The personalized travel trunk with "Mrs W.P.H. McFaddin Beaumont, Texas" painted on the side, was used to transport the personal effects of the ladies when they traveled. Socialization during the Edwardian era required a great many dresses and accessories, depending on the activity. Women packed dresses for tea, formal dinners, outdoor recreation, and lounge ware in addition to hats, gloves, and bags. Travel over long distances was best made by train. Because conditions were uncomfortable, even in private train cars rented by the family, they often stayed at their chosen destination for weeks or months at a time. The ladies' maids packed everything needed for extended stays, then supervised men on staff to move the trunk downstairs. The trunks were shipped ahead of the departure date. That way, the majority of personal effects were available upon the ladies' arrival. The McFaddin ladies took smaller bags with them on the trains, holding a change of clothes and toiletries.

The third floor bathroom served the men of the house and guests visiting this space. When the medicine cabinet and toilet tank were removed during a restoration project lasting from 2004-2006 wallpaper remnants were discovered. The same manufacturer is still in business and able to reproduce the original design. Over the course of time the bathroom was somewhat dismantled. During the restoration, original pieces found elsewhere in storage were reassembled and installed for their intended purpose.

A unique lock is on the bathroom noting if the space is occupied, an important feature for a bathroom available to guests.

A family friend, Magnus Nelson, shared in an oral history interview in 1988 that the McFaddin family once owned a roller skating rink at the turn of the century. Their skating rink was located on the corner of Broadway and Willow sometime before 1920. After the rink closed they stored the skates at the McFaddin-Ward House. When Mamie saw children around the neighborhood with broken skates or without any at all, she would give them a pair of skates from their inventory.
The McFaddin children loved skating in the open spaces of the third floor. Grooves from the skates are still present on the back hall's wood floors.

About the Object
These skates are constructed of metal with two rubber shock-absorbing disks on bottom. The partial leather straps, no longer present, held the skate onto the foot. The four wheels contain metal bearings. The skates had an adjustable toe piece to accommodate various sizes. The skates were made by the Richardson Ball-Bearing Skate, Co. in Chicago, Illinois around 1910.

Object Details:

The McFaddins owned a roller skating rink on the corner of Broadway and Willow sometime before 1920. This pair of skates is probably from that rink. Grooves from the skates can be seen on the floorboards of the back hall on the third floor of the house.

Metal construction with two rubber shock-absorbing disk on bottom; partial leather straps; four wheels contain metal bearings; adjustable toe piece

(Manufactured by Richardson Ball-Bearing Skate Co. circa 1910)

Richardson, Patented, U.S.A., and abroad, Chicago

The skylight permitted much needed light into the third floor. A set of hinges attached to one side of the skylight frame allowing for the raising and lowering of the glazed glass panels as a single unit. When the skylight is open heat from the house is ventilated out. This design feature works in tandem with Henry Conrad Mauer's other elements such as the transom windows above the doors to allow for air circulation and positioning the home to face south to capture the gulf breezes.