“Pioneer Women”

papermoonloveslucy:

(S1;E25 ~ March 31, 1952) The boys bet the girls that they can survive without using anything invented after 1900, including electricity.

This episode (the 25th) was filmed on February 22, 1952. It was directed by Marc Daniels. It earned a 66 rating and an 86 share!

This was said to be William Frawley’s favorite episode. He was born in 1887 and enjoyed acting as ‘technical adviser’ regarding what a middle class 19th century family might (and might not) have.

Fred (to Ethel): What are you wearing that bustle for, honey? You don’t need it.
Lucy: Pay no attention to him. You leave it on.
Ethel: I’m not wearing a bustle.

Tired of just cooking and cleaning, Lucy and Ethel do the math:

They report to the living room and give the boys an ultimatum!

Lucy: We’re revolting!
Ricky: No more than usual.

The men bet the women that they can do without modern luxuries longer than the girls.

Lucy: What do you want to bet?
Fred: How about $10?
Ethel: What’s the matter with $20?
Ricky: Well, what’s the matter with $30?
Lucy: What’s the matter with $50?
Fred: What was the matter with $10?

The episode is best remembered for the huge loaf of bread Lucy bakes by misreading the number or yeast cakes in the recipe (3, not 13)! When the cost of constructing a prop loaf proved too high for producer Desi, they enlisted LA’s Union Baking Company to bake a real loaf. The final product was rye bread, as rye lasts longer without spoiling. After the filming, the giant loaf was carved up and enjoyed by cast, crew, and the studio audience.

Guest Cast

A subplot has Lucy applying for membership in The Society Matrons League, whose investigating committee is headed by Mrs. Pomerantz and Mrs. Pettebone. Mrs. Pomerantz (below right) was played by Ruth Perrott. Perrott had played Katy, the maid on Lucille Ball’s radio show “My Favorite Husband.” She returned to “I Love Lucy” to play a nurse in “Lucy Goes to the Hospital” (S2;E16) and again as one of the members of the Wednesday Afternoon Fine Arts League in “Lucy and Ethel Buy the Same Dress” (S3;E3).

Mrs. Pettebone (above left) is played by Florence Bates (nee Rabe) who was born in 1888. After earning her degree in mathematics, Florence went to law school and became the first woman attorney in the history of the state of Texas. She traveled abroad extensively and was fluent in many languages. After the crash of 1929, she moved to California where she auditioned for the part of Miss Bates in the Pasadena Playhouse production of Jane Austen’s Emma. It launched a career playing snooty matrons and demanding dowagers. As a nod to her good fortune, she changed her last name to Bates. In 1940, she was cast by Alfred Hitchcock as Mrs. Edythe Van Hopper in Rebecca. She was equally adept at comedy, appearing as Danny Kaye’s prospective mother-in-law in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947) and as the inebriated Russian dance teacher, Madame Dilyovska, in On the Town (1949). She was an avid knitter, and could usually be found knitting between takes. Bates continued in films until her death in 1954, just two years after this episode. Now that’s a true pioneer woman!

The episode had the Desilu props people searching for such unusual items as a tin bathtub, hand-cranked coffee grinder, a butter churn, a log saw, oil lamps, and a live horse, the first (but not the last) equine cast member of the series.

Trivia

Making breakfast during their first day of the bet, Lucy hand grinds Ricky’s coffee adding a whole egg – shells and all! When Ricky grimaces, she quips “My grandmother was Swedish.” This is one of the first mentions of Lucy’s family history. We don’t know if she means her maternal or paternal grandmother or if she is just joking.

While not a musical episode, Ricky briefly hums “Vesti la Giubba” from Pagliacci, an Italian-language opera written by

by Ruggero Leoncavallo in 1892. Ricky’s musical education was obviously quite extensive. Later, Fred sings “The Fountain in the Park,” also known as “While Strolling Through the Park One Day,” a song written by Ed Haley in 1884. Lucy does an impromptu chorus of the song in “Lucy’s Show-Biz Swan Song” (S2;E12). In 1971′s “Lucy’s Lucky Day” (HL S4;E15), Lucille Ball, Lucie Arnaz, Gale Gordon, and a trained chimp (!) perform the song again.

Lucy’s interview with the Society Matrons League is supposed to take place at the Waldorf, the epitome of swanky Manhattan hotels. Six weeks later Lucy rented a room there when she pretends to be the regal Maharincess of Franistan in “The Publicity Agent” (S1;E31). Two years later, Lucy’s well-to-do school chum Cynthia Harcourt (Mary Jane Croft) took digs at the Waldorf while canvassing for donations in 1954′s “Lucy is Envious” (S3;E23).

After churning butter Ethel’s fingers are gripped like they are still clutching the churn pole. She remarks “Our grandmothers must have had arms like Gorgeous George.” George Raymond Wagner (aka Gorgeous George) was a professional wrestler known for his curly blonde hair and flamboyant manner. In the 1950s, televised wrestling matches made stars of wrestlers like Wagner. He was mentioned again in “Ricky’s Movie Offer” (S4;E6). When Pete the Grocery Boy asks Lucy what she’s supposed to be in her Marilyn Monroe dress and wig, Fred replies “Gorgeous George.”

Lucy demands that Ricky buy her an automatic dishwasher. He counters with rubber gloves! Although first invented in the mid-1920s, power dish washers were not commonly available to homeowners until the 1950s, and even then were extremely costly. Lucy gets a new automatic clothes washing machine

in “Sales Resistance” (S2;E17) and once again in “Never Do Business With Friends” (S2;E31), just five months later.

Ooops!

When Fred gets into his turn-of-the-century clothing, he struts around proudly and declares “I am the chicken-inspector!” This is slang for a womanizer; a man who has an eye for young woman. He even wears the novelty badge! However, this expression was not coined until the 1920s, so Fred’s poor memory has unwittingly lost the bet for the men.

When the inspection committee makes a surprise visit to the Ricardo apartment, the electric lamp in the background is on. Since the couples had agreed to live like pioneers the lamp should not have been on. Earlier in the episode, Lucy even mentioned buying lanterns to avoid using electric lights.

After Lucy and Ethel put the bread dough in the oven to bake, Lucy suggests they kill time by playing Canasta. The card game was not invented until the late 1940’s and so they couldn’t be playing it if they were following the rules of the bet.

Present-Day Pioneering

The Franklin Mint issued a porcelain doll commemorating this episode. The doll came with a loaf of bread and clothing that closely matched the episode.

On December 14, 2018 CBS presented a colorized version of this episode as part of their annual “I Love Lucy” Christmas Special. As usual, the newly colorized episode was teamed with “The I Love Lucy Christmas Show”. This brings the total number of colorized episodes to 14 (out of 180).