Send qestions to me at Questions and Answers
Hello, Michael:
I just purchased this item [see pic at right]. I'm not personally a collector of Lucy items, but purchased it to resell on Ebay. Anyway, I have searched eBay and the Net and can not find anything like this. Could you please give me an idea if this item is rare, what the possible value is, and if eBbay is the right place to sell it? I’m thinking the box might be worth more than the necklace and earrings. Some of the rhinestones have darkened, but other than that they’re in pretty good condition. I have included pics, feel free to post if you would like. — Michael
Michael:
What a great, unique collectible ... and I’m not surprised you didn’t find anything similar on eBay or the Web — this kind of collectible doesn’t show up very often. That makes it rare and, I think, very valuable, as long as you take my oft-advised words of caution: any piece of memorabilia is only worth as much as one person is willing to pay for it. That said, I’d be surprised if this didn’t go for hundreds of dollars or more, considering the condition — you say some of the rhinestones have darkened, but the pics you sent me were extremely large, and the stones looked fine, except perhaps to an expert or jewelry collector. More importantly, none are loose, and the piece, as you note, is packaged very professionally (for the record, the jeweler’s info on the seal at the top right right is: “W.J. Warmington … Diamonds, Watches, Jewlery … Winona, Minn.”). That seal alone is probably good enough to “prove” these are authentic, but a certificate of authenticity, plus a picture of Lucy wearing these in the movie, would add to the selling value. Good luck! — Michael
Dear Michael:
I have a picture of Lucy that I think is maybe an orignal; it looks very old. I have had it for about 25 years, framed with acid-free mats, and it has been protected from the direct sun. I would like to send you a copy of it and maybe you can tell me what you think. —Thank you, Jeffrey E.
Jeff:
This looks like a gorgeous photo of Lucy from the 1940s. I don't recall having seen it before, which means it could be very rare. You could very well have an original photo, which means it's a photo that the photographer/studio printed, not a duplicate. How worthy it is, I'm not really sure. It depends on the condition, who the photographer was and -- as I tell everyone -- if you can find that one collector who's willing to pay whatever you want for it. (I'm assuming you're asking about it so that it can be sold.) As to whether or not it's really an "original," you'd have to check with a photographer or studio who specializes in vintage Hollywood memorabilia (Heritage Auctions in California is one such place), and let them examine it. You might want to do this even if you're not planning on selling it, so you can get an appraisal of its worth for insurance purposes. Hope this helps. My best.
Dear Michael:
I have a friend who has a collection of Lucy scripts and other collectibles from the sets. Her husband’s uncle was a set designer for Lucy. Now my friend would like to dispose of these items.Can you advise me? –Bill Duncan
I think the best way to sell the itens you describe would be on eBay or a similar online or real-world auction service. Try going to eBay (www.ebay.com) and doing a search for "Lucille Ball script/s"; search "completed items" as well to try and find as many as you can. That will give you some idea opf what they are selling for currently and what kind of market there is for the scripts. I just did a search and came up with about 20 itens, everything from what was called a "limited edition reproduction of Lucille Ball's personal copy of the VITAMEATAVEGAMIN episode script" that was sold at Universal Studios in the early 1990s starting at $16.99, to actual "Here's Lucy" scripts that sellers were asking anywhere from $59 yo $159 for.
It should be noted no one had yet bid on any of the scripts. In "completed items" there were five "Here's Lucy" scripts, selling for as little as $89 up to $179, but again, these auctions had finished without buyers. This may indicate the market for more recent "Lucy" scripts might not be so hot. On the other hand, if you have "I Love Lucy" or even early "The Lucy Show" scripts, those might indeed prove to be valuable. It's often a matter of luck and timing when you try an auction.
The other items, or collectibles as you describe them, could very well be more vaulable than the scripts. You'd need to photograph them and describe them as completely as possible, stating exactl why/how you know they are authentic items. "Lucy" props and Desilu memorabilia have gone for $300 - $600 in the past year or so, both online and at real-world auctions.
Good luck, and let me know how it goes if you can.
Hi Michael:
My sister recently got some Lucy collectibles from the (ex)controller of Desilu Studios. I guess these items were given out to vendors in the 50's and used as Christmas gifts. She has in mint condition in the original boxes a cup and saucer that's white with gold trim that features a "Lucy" (animated) stick figure and Lucy's signature on it ("Love Lucy"). She also has a pen set in the original box wrapped in plastic (never used) with Lucy/Desi stick figures and a large white ashtray with gold trim [both with] the same Lucy signature. I was searching around the Web and couldn't find any mention of these types of collectibles and was wondering what they may be worth. Do you have any idea on the value or do you know of a site that you can direct me to that would know?
