In the document, several rooms of a Southeast Texas family home are described from the early 20th century. The family would spend their summer evenings sitting on the front porch to stay cool, dining in the formal dining room with antique china and flatware on display, and serving coffee and desserts from the butler's pantry. A luncheon was taking place in the breakfast room with decorative glassware and linens set out. The upstairs rooms were being renovated so tours focused on other areas like the sleeping porch, music room, and a bedroom containing hunting guns and supplies.

1. In the days before air conditioning, Southeast Texans were
forced to adapt their summer activities to the heat. Though
still a busy social season, summertime assumed a more leisurely
pace. The McFaddins and Wards traveled, read, entertained,
listened to music, sat on their porch, and generally tried to stay
cool.
TRIED AND TRUE:
TRADITIONS OF A
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FAMILY

2. FRONT PORCH
Porch sitting is a long-standing tradition, especially in the South.
Mamie McFaddin Ward’s diaries contain numerous references to
their spacious front porch:
“After dinner Caldwell over we walked around yard & sat on porch.” —
June 1, 1936
“[at] night Mother & I sat on porch” — May 13, 1938
“a hot day – 91 – cooler on porch & a comfortable night but hot day” —
June 26, 1938

3. DINING ROOM
Collections:
 Dresden china, ca. 1920
 “Baltimore Rose” flatware by Schofield Company, Baltimore, MD, ca.
1910
 Placemats, napkins, table runner, ca. 1920, manufacturer unknown—
cotton and linen with lace and needlepoint techniques
 Glassware unmarked, ca. 1930, cut glass
The dining room table is set for a formal dinner. This place
setting was actually chosen by the public! For the first time ever,
the collections staff displayed two place settings on our Facebook
page and allowed viewers to vote on the one they liked. It was a
close race, but this setting won. The “Click to Curate” competi-
tion was so popular we hope to repeat it in the future. Using
placemats shows off the rich, dark wood of the table.

4. BUTLER’S PANTRY
Collections:
 Dresden coffee service and cake plate
 Two silver trays, manufacturer unknown
 Coffee and Waffles by Alice Foote MacDougall
 Blenko aqua/green glass sherbert dishes, ca. 1930
The butler’s pantry shows domestic employees preparing to serve
guests in both the dining room and the breakfast room. The cof-
fee service is part of the Dresden set in the dining room. Beside
the silver tray holding the coffee service is the book Coffee and
Waffles by Alice Foote MacDougall, which contains coffee trivia
and household tips. Dessert for breakfast room guests will be
served in Blenko sherbert dishes that match the set in the break-
fast room.

5. BREAKFAST ROOM/CONSERVATORY
A luncheon is taking place in the breakfast room. Blenko glassware
sits atop a color-appliqued tablecloth and matching napkins. On
the small sideboard (west wall) finger bowls and doilies have been
placed on a silver tray, ready for service between the main course
and dessert. Dessert plates sit alongside the tray, to be used first un-
der the finger bowls and next, under the sherberts when they are
brought in from the butler’s pantry. Blenko cocktail glasses, on an-
other tray, will hold after-dinner drinks.
Collections:
 Blenko aqua/green glass lunch plates, salad bowls, fingerbowls, iced tea,
wine, and cocktail glasses, ca. 1930
 Tablecloth, napkins, 1935-1950, manufacturer unknown—cotton and
linen with appliqué, embroidery, and cutwork designs
 Doilies, ca. 1940, round hemstitched cotton and lace
 “Mary Chilton” flatware by Towle, Newbuyrport, MA, ca. 1919

6. LIBRARY
Mamie spent many evenings in the library relaxing, listening to
the radio, and reading. After her marriage, she enjoyed looking
back through her wedding mementos. She also often consulted
etiquette books to keep up with the latest trends in hospitality.
Collections:
 “Bridal Flowers,” a record of Mamie’s wedding, 1919
 Emily Post’s Etiquette

