,” a 1959
episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”

Lucille
Ball serves ice cream again in a 1973 episode of “Here’s Lucy”
titled “Lucy and the Franchise Fiasco.”

The
day this episode aired, March 4, 1963, was the last day that the Mona
Lisa was exhibited in the USA. Lucy has a disastrous encounter with
a replica Mona Lisa in “Lucy Goes To Art Class” (S2;E4) as well as on a 1977 TV special.

Callbacks!

Lucy
filling in for Chris at the ice cream parlor is reminiscent of when
Lucy Ricardo filled in for Mario at Mr. Martinelli’s Pizzeria in
“Visitor from Italy” (ILL S6;E5).

Blooper
Alerts!

Melody Mistake! When
Lucy sings the Ice Cream flavors for Customer #2 (Jerry Hausner), she
sings the wrong melody for a portion of “Twinkle Twinkle Little
Star” but gets back on track again for the rest of the song.