Thanks to the fame and global appeal of one beloved silver-screen star, Jamestown, New York, has been having a ball for years.
The hometown of legendary redhead Lucille Ball, Jamestown is also home to the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center, comprising two unique facilities and a gift shop that pay homage to the lives and laughs of the “I Love Lucy” stars. The show may have broadcast only 179 episodes, but the center faithfully preserves its legacy with the Desilu Playhouse, named for the studio where the show was filmed. In addition to displays of memorabilia, costumes worn on the show and a screening room that shows clips from the series, visitors can step right into re-creations of the Ricardos’ apartment; the Hollywood hotel suite where Lucy mimicked Harpo Marx on the show; and even an interactive set from the memorable episode in which Lucy was hired to work in a Vitameatavegamin commercial.
There are costumes, photos and awards in the Lucy-Desi Museum, which focuses on the personal lives and professional accomplishments of Ball and Arnaz, who married in 1940 and divorced in 1960. With just the push of a button, visitors can hear audio clips of everything from Arnaz’s autobiography and Latin tunes, to fond recollections from Ball’s childhood friends in Jamestown. The museum’s collection is so vast that the center is actually moving it to larger quarters this summer — meaning more space for such items as Ball’s 1972 gold Mercedes-Benz.
The Lucy-Desi Days festival, May 23–25, and Lucille Ball’s Birthday Celebration, August 1–3, mean summer is an especially rich time for fans to visit the center. But even without attending those events, there’s no missing Jamestown’s devotion to their native daughter: Even the local Taco Hut sells Lucy-Desi-themed treats.