7. SUN PORCH
The McFaddins enjoyed entertaining, and often the men
would gather to plan a hunting trip. Wedgwood tumblers and
matching pitcher featuring embossed hunting scenes sit on a silver
tray with cutwork napkins. Nearby sits a Currier and Ives book
open to a print of a hunting scene.
Collections:
 Wedgwood tumblers and pitcher, ca. 1910, molded and glazed ceramic
embossed with hunting scenes
 Silver tray, manufacturer unknown
 Cutwork napkins

8. MUSIC ROOM
Collections:
 The Gloria clock has been moved here from the breakfast room to make
room for the finger bowl tray
Prop:
 “June Brought the Roses,” sheet music from the Teaching Collection
Before the days of radio, the music room would have been a
popular summer spot. Someone in the house could usually play pi-
ano while others sang along. Families bought the latest sheet music
in the way later generations bought records, now CDs or down-
loads. There are hundreds of pieces of sheet music in the archives
that belonged to the McFaddins, though this piece is part of the
teaching collection.

9. SECOND FLOOR
As the master and green bedrooms will be repainted sometime this
summer, there have been no changes on the second floor except in the
north bedroom. When the project begins, furniture will be stored in the
blue and pink bedrooms, and all four rooms will be closed. To make
some interpretation possible, we will mount large photographs of the
closed rooms on easels outside the doors. The tour can focus on the
front and back halls, the sleeping porch, and the north bedroom.

10. SLEEPING PORCH
FRONT HALL
The sleeping porch was added in 1912, in order to give sleep-
ers the health benefit of fresh outdoor air. The McFaddins start-
ed using it early every summer, when temperatures rose into the
90s. Younger family members were sometimes less enthusiastic
about the “togetherness” that the porch provided.
Started sleeping on porch (Carroll & I) — June 5, 1936 diary entry
“There was lots of snoring out there, and often I woke very early and
slipped inside.” — Rosine McFaddin Wilson, “Recollections and
Retrospectives”
The sleeping porch will open June 1.
The second-floor hall was occasionally used as more than just
a connecting area between rooms; on one occasion, it actually
held a piano and a men’s and women’s chorus! Mamie located the
musical entertainment in the hall when she hosted a tea for 200-
300 guests in 1938.
“Piano came & we put upstairs in hall for music….Men & women sang
in a chorus; lovely voices.” — April 29, 1938 diary entry

11. NORTH BEDROOM
Collections:
 12 ga. shotgun, J.C. Higgins, Sears and Roebuck, ca. 1915
 20 ga. shotgun, pump action, Remington Arms, ca. 1927
 J.C. Higgins gun cleaning kit with both metal and wooden barrel
cleaning rods
 Hoppe’s 9 Solvent
 Canvas gun case
A conscientious hunter like Carroll Ward always kept his
guns cleaned, both during and between hunting seasons. A gun
cleaning kit contained everything needed for proper mainte-
nance: rods of different sizes (for different gauge barrels), cloth
patches, and Hoppe’s 9 solvent. This product was first produced
in 1903 by Frank Hoppe, who, according to company history,
mixed nine different chemicals to get just the right formula.

12. BILLIARD ROOM
Collections:
 Game table top has been “flipped” over to the flat side
 Billiard table is set for a game of “Eight Ball”
 Dominoes, ca. 1900
 Beer steins, Germany, ca. 1920
 Metal clip-on ashtrays, ca. 1900
 Phonograph records, albums, ca. 1900
Prop:
 Vintage recordings, played on a boombox
The McFaddin “guys” are enjoying an evening of dominoes,
kicking back with a beer and a smoke, and listening to the latest
songs on the ca. 1905 Victor Talking Machine Company phono-
graph. The print of the group of men playing cards in the left back-
ground of this photograph captures the spirit of the moment.

13. Notes

14. Notes

15. Notes

16. Tours Available
Tuesday—Friday
10 a.m., 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m.
Saturdays
10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m.
Sundays
1—3 p.m.
(409) 832-2134
www.mcfaddin-ward.org