# A curious line from the play "Harvey" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2024, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-line-from-the-play-harvey/997620 "2024-02-15T20:38:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-line-from-the-play-harvey/997620/1 "2024-02-15T20:38:54Z")
The Lil’wrekker is in a Harvey production (she’s the young nurse) The Doctor says, in reference to Elwood, at one point _"Outdated as a cast iron deer_. Does anyone know what this means? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-line-from-the-play-harvey/997620/2 "2024-02-15T20:45:23Z")
…_outdated_ as one, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-line-from-the-play-harvey/997620/3 "2024-02-15T20:46:13Z")
Yes. I’ll edit it. Thx. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-line-from-the-play-harvey/997620/4 "2024-02-15T21:02:36Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > _"Outdated as a cast iron deer_. I don’t believe that it has some great hidden meaning. A cast iron garden ornament might have been fashionable in an earlier time, but at the time of the play, it would have been seen as old fashioned. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-line-from-the-play-harvey/997620/5 "2024-02-15T21:04:47Z")
Cast iron deer were apparently a popular lawn sculpture for a few decades after the Civil War. Also known as “Fisk Deer” after the J. W. Fiske Iron Works in New York. > **[Antique Cast Iron Figural Life Size Buck Deer - Lawn & Garden Decor -...](https://www.bargainjohn.com/product/antique-cast-iron-figural-life-size-buck-deer/)** > > All original cast-iron life size figural male deer on a rectangular hollow iron base. Old paint with appropriate patina for this American made figural lawn statute which dates to the 1860-1880 time period. Measures 62″ high to the top of the antler,... An updated simile might be “As outdated as a pink flamingo” or “lawn jockey”. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-line-from-the-play-harvey/997620/6 "2024-02-15T21:13:21Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > A cast iron garden ornament might have been fashionable in an earlier time, but at the time of the play, it would have been seen as old fashioned. Not to mention that the play is from 1944. > **[Scrap for Victory! | Now See Hear!](https://blogs.loc.gov/now-see-hear/2015/01/scrap-for-victory/)** > > This blog post was co-written with Jan McKee, Reference Librarian, Recorded Sound Section, Library of Congress. During World War II scrap drives were a popular way for everyone to contribute to the war effort. By recycling unused or unwanted metal... Here’s Walt Disney getting his deer, including Bambi, ready for salvage: [![](https://pics.imcdb.org/2517/waltdonatesbambi1808.jpg) ](https://pics.imcdb.org/2517/waltdonatesbambi1808.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-line-from-the-play-harvey/997620/7 "2024-02-15T21:44:32Z")
There’s an episode of the radio show “The Great Gildersleeve” (from just after Pearl Harbor) where they’re trying to sell an old iron deer to raise money for Christmas presents. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/OvIlk0bztyY/hqdefault.jpg "The Great Gildersleeve - Selling the Iron Deer") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvIlk0bztyY) ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-line-from-the-play-harvey/997620/8 "2024-02-15T21:54:46Z")
In Elizabeth Enright’s classic children’s book _Then There Were Five_, a family live in a house with two such decorative deer. (The house is probably late nineteenth century.) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-line-from-the-play-harvey/997620/9 "2024-02-15T22:23:34Z")
Tell me if I’m way off base. We think the Doctor was saying Elwood was odd and old fashioned. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2024, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-line-from-the-play-harvey/997620/10 "2024-02-15T23:28:27Z")
Nowadays you would say, _" …out of place same as ashtrays and column shifts"_ > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > “Fisk Deer” after the J. W. Fiske Iron Works in New York. A. D. Fisk (also from New York) made Iron Coffins around the same time. Curious. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2024, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-line-from-the-play-harvey/997620/11 "2024-02-16T00:23:34Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > We think the Doctor was saying Elwood was odd and old fashioned. Bingo! @Skywatcher Excellent point about the contemporary scrap drive. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2024, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-line-from-the-play-harvey/997620/12 "2024-02-16T02:44:02Z")
History, man. Another reason why I love this place. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2024, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-line-from-the-play-harvey/997620/13 "2024-02-16T16:03:08Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Cast iron deer were apparently a popular lawn sculpture for a few decades after the Civil War. Also known as “Fisk Deer” after the J. W. Fiske Iron Works in New York. > > [Bargain John's Antiques | Antique Cast Iron Figural Life Size Buck Deer - Lawn & Garden Decor - Bargain John's Antiques](https://www.bargainjohn.com/product/antique-cast-iron-figural-life-size-buck-deer/) Life sized cast iron deer? Wonder what that would weigh? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2024, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-line-from-the-play-harvey/997620/14 "2024-02-16T16:52:03Z")
I have no eye deer. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2024, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-line-from-the-play-harvey/997620/15 "2024-02-16T17:53:20Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > An updated simile might be “As outdated as a pink flamingo” Haven’t been to Parma, Ohio have you? Pink flamingos have long been associated with the Cleveland suburb. I think they got a big boost in the 1960s from being frequently mentioned on the Ghoulardi radio show. Or maybe he started the whole thing. They are now the city’s official mascot and on display all over the place. Yeah, I know, that’s one town. But give them proper respect or you will be chased around the block by a Polish polka band brandishing kielbasa links like light sabers. OK, here here is the history of the splashy birds: [https://parmaobserver.com/read/2020/08/04/so-whats-up-with-parma-and-flamingos](https://parmaobserver.com/read/2020/08/04/so-whats-up-with-parma-and-flamingos) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2024, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-line-from-the-play-harvey/997620/16 "2024-02-17T07:13:43Z")
I see your point. 👁 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2024, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-curious-line-from-the-play-harvey/997620/17 "2024-02-20T00:20:31Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Parma [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/TwqWBzNTZqc/maxresdefault.jpg "Who Stole The Keeshka") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwqWBzNTZqc)