Retro Card Pack: I Love Lucy

I've mentioned before that I grew up a giant I Love Lucy fan, thanks to my Dad and Nick-At-Nite.  In fact, I'd consider it safely in my top 3 favorite shows of all time.  I was excited to get this old wax pack in the mail from Edward Bay and soak in it's Lucy glorious-ness.  Boy, was I not disappointed!  I was surprised, though, that this pack of cards was made in 1991 and not earlier.   Could this be because about the same time I, and many other children, were finding Lucy and the gang on Nick-at-Nite for the first time?  Probably!

I love these cards for many reasons.  One of them is the depiction on the wrapper and back of the cards of the 4 in Season 4, Episode 12 "California, Here We Come."  The California road trip and Hollywood episodes are my absolute favorites, and seeing this artwork reminds me of them setting out on their grand adventure.

I think $10.95 for a complete set would be a steal, even if that's probably $25 in today's money.  

Ironic that this is the first card out of the pack since it's a shot from the final episode of I Love Lucy.  This iconic series came to an end after 6 seasons without a proper finale episode but was promptly followed with a 13 episode "season" of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.  This show continued the stories of The Ricardos and Mertzes in hour-long, celebrity-filled, often "travel themed" episodes; but it too did not have a proper final send-off when Lucy and Desi finally called it quits.

A great shot of the dynamic duo.  I hate to think, based on the age of Desi here in the photo, that they were long divorced at this point.

Robert Jellison (pictured above) was a personal friend of Lucille Ball and was given many guest spots.  He appeared here in "The Gossip" but also appeared several times during my favorite Hollywood episodes as Bobby the Bell Boy at the Beverly Palms Hotel.  The card back below even points out his California appearances.

"The Great Train Robbery" concludes the California trip for our favorite gang and is my Dad's favorite episode.  One night during the 90s, while watching this episode on Nick-At-Nite, he was laughing so loud my Grandma next door could hear him!

Another of the California episodes, this episode, put it in my head that Palm Springs was a vacation getaway for the Hollywood elite.  Right or wrong, that's still how I view it.  We plan to go to L.A. one day, and tour all of the Lucy era's Hollywood hot-spots, and a trip to Palm Springs is on the list.