October 22, 2016
America Loves Lucy
Winner of the Fall 2016 StMU History Media Awards for
Best Explanatory Article
Most Captivating/Engaging Article
Best Use of Multiple Images
Best Introductory Paragraph
Best Overall Research
“Lucy, you got some splainin’ to do!” These words were heard by families across America repeatedly in the 1950s. Uttered in a thick Latin accent by none other than Ricky Ricardo, the bongo playing, bandleader, Cuban husband of the flighty, redheaded, Lucy Ricardo on the 1950s television situation comedy, I Love Lucy. This popular television comedy entered the homes of people across America in the years 1951 to 1957. In the six-year span that the show was on the air, it never ranked lower than third nationally among television programs.1 So the question arises: what was it about this show that was so popular among the families in America? The answer to that is simple. I Love Lucy told the tale of a common housewife who dreamed of more than cooking and cleaning; she wanted to be a star. Housewives throughout America related to the character of Lucy Ricardo who longed for more in life, in the period of American history that has been called The Affluent Society.
Lucille Ball was born in Celoron, New York in 1911 to a family who believed that hard work was needed to achieve success. She found work in movies and on the radio, and had a recurring role on the hit CBS radio show, My Favorite Husband.2 Desi Arnaz was born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba in 1917 to a wealthy family. His father was a politician and landowner and his mother was an heiress. The Revolution of 1932 in Cuba hit the Arnaz family hard, and they were ultimately forced to move to Miami, Florida.3 Arnaz met Ball in 1940. The two immediately connected with one another, and after a five-month whirlwind romance, the couple was married.
However, the marriage was rocky from the start, and it did not help that Ball was forced to stay home due to her acting and radio career, while Arnaz toured with his band. When the director of My Favorite Husband offered Ball the opportunity to take the show to the new medium of television, she jumped at the chance on the one condition that Arnaz be cast for the role of her on-screen husband. Ball was looking for a way to save her marriage, and she believed that working with Arnaz and having him close to home was the way to do it. CBS was hesitant to agree to her request, but they wanted Ball so they decided to film a pilot for the show.4 With her hardworking, no-nonsense family background, Ball was determined to make the show a success. Arnaz and Ball became Lucy and Ricky Ricardo on the immediate hit television show that would run for the next six years.
Family life in the 1950s focused mostly on men working while women stayed home, kept the house, and raised children. Pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock published Baby and Child Care, a book that highlighted an approach to raising children that was child-centered as opposed to parent-centered. Dr. Spock viewed the role of the mother as belonging at the center of the household while the husband was the breadwinner and had very little to no interaction in raising children.5 This view began to generate dissatisfaction among women who longed for a more fulfilling life.
I Love Lucy focused on the life of Lucy Ricardo, a ditzy housewife with dreams of fame and fortune, and her Cuban, bandleader husband Ricky. Lucy was far from the typical housewife; she was not satisfied with simply staying home and keeping house while her husband worked or went out with friends. She had quite the imagination and came up with schemes to break into show business, which usually caused tension between her and Ricky. Lucy brought the desires for something more that were locked away in the hearts of housewives across America, and she brought those desires out into the public eye. While she did play her role in an extremely comedic way, she somehow always returned to the dutiful housewife of the 1950s.6
Producers were not sure what the audience would make of Arnaz. He was a television first in many ways; he was the first Hispanic actor welcomed into the homes of the American people on a regular basis. It was the first time many had ever heard a Latino accent, and Arnaz did not fit the typical Hispanic stereotype that most Americans held at that time. Arnaz was handsome, smart, dignified, warm, responsible, employed, loyal, and married. The producers were also concerned about the audience viewing the Ricardo’s marriage as interracial, and this was not something that had ever before been aired openly in movies or on television. Despite these obstacles, Arnaz was treated as an equal white American, and accepted graciously throughout the nation.7
During its six-year reign, I Love Lucy ranked in the top three spots nationally among television programs. Exceptional talent in acting, comedic timing, writing, directing, editing and above all, being relatable, made I Love Lucy an instantaneous success.8 Lucille Ball accepted her role as the zany housewife, Lucy Ricardo, and ran with it. She was not afraid to put herself out there, work hard, and make her dreams come true. Housewives across America finally had a female television star that they were able to relate to; someone who knew there was more to life than cooking and cleaning. With this in mind, maybe, just maybe, they too could stand up and do something more.
