Exploring Lucille Ball's hometown | Retrologist Guide
One of my earliest TV memories is watching “I Love Lucy” reruns in the early evenings, weeknights at 6:30 p.m. out of Channel 5 in New York.
To this day, catching an episode with my parents is a joyful experience. The belly laughs are still there, as are the warm fuzzies from gathering around the tube (well, the flat screen) with my family, as though all those years haven’t passed.
This show was pure magic, remarkable when you consider the medium was still in its infancy on Oct. 15, 1951, when the series premiered on CBS. That day is now celebrated as I Love Lucy Day. Much has been written about how brilliant this show was, how Desi Arnaz foresaw its syndicated future by shooting with three cameras – no live broadcasts preserved on crummy kinescopes for this show.
OK, so this isn’t a TV history newsletter, but it is one that celebrates special, historic places, and Lucille Ball’s hometown of Jamestown is indeed such a place.
Jamestown is home to the Lucy Desi Museum; murals that honor the legacy of “I Love Lucy;” and two statues of the actress (the second exists because the first was so controversial — or, well, scary). Jamestown is even home to Lucille Ball’s final resting place.
Here are highlights and visitor information for those of us who love Lucy enough to visit the upstate New York City where her remarkable life began.
And if you’d like to find some interesting bits of Americana outside of Lucyiana, like ghost signs and old privilege signs, I’ve included selections for you, too.
The Lucy Desi Museum
Even if you’re not a huge fan of “I Love Lucy,” or not one at all, I can’t recommend the Lucy Desi Museum enough. Beyond having a stunning collection of artifacts, insightful curation, awesome re-created sets from the show and so much more, it’s a must for anybody interested in television history, film, TV and 1950s American culture in general, which, if you’re reading this, you most likely are.
There are so many gems to see here, I don’t know where to begin, so here are just a handful of images from my visit in August 2020.
The National Comedy Center next door is also highly praised, but we did not have time to fit it into our agenda.
The Lucy Murals
Jamestown is dotted with five murals celebrating Lucille Ball and her beloved show, mostly highlighting moments from the sitcom, with the first going up in 2000. They are the work of a father-and-son team, Gary Peters and Gary Peters Jr.
Here’s where you can find the murals:
1. California, Here We Come! This mural captures the joyous moment on the George Washington Bridge as the gang heads off to Los Angeles for a series of memorable episodes. It’s also the “World’s Largest I Love Lucy Mural” and the only one here that is in color. It was completed on Oct. 15, 2012. Map
Speed It Up! Lucy and Ethel are in over their heads at the chocolate factory, and the mural captures the moment when things are about to go from bad to worse. Map
Ricky and Lucy sure do dress up an otherwise nondescript parking garage downtown. Map
Where better to locate a mural of the 1999 Lucy-Desi stamp than a building next to Jamestown’s post office. Map
This mural is tasty, too, just like candy! Map
The Lucille Ball Little Theatre
Another must stop is the Lucille Ball Little Theatre, and the historic marker in the park next door. Map
Lucille Ball’s childhood home
Lucille Ball’s childhood home, at 59 Lucy Lane in adjacent Celoron, is now owned and lovingly restored and curated by Bill and Mary Rappaport. I did not have a chance to explore beyond taking these photos, but here are photos and more information if you’d like to visit. It seems emailing in advance is the way to go.
Cozi TV, below, has a nice tour of the property.
Nearby, at 69 Stewart Ave. is the home where Ball was born. It’s a private residence so we snapped a picture and moved along.
Lucille Ball Memorial Park
This community park on Chautauqua Lake in Celoron is home to two statues of Lucille Ball.
The first made international headlines because it looked nothing like Ball, and it was widely derided as ugly. It came to be known as Scary Lucy.
Here are exact directions to Scary Lucy.
David Poulin, the sculptor of the reviled statue, took the controversy so seriously, he left bronze sculpting behind, despite having an accomplished and lauded career outside the Lucy debacle. He died of a pulmonary embolism in 2020. He was just 59 and left behind a young child.
Such was the uproar over “Scary Lucy” that a second statue was commissioned, this one looking much more like the comedy queen.
Here are exact directions to Not Scary Lucy.
The Gravesite of Lucille Ball
Address: 907 Lakeview Ave, Jamestown, NY 14701
Phone: 716-665-3206
Map to Lucy’s grave
A path of hearts on the cemetery road leads you to Lucille Ball’s grave at Lake View Cemetery. The actually stone path leading to her final resting place is graced with a carved heart.
Her gravestone also displays the name of her younger brother, Fred Ball, a Hollywood executive who died in 2007 at age 91. Their parents and other relatives also rest in the family plot.
Nearby, should you have any refuse to dispose of, there’s a trash can emblazoned with the “I Love Lucy” logo.
Non-Lucy Americana
Of course, even though visiting Lucy’s hometown was the purpose of the trip, I was keeping an eye out for other gems. Here are some things you might find interesting, too, if you want your Lucy fix with a side of roadside Americana.
1.) Downtown ghost signs!
There are two that caught my eye and they are right near each other.
First up is a nicely preserved example of an ad for Uneeda Biscuit. I always pull over for these. Even though Nabisco discontinued production of the crackers more than a decade ago, by which time they were already a ghost brand, there is just something about these old faded remnants of the campaign to promote them that makes me want to buy a box and see just WHY I needed them. I have shot enough Uneeda signs to justify a separate Retrologist Guide, so watch out for that. In the meantime, the Uneeda sign in Jamestown can be found here!
You don’t have to travel far to shoot the second ghost sign. It’s right across from the Uneeda sign, and promotes Coca-Cola. You can’t miss it, just look behind you!
2,) Say Pepsi please!
While making our way out of town, we came across this shuttered store with a particular kind of Pepsi privilege sign that’s fairly rare, at least based on my travel adventures. It’s right down the street from Chautauqua Comics, where you can see a vintage, chained Dr. Pepper vending machine if that’s your thing!
3.) Vintage Sunoco gas signs
I love the old Sunoco logo, which has been all but exterminated from the landscape. But you’ll still find them here and there. And Jamestown is one of those here and theres! The giant sign has been removed and is stored at the edge of the property, while another, smaller one survives still attached to the building. The main motorist-facing signs have been updated to the late 1990s logo. The station is at 201 W. Fifth St.
A good chalet!
From the 1950s through the 1970s, America went chalet crazy. And thank goodness it did, because we are left with such whimsical buildings across the country.
I’m fond of the Jamestown Cycle Shop at 10 Harrison St., which goes for the gold with a ski-lift chair dangling inside the A-frame entrance! Despite the store’s name, it offers a range of outdoor equipment, including, of course, for skiing.
This was a really good issue! I had no idea that there was an entire town devoted to Lucy. The restoration of her childhood home intrigues me, especially since it doesn’t seem to operate as any kind of public museum. Nice work Rolando!
Currently visiting Jamestown, NY. Checked in to see if we missed anything. Will photograph the “California here we come” mural tomorrow before leaving town. We have only seen it from a distance. Thanks for posting!