Lucy’s Toy Chest!

Even when Little Ricky wasn’t on screen, you knew there was a child in the Ricardo home by the toys!  Toys also found their way into the Carmichael and Barker houses, both of which had children living there.  Even Lucy Carter, mother of teenagers, managed to play with toys once in a while.  Here’s a look inside Lucy’s toy chest! 

The most amazing collection of toys (circa 1953) was seen in “The Ricardos Change Apartments” (ILL S2;E26). 

In the hutch (which usually holds cartons of Philip Morris cigarettes), Lucy has stored Little Ricky’s Tricky Trolley (a Mattel toy), and his metal Fire Chief Action Pull Toy #34.  

Above Ricky’s head is a the box from Lionel Trains (conspicuously place and turned toward the camera), which Lucy calls “the Super Chief” as it circles the room!  And there’s that Teddy Bear – it will show up time and time again until 1959!

This inflatable punch toy has yet to be accurately identified.  Any guesses?  

Buzzy Bee, a pull toy, was made by Fisher-Price from 1950 to 1985. At the time, it sold for sixty cents!

A bath toy, Cleo was the goldfish from the Disney film Pinocchio (1940). When Ricky squeezes her, Cleo spits in his face!  

This was actually a TV tie-in (one of the first) called Froggy the Gremlin. The character made its debut on radio’s “Buster Brown Gang” in 1944, which was brought to television in 1951 as “Smilin’ Ed’s Gang” with Froggy as a puppet and – occasionally – a life-sized costume character. The program was seen on CBS from 1951 to 1953.

Tricky Trolley turns up again in “Face to Face” aka “The Ricardos are Interviewed” (ILL S5;E7), and…

“Lucy and Superman” (ILL S6;E13). 

Having invested in such a stockpile of toys, the props department re-used them time and time again. Cleo the Goldfish turned up again in “Ethel’s Birthday” (ILL S4;E9), along with

Hi-Lo Safety Blocks with inter-locking grooves made by Halsam Products Company. 

The same blocks keep babysitter Fred busy in “Ricky’s European Booking” (S5;E10). 

On the coffee table in “Ricky Minds the Baby” (ILL S3;E14) is not only Cleo, but the “I Love Lucy” Teddy Bear. 

Also on the coffee table is a roly poly panda toy made by Softskin.

In the same episode, Fred tries to entertain Little Ricky with Mr. Squawker, a rubber duck squeeze toy manufactured by Rempel Manufacturing of Akron, Ohio, that also turns up when “Lucy Tells the Truth” (ILL S3;E6).Little Ricky is teething on a rubber bunny toy.

In “Little Ricky Gets Stage Fright” (ILL S6;E4) we go inside Little Ricky’s room (formerly his nursery), where there are lots of toys!  

Little Ricky is discovered playing with his Keystone Tot Railroad, a wooden train set made by the Keystone Manufacturing Company. The box is tucked under the bed.

A key prop in the episode, the wind-up drummer bear toy was made in Japan and was sold with both brown and white fur. Fred says he bought it for 49 cents!  

A similar drumming bear turns up in a toy-filled episode of “Here’s Lucy” in 1972, but Lucy Carter is more amused by the mechanical dog. 

In “Bonus Bucks” (ILL S3;E21), Ricky discovers this odd little squeeze toy cat while searching through Lucy’s well-stocked handbag!  He doesn’t quite know what to make of it!

In “Tennessee Ernie Hangs On” (ILL S3;E29) Ethel makes her entrance wearing

Little Ricky’s Bubble-O-Bill Bubble Hat! The flying saucer-themed toy was made by Mattel.

A Mattel Jolly Jack-in-the-Box Music Box is a prop in “Nursery School” (ILL S5;E9). Had the toy been facing the camera, the product’s name would have shown and American would have seen the hideous face of one of the most nightmarish clowns in toy history!  Maybe that’s why Lucy is crying!

That same episode includes Little Ricky’s teddy bear, although later bears would be a darker shade of brown, this one is closer in appearance to the “I Love Lucy” bear sold commercially. 

The darker bear makes many appearances, all the way into “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hours.” 

Long before Little Ricky was born, the show featured a toy snare drum in “The Young Fans” (ILL S1;E20). 

It was made by Ohio Art especially for children.

The drum came out of the prop closet again when “Ricky Sells The Car” (ILL S5;E4) and Lucy is packing up Little Ricky’s toys.  Lucy also holds the aforementioned Teddy Bear and a toy ray gun. 