Thanks in advance! —Robbie Dull
I believe the items you describe are worthy, but exactly how worthy I cannot say. The reason is that, as I've always said, a collectible is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. I can tell you that a Desilu paper opener, from the same time period as the items you describe, was sold at auction during Lucille Ball's Birthday weekend this past summer in Jamestown, N.Y. for $350. My guess is your items are worth about the same, or more or less, depending on how you present them to the public, and who is bidding on them (i.e., how much they really want them). Try searching for similar items on eBay; that's the quickest way to find out what they might go for. Good luck!
Dear Michael:
I have a New York daily newspaper with Desi and Lucy [on the cover of the magazine section]. The whole thing reads like this: "Sunday News, New York's Picture Newspaper, Coloroto Magazine, dated February 27, 1955. I have looked all over the Net for this and can't find it any place. Do you know anything about this paper? If you can, tell me the value of it; I'm not parting with it, I am a big fan of "I Love Lucy." —BrookeFromMD
It sounds like you have the Sunday Daily News color newsmagazine -- color newspaper magazines were often called "Coloroto" back then - it might have had something to do with the printing process, or perhaps they were printed at the (Chicago) Tribune Company's Coloroto Company. How much it's worth depends on its condition (any wrinkles, tears, holes, etc.), how rare it is (how many were produced and how many still exist), and how much another fan might be willing to pay for it; the latter is obviously a very subjective thing. That said, it's probably worth up to $25, in fine shape, a bit more if you can discover exactly how rare it is.
Dear Michael:
On your pages I've seen a drawing of Lucy with horns ... what is that from? —Jimlor13
Jimlor: Good Question. The piece of picture in the logo above is actually part of a cover caricature of Lucy, Vivian Vance, and their TV kids from "The Lucy Show," taken from (I assume) a local TV Guide of the time (early to mid-1960s). I found it on eBay some time ago. Other than the name of the magazine, which apparently is "Showtime," I have no idea which region of the country this TV newspaper supplement comes from. See the full photo at right. As you can see, it also has Lucy with a halo, giving it a "Devil or angel?" slant. Considering all the scrapes she and Viv got into on the show, that's very appropriate!
Dear Michael:
Hello. I have a Lucy lunch box. On one side, she is in the grape vat, on the other she is taking the "medicine" Vitameatavegamin. PS. I heard Vivian Vance hated Lucy in real life. Is that true? —DemigoddessJC
Your Lucy lunch box must be a fairly newer version produced in the past 10 years. I still haven't heard or seen of any originals from the 1950s. If yours is older than 10 years, send me a pic if you can. I'd love to see it. (See also question further down.)
The Vivian Vance question is a complicated one. Desi Arnaz and producer/head writer Jess Oppenheimer hired Vance for the Ethel Mertz role before she and Lucy had met. Lucy was wary of working with anyone new, especially someone she'd never even heard of. This there may have been a bit of friction between the two at the start. Once Lucy realized that Vance's stage and musical comedy experience made her an invaluable professional and comedy partner, she loosened up. The two were said to have enjoyed the many hours they spent together on the set, and would spend lots of extra time rehearsing routines to make sure they got them right.
How often they socialized is a moot point, since they spent almost every waking working hour together. Though Ball could be a stern taskmaster on the set, Vance's attitude became one of, "If this show is going to be good for me, I'll learn to love the b---h!"
By the time they finished I Love Lucy in 1960 (after the 13 hour-long Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour specials from 1957-'60), Vance was eager to get back to stage and movie work, and bury the character of Ethel Mertz; she really did hate her co-star William Frawley, and the feeling was mutual. Ball had often said she never would have gone back to series television (in 1962) without Vance alongside her, and she spent a lot of energy persuading Vance to leave her happy Connecticut home every week to co-star in The Lucy Show. That only lasted for three seasons, as Vance tired of commuting from coast to coast. But there was no animosity between the two that would stop them from working together. Vance guested on Lucy's TV series through the 1970s, and appeared with Ball in a final special, "Lucy Meets the President," in 1977. By then Vance had been suffering from cancer and had had a stroke. It's been reported that Ball was unnecessarily cruel to Vance during the rehearsals for that show. But it's also been reported that Vance was one of the few people who could talk back to Lucy and get away with it. Perhaps Lucy, aware of Vance's deteriorating health, didn't want to make her think she was taking it easy on her.
