The McFaddin-Ward House

A Historic Home in Beaumont, Texas

Sister, don't give up the land. They are not making land anymore.
W.P.H. McFaddin

“Stuff” – Past Visitor Center Exhibit

The McFaddin-Ward House was built in 1905-1906 in a Beaux-Arts Colonial style. Its furnishings and décor reflected the lifestyle of the family that lived there for seventy-five years. The family collected objects and chose to live with things they liked. This reflected their tastes and the changing trends of the times. Some objects they chose were more classical and others more humorous or trendy.  In this exhibition case we feature some of each of these types.

Fan, dyed and woven raffia grass on metal frame, date unknown.

Fan, dyed and woven raffia grass on metal frame, date unknown

 

 

Dog (Spaniel), glazed earthenware figurine, Staffordshire, England, ca. 1920

Dog (Spaniel), glazed earthenware figurine, Staffordshire, England, ca. 1920

 

Bronze, Chinese style Cloisonné vase with Tao-tieh mask design, ca. 1900

Bronze, Chinese style Cloisonné vase with Tao-tieh mask design, ca. 1900

 

Bob’s Santas

By Michelle Cate

Read the full December issue of Viewpoints.

A charming vintage collection of Santas will be on display at the Visitor Center this winter season. They are on loan from our very own Docent, Glenda Warren.  They are a curated selection from a larger collection her husband, Robert “Bob” Warren gathered over many years.  Bob was Vice-President at the “Old” Baptist Hospital on College in Beaumont from 1959-1986. He began playing Santa often in the 1960s to cheer children of Beaumont and he continued to do so until the early 1970s. It was during those years that Bob’s collection of Santas really started growing. People that knew he had a penchant for portraying the Jolly Old Saint Nick began giving him Santas. Bob always made time to show up as Santa for events at clubs, organizations, and churches for over a decade until he passed his red coat on to another.  He was still being given Santas through the year 2000!

We will have a wide variety of Bob’s Santas on display ranging from milkglass to mechanical wind-up toy, from quilted to Coca-Cola. We hope you will come by and enjoy them sometime in December.

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