Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz Signed Photo Display I Love Lucy – COA JSA

The rarity of these autographs lies in the fact that they are late 1950s era signatures on photographs of the iconic dynamic duo. 

I Love Lucy is a show that starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian Vance and William Frawley. The series followed the life of Lucy Ricardo (Ball), a young, middle-class housewife living in New York City, who often concocted plans with her best friends and landlords, Ethel and Fred Mertz (Vance and Frawley), to appear alongside her bandleader husband, Ricky Ricardo (Arnaz), in his nightclub. Lucy is depicted trying numerous schemes to mingle with and be a part of show business.

Presented are autographed photos of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz within a custom display (17.5″ x 24.5″). Both stars of the hit show “I Love Lucy” and married partners signed their respective photo in black felt tip (“9”) clipped delicately from the 1959 book, “Pictorial History of Television.” The photo (8.25″ x 11.25″ in matte) Ball signed is of her and Desi as she signed, “Love.” Desi’s photo (4.25″ x 8.5″ in matte) is from their variety show and features several of the other stars of the era like Harpo Marx and William Frawley.

The autographs were part of a larger compilation within the book. Note, there were two books in this collection from which these autographs were obtained. Wildly obsessive by a Hollywood insider no doubt it featured the duteous task of 400 signatures of television actors and actresses, nearly all signed by their respective images, with a few adding brief inscriptions in the books. Now, the signatures have been wonderfully conserved from the books and preserved singly for appreciation.

Television’s intention was to revolutionize America’s desire for more entertainment. Previously for enjoyment, Americans were flocking to the theater or stationed next to their radio for their daily broadcasts. Before the end of 1931, as the industry gained a full-steam-ahead approach, CBS President William Paley announced they were, “on the air seven hours daily, seven days a week.”

In 1959, Daniel Blum caught up with the history of the television industry by providing a first look at the medium in the form of a photography book. Titled, “Pictorial History of Television” the publication peeked into the earliest conception in the 1930s toward it’s humble beginnings in the late 1940s into the late 1950s. The hardcover is a heavily photo-illustrated survey of the major programs and personalities of that time period (1930s-50s). Notably, the era of television like the silent film is rapidly vanishing from first-hand accounts and memories as generations get older. So, there is the importance behind this work.

Blum continued his cavalcade of media books later in his career with “A Pictorial History of the Talkies”, “The Silent Screen”, “The American Theatre” and “Television” and of course volumes and volumes of the “Theatre World” and “Screen World” Annuals.

Overall, the autographed photo presents as a reward for the tremendous complication of both television history and the latter arduous task of signature collecting.

Authentication: JSA Basic Cert & Sticker & JSA Full Letter

All displays are sold as is without warranty to the condition of the frame. This item is oversized and will incur a shipping surcharge.

Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz Signed Photo Display I Love Lucy