Through the years, Lucy continually credited her writers and co-stars for the success of I Love Lucy, especially Vance, and after Vance's death in 1979 she often cried when speaking about her and what a wonderful comedy partner she was. The two appeared in more than 300 TV episodes together, making them the medium's top comedy team. I think it's clear they loved and respected each other, but that, like any relationship involving two strong-willed people (think sisters) there were times when they just didn't agree or get along.
Dear Michael:
I have the Lucy and the Madcap Mystery book, too. Do you know how much it is worth? I can't find how much it is worth anywhere. Thanks a lot! —Darren "Lucy Lover" Flowers
The easy answer is, there's no easy answer. The marketplace determines collectible values, and how many people are really interested in a specific item. The other major determinant in price is availability, and frankly, the book, though out of print, seems to be fairly available. In my case, I found the book on eBay and won the auction for less than $10. You might have paid more or less for it. If you want to get an idea of what the book is selling for in the market, I suggest searching for it on eBay for a few weeks or longer, and keep track of the auctions' final prices. Then do an average. That's your best bet. (See also item five questions down.)
Dear Lucy Collector:
Do you own any of Lucy's private items, like something from one of her houses or a costume from one of her films? Can you still get items like these, and, if so, how do you find them? —Barbara Gordon, Gotham, Conn.
Dear Babs:
I do indeed own something that was once in Lucy's Manhattan apartment (which she bought later in life so she could visit her grandchildren by Lucie Arnaz and Laurence Luckinbill). A year or so after her death, I found an auction notice in the Sunday New York Times from a small auction house in Manhattan advertising items from the Lucille Ball estate. I went there the following weekend (it happened to be just down the street from where I live) and joined about 100-125 other people for a relatively small (I imagine, for these things) but fascinating display of items from Lucy's apartment and other areas of her life, including costumes, photographs, pictures that hung in her house(s), and all sorts of mundane things, all connected by the fact that Lucy had once owned them.
The items that I could afford (frlm the estimated prices on the auction schedule) were smaller artifacts; I wish I could've gotten some of the larger stuff. I bid on a few of the pictures/appliances but there was heavy interest, and the one thing I saw that no one else seemed to be too interested in was described as an "oriental-style" ice bucket. It was a heavy item, perhaps a foot-and-a-half tall, standing on four metal legs, supporting a huge bowl with a diameter of a foot or more. To be honest, the carved designs all over the outside seemed to be more Mexican or Aztec than "oriental," but whatever they were, it was a great item. [See picture at left.] The only way to tell it was actually an ice bucket was to take the lid off; it's backed with Styrofoam that effectively seals the bucket; and the inside is lined with a light blue glass-type reflective substance to hold the ice.
As I recall, the bidding ended with me winning the item for a little over $150. It was a real thrill to pay for it and take it home. It's impossible to say if there is anything left to auction off from Lucy's estate; check auction notices in New York and Los Angeles on a periodic basis (it couldn't hurt). You might also try the memorabilia/costume shops in those two cities; you never know what might be lurking in a back rack. Finally, a search for "Lucille Ball costume" or something similar on eBay or another Web auction house could very likely bring up one of more items to bid on. Good luck!
Update! During the auction held in Jamestown, N.Y. this past August during Lucille Ball's Birthday celebration, a black vinyl ice bucket that Lucy gave as a Christmas gift went for $600. I think I got a bargain!
Dear Michael:
I was given a set of ashtrays that I saw on the hour-long Lucy and Ricky show. I believe the show was on after I Love Lucy, or at least toward the end of their marriage. Anyway, these ashtrays were in the lobby of the hotel the Ricardo's were visiting. That is all I remember. They are large, oval shaped, plastic bowls, that sit on black metal legs. Very fifties. The show may have been the one that Fred MacMurray was on, but I really don't remember. Would they be worth anything? If so, what would that be? —Gail Roberts
Gail:
The obvious answer is, they are worth something to anyone who might want to own a prop from an original Lucille Ball show. They?ll be worth more if you have a Certificate of Authenticity or at least a sales trail that proves they actually were used on that Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957-'60) with Fred MacMurray (the gang was out in the desert hunting uranium in that one). And they'd be worth even more if Lucy actually used them/played with them/destroyed them in the episode. They could be worth anything from $5 - $100 or more; it all depends on the fans. To find out their true worth, you could have them appraised at an auction house that deals with Hollywood props and celebrity estate pieces, or put them up for sale on eBay (with a reserve price, so they won't sell unless your asking price is reached) and see what the response is. Good luck!