The ray gun could be the same toy used by Lucy when threatening tourists atop the Empire State Building.  If you notice, Ethel does not have a ray gun.  Vivian Vance dropped hers while scaling the fence and it stayed on the floor for the entire scene! 

Also in “Lucy is Envious” (ILL S3;E23), Little Ricky’s toy telephone is left on the mantle. 

The toy rotary telephone was also a savings bank!  It was made by Amerline of Chicago, IL, in 1945. Lucy no-doubt emptied the bank looking to fulfill her pledge to Cynthia Harcourt. 

Before “Lucy Goes to Scotland” (ILL S5;E17) in her dreams, the Mertzes have bought Little Ricky a toy dragon stick puppet. This plants the seed for her dream that Fred and Ethel are a two-headed dragon.

 In fact, the toy is not Scottish or English, but Chinese in origin!  

Bunnies are the theme for Little Ricky in “Ricky’s Old Girlfriend” (ILL S3;E20). In addition to his rabbit toy, Cleo the Goldfish can be seen on the left!  The bunny motif helps viewers identify Little Ricky in the dream sequences, even though he is played by two different actors!

When preparing for Little Ricky’s birth, a doll was used for Lucy and Ricky to practice their parenting skills. The doll was also sold commercially. It was called “The Lucy Baby” and wasn’t assigned a sex in order to keep sales going after the Ricardo / Arnaz baby was born. 

This infant toy was designed with a suction cup to adhere to the baby’s playtable or highchair. The molded plastic top was in the shape of a mouse. Mickey?  

Toys were also an integral part of “Lucy and the Efficiency Expert” (TLS S5;E13) in which Lucy Carmichael works the assembly line at the Grantland Toy Factory 

She is under close supervision by an efficiency expert (Phil Silvers).

The shelves are stocked with toys like Nutty Mad Indian, and yellow Pluto dogs! 

The battery operated toy was manufactured in the 1960s by Marx but would definitely not be “PC” today.

The Pluto dogs can also be spotted again when Lucy Carmichael babysits three chimpanzees in a 1967 episode. 

In a 1966 episode starring famous child star Jay North (”Dennis the Menace”), Lucy Carmichael takes the place of a life-sized toy soldier!  

In the background a toy Ferris Wheel was previously seen on the series when it was set in Danfield and in black and white! 

Lucy and Viv’s boys Sherman Bagley (Ralph Hart) and Jerry Carmichael (Jimmy Garrett) were big fans of submarines – and took this toy out on a rainy day!  

Dracula (Jimmy Garrett) fights Frankenstein (Ralph Hart) with a deadly ray gun in this 1965 episode of “The Lucy Show.” 

When Paul Winchell guest starred as himself on “The Lucy Show” in 1966 he brought his cast of characters, including Ozwald, half doll / half magic trick!  Many of Winchell’s figures were available in stores. 

An Austrian therapist (Elliot Reid) conducted an age regression experiment on Lucy Carmichael, Viv Bagley, and Mr. Mooney in “Lucy the Stockholder” (TLS S3;E25).  Being “big kids” they played with some large-sized toys!  

Much to the dismay of Uncle Harry, Lucy Carter sublets the Unique Employment Agency to a toy maker (Wally Cox), who fills the office with every toy imaginable on a 1972 episode of “Here’s Lucy”.

In an earlier “Here’s Lucy” episode featuring Wally Cox (1970), Lucy becomes a security guard and the warehouse is stocked with children’s toys and games. A wagon, a tricycle, several toy ducks. and the Ideal board game Seven Keys can be seen on the table near the door. 

When Lucy Carter forms a community advocacy group to get manufacturers to honor their warranties, a defective doll squirts water from every orifice but the expected one(s). Getting Gale Gordon wet was the goal of many episodes of “Here’s Lucy.” 

Unboxing items for a garage sale in “Lucy and Aladdin’s Lamp” (HL S3;E21), Kim Carter (Lucie Arnaz) finds her favorite doll, Clarabelle. Clarabelle also made an appearance in “Lucy, the Part-Time Wife” (HL S3;14), although she has on a different frock.

On a March 1970 episode of “Here’s Lucy,” Ma Parker’s criminal gang includes ‘Little Mildred’ aka ‘Milton’ played by Jerry Maren.  ‘Mildred’s’ doll looks as disheveled as he/she does!  

Although the cast of “Life With Lucy” featured two pre-teens kids (Lucy Barker’s grandchildren), it was Lucy and her brother-in-law Curtis (Gale Gordon) who played with this bear-shaped bubble-blower!