The greatest rocking horse you ever did see...
Sometime in the summer of 1914, Austin McFadden journeyed to the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to observe the progress on the carousel he had ordered in May for installation at the Minnesota State Fair. While at the factory, master carver David Lightfoot showed him the finished horses and his works in progress. McFadden spied a kid-sized replica of a full-sized horse. Inquiring about its purpose, Lightfoot informed McFadden that it was going to be a rocking horse for his three-year-old son, Malcolm. They had nicknamed the horse “Smokey,” and it became a beloved plaything for the boy.
Impressed with the carving, McFadden commissioned Lightfoot to create a similar rocking horse for his eight-year-old son, Austin Junior. Sadly, the whereabouts of Lightfoot’s “Smokey” and a third rocking horse he carved are unknown. Happily, the McFadden’s horse rode on, enjoyed by Austin Jr., his sisters Dorothy and Margery, and on into the next generations of McFaddens.
Our Fair Carousel Inc’s record-breaking auction block rescue of the carousel in December of 1988 made headlines across the country. The McFadden family took note and contacted OFC Inc with valuable historical information about their family’s connection to the ride. They mentioned their PTC rocking horse and how they had all loved it. The McFadden grandchildren, now adults with families of their own, offered to loan the antique rocking horse to OFC to be displayed as another example of David Lightfoot’s fine carving talent.
The McFadden’s 1914 rocking horse is affectionately known as “Our Smokey” and is prominently displayed in the Cafesjian’s Carousel Pavilion in Como Park. Members of the McFadden family have proudly visited the merry-go-round that was once owned by their ancestor and are delighted that the legacy of their treasured family heirlooms live on and can be seen, ridden, and enjoyed by new generations of patrons of Cafesjian’s Carousel.