Dear Michael:
Do you know if there are any plans to make a major motion picture, or a TV movie about the life of Lucille Ball. I know a TV movie was made years ago but had no major stars appear in it! I was wondering if you had heard anything? I heard something a few years ago about a possible major motion picture project. —Cole
Cole:
Though this is not strictly in the "collectibles" category, I had a few other questions about this recently so I figured I'd answer it here. Cole, the short answer is no. There are many reasons for this, but I believe the top two are:
1. Lucie Arnaz and Desi, Jr. own all the rights to their parents' images, and it would be hard to get such a project done without their permission. Further, considering what's happened on the several occasions the subject has been filmed (TV movies like Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter and Lucy),I doubt it. Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter was such a negative experience that Lucie Arnaz went public with her distaste for the TV film and subsequently produced her own Emmy-winning version of her parent's love story, the documentary Lucy & Desi: A Home Movie, that was a big success. In fact, when Biography (the A&E show) ran a two-hour segment on Lucy some years ago, it was ultimately pulled (I'd bet thanks to the family's efforts), and these days whenever Biography runs a Lucy special, it's Lucie'sA Home Movie. (I'd give anything to get hold of the original Biography show!) I'm sure both Lucie and Desi, Jr. would be quite happy if a real movie of Lucy and Desi's lives were never made.
2. Who would play Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz? Who could do them justice? No one. The story would span 20 or more years, so there would be aging involved, always a difficult trick for a bio to do well. Every once and a while a rumor surfaces from Hollywood that Tea Leoni or Julia Roberts is interested in filming the story of Lucille Ball. Julia, it was said, even wanted her one-time Latin beau Benjamin Bratt to play Desi. Ms. Roberts has become a capable actress, but nothing in her repertoire suggests she'd be capable of Lucy's legendary slapstick/comic talents. Of all the younger comediennes around right now, I believe Debra Messing (Will & Grace) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Seinfeld, The New Adventures of Old Christine) are the closest to getting anywhere near Lucy's style of comedy, but even they would have to face the challenge of portraying a legend and recreating her comedy. That's well-nigh impossible.
My advice would be to enjoy the Lucy collections now on DVD, including her entire seriesI Love Lucy and many of her movies, look for the occasional TV special on her life and work, and be thankful no one is approaching a movie project. They'd never be able to get it right.
Dear Lucy Collector:
What's one of your favorite Lucy-related books? —Jude Holly, Palo Alto, Calif.
Hey, Jude (sorry, couldn't resist):I'm interested in all books about Lucille Ball, I Love Lucy, her co-stars, their lives, classic television, and so on. But one of my favorite Lucy books might surprise you. It's a small hard-cover book produced by Whitman in 1963, called Lucy and the Madcap Mystery (the Authorized TV Adventure!). I got it on eBay a couple of years ago and fell in love with it. The story takes Lucy Carmichael and Vivian Bagley and their children (the characters from The Lucy Show, of course) on a camping trip, during which all sorts of events occur, including the gang getting mixed up with the military and the FBI. The cover is shown. This book is occasionally offered for auction on eBay, so I suggest going there and searching for it. One of my favorite passages:
"You make such a fuss about things, Viv," Lucy said. "And you ought to be glad of a chance for Harry to admire you in a bathing suit. You look very nice." This was true. Viv did look nice. She was blonde and had a good figure. So did red-haired Lucy. They were both very youthful in appearance and spirit, too." P.S. Never underestimate the "camp" value of a book like this, either!
Dear Lucy Collector:
What is that black and white drawing of Lucy I've seen on your site? It's cartoony-looking, and she's wearing a beret. What is that from? I have lots of Lucy stuff, but I've never seen that. --Krystal Cardman, Denver.
Good eye! That is a caricature of Lucy and Vivian Vance that CBS released early on to promote The Lucy Show. The picture comes with the following text attached: "Lucy Da Vinci - Inspired by the recent arrival of the Mona Lisa in this country, Lucille Ball paints a portrait of her sidekick Vivian Vance, who appears with her on 'The Lucy Show' Mondays (8:30-9:00 p.m., EST) on the CBS Television Network." This is another eBay find It's dated 2/1/63. I used to have it up her eonthe site, but it's now ont he printed page, in the new 4th edition of Lucy A to Z: The Lucille Ball Encyclopedia, which you can pick on online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and many other web sites.