- Salem Press Encyclopedia, January 2016, s.v. “I Love Lucy (TV),” by Mary Hurd. ↵
- Salem Press Encyclopedia, January 2016, s.v. “Lucille Ball,” by Richard Adler. ↵
- American National Biography (From Oxford University Press), 2010, s.v. “Desi Arnaz,” by Tinky “Dakota” Weisblat. ↵
- Gigi Anders, “’Luuu-cy!’,” Hispanic 14, no. 11 (November 2001): 44-46. ↵
- Alan Brinkley, American History: Connecting the Past Volume 2, 15 edition (New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2014), 764. ↵
- Salem Press Encyclopedia, January 2016, s.v. “I Love Lucy (TV),” by Mary Hurd. ↵
- Gigi Anders. “’Luuu-cy!’,” Hispanic 14, no. 11 (November 2001): 43. ↵
- Salem Press Encyclopedia, January 2016, s.v. “I Love Lucy (TV),” by Mary Hurd. ↵
Tags from the story
American Housewife
comedy
Female Expectations
I Love Lucy
Lucille Ball
Lucy Ricardo
Television
Recent Comments
Ana Gonzalez
This an amazing, well-written article! Great Job! I had never heard about Lucy before but she sounds like such a role-model. I love that Lucy conveyed that women should strive to be independent and have ambition. It’s great that American women of this time period were shown that there is more to life than living in the shadows of men. I also love that Lucy’s husband, who was Hispanic was loved by the American people because it just demonstrates the way the US was becoming tolerant and accepting.
02/02/2017
8:01 am
Marissa Gonzalez
I really loved how this article incorporated both the topic of women as housewives and interracial marriage. I have never watched this show, nor have I ever heard what it was about. This article surprised me and I learned the general idea of Lucy and her character along with her husband. What stood out to me besides Lucy wanting to become more than just a housewife was that her husband was not a stereotypical Latin man. This also teaches me how society saw the stereotypical Latin American at this time. I feel like this show was a great representation that goes against the “norm” in America. This was very well written and engaging.
02/02/2017
8:01 am
Nahim Rancharan
This article was a very interesting read! It showed how a TV show, that still proves to be an American favorite, managed to change the typical gender stereotypes of the 1950’s. It is interesting to see how both on the screen and off the screen, the characters, and the actors who play them, have very interesting and revolutionary life stories and ambitions. Lucy, with her dedication to hard work and Desi (Ricky), an immigrant blurring ethnic stereotypes; both managing to attain their goals while managing to change the views of certain aspects of American Society. For this reason, it is clear how I Love Lucy has managed to become an iconic series. It dared to try something different and new, which proved successful given the impact that it left in the hearts and minds of millions of viewers across America and the world. Good Job!
03/02/2017
8:01 am
Briana Bustamante
Celina, this is AMAZING!! Before reading this article, I did not know much about “I LOVE LUCY”. I knew that this show was funny, because I saw a short video when she was working in a candy factory. I never would have known that her husband in the TV show was her husband in real life. I think it is quite remarkable for her to want to save her marriage in the way she did. I feel that she not only was able to save her marriage, but she was able to give women hope during. Hope that they too, can do something more than be a housewife.
03/02/2017
8:01 am
Mario De Leon
Great article! You did a great job describing the way that Lucy was portrayed as a strong and creative women who wanted to be independent and become something other than a wife. She certainly influenced American women to want more in life. It’s also great to read about the ways that the media can have a positive influence on the public. This article also demonstrates the way that American culture can be shaped by what is seen on tv.
03/02/2017
8:01 am
Faisal Alqarni
“I love Lucy” is a very interesting example of a pop culture Icon from the 1950’s and you presented beautifully with your explanations gripping my attention from the start to finish. The success of I love Lucy it is showing how this much needed mirror of American society at the time helped families and especially house wives across America know that they were not forgotten and that they did play a crucial role in American society, I will surely look for this show online and send it to my mom I believe such a revolution is needed in places like my home country where women are still largely seen to belong to the Kitchen and as caretakers. I do hope whatever topic I do decide to write on that I do so as well as you did.
07/02/2017
8:01 am
Alyssa Vela
This was a great article! From the beginning, you did great in catching my attention, and keeping it throughout the whole article. I loved that you were able to focus on the way Lucy was seen through her audience, especially noting how influential she was considering the time. I loved this article, it was perfect in noting how much influence media had on people, and continues to have on people. Great read! I look forward to reading more of your work!
14/03/2017
8:01 am
Aimee Trevino
Really interesting article! The fact that they accepted a character who wanted to be more than just a typical housewife is very interesting. Even more interesting, is the fact that the show was a hit despite having a Cuban as a leading actor, which as you wrote, could have been interpreted as an interracial marriage, which had never been seen on air at the time. Overall, I think it is the comedic side that made it so popular. Great read.
23/03/2017
8:01 am
Sam Vandenbrink
“I love lucy” sounds like a very interesting Tv show, Ill have to spend some time checking it out! Lucille Ball sounds like a very interesting actor, and that she was raised that hard work pays off, and it defiantly did for her. The fact that her parents taught there children that hard work pays off was very good for her and she saw this from the beginning. She started young with the radio show “My Favorite Husband” she was a gifted actress from the get-go it seems like. Great article! very enjoyable read!
11/04/2017
8:01 am
Anayeli Prieto
I really like this article because the 50’s was one of my favorite time periods that I learned about in high school. the women stayed in their homes as housewives and they took care of the children while the men went to work. the women were wanting to be equal to the men and they wanted to be more than housewives and they decided to attend college and be educated young women and more of what was expected of them.
01/02/2017
8:01 am