Pandemic projects: Valleyford couple refurbish post-WWII era deer lawn ornaments

When Sid Harty’s wife, Lynn, told him she’d spotted a big buck in a neighbor’s field in Valleyford, he was ready to get his rifle.

“I was excited ’cuz I’m a hunter,” he said, grinning.

Turns out it wasn’t a live animal, but a lawn ornament. That didn’t faze him much, because he and Lynn are amateur pickers – hunting for things that interest them at estate sales, garage sales and craft fairs.

“Sid’s pickup automatically turns into yard sales,” Lynn said. “We’re vintage age, so we love vintage stuff.”

The buck was in a field that belonged to an elderly couple now deceased. Family members had been going through the property getting it ready to sell. When Sid arrived to inquire about the statue, the woman said he could have it and then asked, “Do you want the two does, as well?”

Of course, he did.

“I went through the weeds to get the does, and I found a fawn next to one of them,” he recalled.

The buck and fawn were each missing an ear, and Sid searched the field to no avail, so he loaded the deer family into his truck and headed home.

“He came back and unloaded the buck. I was so excited,” Lynn said. “Then he brought out a doe, and another doe, and the fawn!”

Delighted, she looked over the new additions, searching for the maker’s stamp, imprint or model number.

She found none.

That ignited her inquisitive nature.

“As pickers you want to know where things come from,” she explained.

But first she needed to clean the statues thoroughly.

“They’d sat outside in the weeds for years,” Lynn said. “They were covered with moss and lichen.”

The does and the fawn she scrubbed down in her bathtub. The buck got his bath outside.

“He’s pretty heavy,” Lynn said. “They’re made of some sort of plastic or possibly plaster of Paris and they’re hollow inside.”

She estimates the buck weighs about 45 pounds.

Sid did some repair work on him.

“He was pretty busted up and his leg was broken,” he said.

Once the deer were cleaned and the repairs underway, Lynn got busy on her computer, delving into lawn ornament research. Though she didn’t find the manufacturer, she did learn a bit about the era in which the deer family was likely created.

“This was a post-World War II endeavor, similar to the iconic pink flamingo,” she said. “They obviously had been fully painted when new, but years spent outside caused most of the paint to be washed away. As a result, the statues are now white.”

What makes these statues unique is the exquisite detail involved. Their hides are realistically textured, and the fawn’s spots are stamped into the material. The buck and does are adorned with Christmas wreaths and big red bows.

“I love the deer in their white coats, and decided to repaint only the wreaths, bows, eyes, noses, and hooves,” said Lynn.

Since the couple plan to display the deer outdoors during the holidays, choosing the right kind of paint proved important. She chose to use enamel model paint, and the buck still sports some lichen and moss.

“I liked the look,” she said.

Sid brought the deer family home in November, and Lynn finished the painting earlier this month. She’s still hoping to discover where and when the statues were made.

“I loved learning about this post World War II phenomenon, and to have a piece of it is really nice,” she said. “It’s been a great diversion during the pandemic and turned into quite a thought project for me as I researched how to restore them.”