Dear Lucy Collector:
Was there ever a Lucy lunchbox? —Michael G., New York
As far as I can determine, there were no Lucy lunchboxes for any of her original series. At least, I couldn't find any, or even mentions of any, and that includes the book For the Love of Lucy: A Complete Guide for Collectors and Fans. That doesn't mean they didn't exist, only that they haven't been found. On the other hand, there are plenty of new (i.e., produce din the past decade or so) Lucy lunchboxes to choose from, like the one pictured. I've seen them selling anywhere from $6-$10 or more.
Dear Lucy Collector:
I've noticed on eBay that there are I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show comic books for auction. Were those comics all-new stories, or were they adaptations of episodes or the show? And when were they produced: while the shows were on TV, or later? I've seen the covers, but would you put up some pictures from the insides of some? —David M. in Kansas City, Mo.
David:I'm a big fan of the Lucy comic books. According to the Overstreet Comic Price Guide, the industry bible, the I Love Lucy series of comics was published by Dell from February 1954 through April/June 1962. As any Lucy lover knows, that means you could still buy an I Love Lucy comic a full five years after the original half-hour series was ended (the 1956-'57 TV season). I'm willing to bet some of the stories were based on themes or episodes from the show, but most appear to be originals. In the early 1990s, Eternity Comics republished six of them, but I'm not sure if they reprinted entire issues or took stories from all over. Eternity also collected some of the I Love Lucy comics in a paperback book. The Lucy Show comics from Gold Key had a much shorter run, one year, June 1963 to June 1964, during the show's second season. Only five issues were published. You can find issues from both series on eBay (make sure you add the word "comic" to your search) and more rarely at flea markets. Here's a panel featuring Lucy and Ethel from I Love Lucy #34, Jan.-March 1962. See also the next question.
Dear Lucy Collector:
For several years I've been collecting orginal art from comic books, like "Superman" and "Spiderman." I know there were some Lucy comics over the years [yes, indeed; see above question], but I've never been able to find any original art from those books. I read on one of your pages that you collect original art. Do you have any pages from any of the Lucy comics? If so, would you scan a couple and put them on your site? Thanks! --Howard K., Hackensack, N.J.
Well, Howard: You're in luck. I do collect comic art (mostly Superman/Lois lane) but lately I've been getting into the comic page art based on TV shows from the sixties — there were comics for just about every prime-time TV show from the fifties through the mid-to-late sixties — especially, of course, anything Lucy. The problem is, these Lucy pages are very rare; I've only seen two listed in the 12 years I've been searching on eBay, and I was lucky enough to nab both of them (for slightly more than $100 each). The panel you see here is on a page from The Lucy Show comic series published by Gold Key, #2, Sept. 1963. The story was called "Dads for a Day," and involved Lucy and Vivian taking their kids on a camping trip. I also managed to find a third page at a comic convention in New York a few years ago. I suggest keeping regular tabs on eBay's "general" comic listings. Also, there are many comic art/comic book dealers on the Internet. Try your own Web searches, too, for "original comic art." Note: most comic art dealers specialize in superhero comic art.
Dear Sitcomboy:
Didn't Nick-at-Nite make some cool Lucy collectibles a few years ago? I seem to remember some commercials, but I don't remember the specific items. Am I dreaming? If they do exist, do you have any pictures of them? Tell me more! —Betty Chang, Queens, N.Y.
You are not dreaming. When Nick-at-Nite first began running the I Love Lucy episodes some years ago, the network produced a series of promotional materials to publicize the show. These included Lucy statues and wristwatches, among other items. I've seen them occasionally pop up on eBay, though I have no pictures or items myself. (One summer several years ago, at an auction sponsored by the Lucy-Desi Center in Jamestown, N.Y., during Lucille Ball's Birthday celebration weekend, a Nick-at-Nite promo poster of Lucy as the Statue of Liberty, with the World Trade Center in the background, sold for $350.) Anyone who does can send a picture to me by clicking the e-mail address at the top of the page and attaching it to an e-mail. Nick-at-Nite keeps a pretty cool I Love Lucy page on its site, but I don't know how long it will be up. As of this writing (May 2008), the series is supposed to be moving over exlcusively to the Hallmark Channel.
Happy Hunting! That's all for now.