Even Lucy Can Drive It!

An excerpt from "New Again: The Hideaway Hardtop" from The New York Times:

Built on the Fairlane chassis, with a 118-inch wheelbase, the Skyliner looked conventional in a 1950s domestic-car way. The only giveaway that the car was not ordinary was the rear deck. The space required to stow the top gave the Skyliner the proportions of a pickup truck.

Ford persuaded Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz to pitch the car on television. With the requisite amount of sexism for the period, Desi warned Lucy when she asked to try out the top, “An automobile is complicated machinery; women just don’t understand.”

Not true, the announcer says, explaining the process is so simple anyone can do it.

On This Day In 1940...

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were married.

The Ricardos Are One of TV's Best Couples

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has named Ricky and Lucy Ricardo one of TV's best couples.

Real-life spouses Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz set a typical-for-its-time marriage (he worked, she was a housewife) against an atypical showbiz backdrop and were No. 1 for four years. Even her funniest schemes to get out of the house never felt demeaning to either spouse — maybe because the couple worked together off-screen as well, creating a powerful TV production empire. (See also: "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" CBS, 1950-58, and "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet," starring Ozzie and Harriet Nelson on CBS, 1952-66).

Other couples on the unnumbered list include Darrin and Samantha Stephens, Cliff and Clair Huxtable, Homer and Marge Simpson and Jim and Margaret Anderson.

Lucy & Desi Scrapbook Inspires Pop-up Pirates Book

From Philly.com :

Swashbuckling Pat Croce could have just written a book about the golden age of pirates.

Instead, his new Pirate Soul (Running Press) is what he calls a 'mini-museum' - including a fold-out treasure map, replicas of trading cards stashed in little pockets, a replica Jolly Roger flag suitable for hanging. It's like a Pop-up Book for adults.

'I wanted something cool that I could sell at Pirate Soul,' says Croce, of the pirate museum he opened early last year in Key West, Fla. The book was modeled on a book about I Love Lucy's Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, which included copies of love letter, birth certificates and scripts.

He says he took a cut in the standard author royalty by insisting that Running keep the cover price under $30.

How un-piratelike.