I find it interesting reading articles and such about Lucille Ball from the years prior to I Love Lucy. The impact of I Love Lucy was such that people often forget about her long career before that show came along. The superstardom I Love Lucy brought her tends to overshadow that fact that she had already achieved fame and stardom years earlier. While we associate her name today with television and her long-running Lucy character, people in the Forties thought of her for other reasons. Here's a small sampling of some of the press she got during those years:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7ncbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_kwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3891,916242&dq=lucille+ball&hl=en

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XK4qAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lmQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4439,1736938&dq=lucille+ball&hl=en

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kzUbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=iUwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4042,3619496&dq=lucille+ball&hl=en

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6lMtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=dtgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6306,2371854&dq=lucille+ball&hl=en

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WfUZAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sCMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3738,7459255&dq=lucille+ball+joan+crawford&hl=en

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mr4cAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-0wEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3907,971634&dq=lucille+ball&hl=en

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=5Y4tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tp0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3582,5531167&dq=lucille+ball&hl=en