MovieChat Forums > The Beverly Hillbillies (1962) Discussion > The Dahlia Feud

The Dahlia Feud

posted 9 years ago by joannabaroncelli
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In the Dahlia Feud where Mrs. Drysdale hires a gardner to help her plant dahlias for a contest when Mr. Drysdale finds out his name 'Mr. Ted" he asks, "What's he going to do, hit me with his purse?" For years I didn't get the point of that comment but I wonder if because of his professional name he used that Mr. Drysdale assumed Mr. Ted was gay. Obviously that would be offensive and never broadcast later on but I guess in the 1960's it wasn't considered offensive, just a funny line.

[–] msgreen-53599 9 years ago

Not sure how old you are but at that time (1960's) we were still free to speak without offending every being within the sound of your voice. Yes, Mr. Drysdale was joking that a man who grew flowers was gay. As I said, back then you could make a quick joke, move on and it was forgotten about. Nobody went around being offended or outraged at every word uttered by someone else. It was a different world.