Ruth is enjoying her visit with the family in Adams Center, getting lots of rest, and for the first or second Sunday of the year that they haven’t visited each other, both Dave and Ruth find themselves going to church. There are plans for Dave to come up to Adams Center, but to his disappointment, he was offered work and had to take it, potentially cutting the visit short.
September 22, 1935
Sunday 7 p.m.
Adams Center, N.Y.
Hello Dave,
There ain’t no justice! I have written two letters before this and I haven’t received any answer. Looks like you are trying to get even with me for not writing when I was home before. Now I know how you felt. I have come to the conclusion that you are keeping your word about going on a vacation from letter writing or the mail service is terrible.
Somehow this doesn’t seem much like Sunday to me even though I did go to church this morning.
Thursday night Lynn and Kent were down with their families.1 Friday we went to H20 town. Friday night we went to Smithville and stopped at Percy’s on the way back. Yesterday I spent the day at Lynn’s. He painted the car again yesterday and they brought me home last night. Somehow or other I managed to get up and get ready for church. For a wonder we were on time. Church starts at 9:00 so you see I got up before breakfast one morning at least. I nearly fell asleep so you can imagine how interesting the sermon was. Once when I was pretty far gone, I heard the minister say something about “the boy David” and I came to with a start only to find myself in church. I did refuse to stay for Sunday School so we went to call on my mother’s cousin while we waited for the kids.
This afternoon we went up after the Ford. Lynn wasn’t at home, so we went to Glenn’s and they weren’t at home. On our way back we stopped at a half dozen uncles and cousins. We didn’t stay long any place. Tonight I had to take Harold around to round up some men to help fill the silo tomorrow. Grace informed me tonight that she would be ready at 8 o’clock in the morning for me to take her to Smithville to get her groceries. I told her she could get ready, but I couldn’t tell how long she would wait before I got ready.
June and Billy Sedgemore. Left: Billy Jr., Jennie, and June; Right: June and Billy. June (1927- 2012) was outgoing and always the life-of-the-party. She married Gordon Benjamin in 1947, and they had three children. Billy, born in 1928, tragically died in a car accident in 1951. He left behind his wife, June, and infant daughter, Linda.
If I get some of the kid’s arguments mixed up in this letter, think nothing of it. June and Billy are having some sort of a fight.
I am now up in my room trying to write to the tune of June’s noise.
Mom just told me that she thought you should plan to stay more than one night. She says we should go to Gouveneur so you can meet Hermann. I told her it wouldn’t be safe for you to go around those offspring of Niebuhr’s unless you had a coat of armor. Let me know if you think you can come up so we can go up to Eva’s together and I won’t bother going up alone. Of course I realize the amount of time you take off will depend on whether you are working or not. Maybe one night is all you could stand up in this wild and wooly country. I’ll try and impress it on the kids that it isn’t nice to lock little boys up. It shouldn’t be so hard for you this time, as I think your initiation was complete the other time.
Well, dear, when you receive this you will have just one more free Sunday evening, so you had better make the most of it. I have wondered how you spent the day. One guess is that you worked at home at least half of the day.
Gee, but the nights are chilly, which reminds me that I think I’ll jump in bed and make June get my feet warm.
Night,
Ruth
September 22, 1935
Middleburg, N.Y.
My Dear Ruthie,
Here it is Sunday again and I’m still alive so it looks like I have quite a fair chance of surviving this vacation period of yours. Seems to me this is the second Sunday I have missed seeing you in nearly a year. Not a bad record when you consider the fact that we don’t’ live next door to each other.
I finished up at the camp Friday night. There was still a half days work down there and they wanted me to come back Saturday, but as I had a full week in I would have had to work under someone else’s name who didn’t have a full week. I told them to skip it.
Cheerio Tournament practice yo-yo
Saturday morning it was raining and I couldn’t do anything so I hitched up the old gray Ford and took my father to Ravena. He had been wanting to go for some time. I saw Jimmy for a few minutes. I stopped at the station for gas and Janice was staying with Lyd and Fran again. Maybe I will have to take her back tonight. She won a box of candy with two punches and Winnie won one with a single punch. Was she tickled pink. Fran said it took her about ten minutes to decide whether to take a chance on the board or buy a Cheerio [yoyo], and when she won the candy she just let out one big squeal and went up the road flying.
Fran went to Schoharie Thursday after his driving license and couldn’t get one without taking a test and he couldn’t get his chauffer’s license renewed because he had no pictures and no place in Schoharie to get them. He came back and went to Catskill, had his pictures taken and got the license there. Wait until you see the picture of him. I never did see a picture taken for a license or passport that didn’t make a guy look like a criminal or sompin.
What do you think I did this afternoon? You would never guess so I might as well tell you. Don’t faint now. I went to church. It is nothing to be alarmed at though because the idea didn’t originate in my dome. It was Mother’s idea. She said she was going to take advantage of my being home so to church we went, and did I feel conspicuous. It was a small church in the country where she used to go all the while. Besides the minister and his wife there were twelve people there counting the four of us. What a crowd. After the sermon I made a dash for the car but the minister caught up with me just as I got in. He made me shake hands and wanted to know why I hadn’t been there before and when I was coming again. All of my answers were quite vague I assure you.
Pardon me while I shake a leg. My foot went to sleep and it wasn’t around anybody’s neck either.
What’s this, the end of this sheet and I’m not thru yet. Well it can’t be helped now. I’ll try and condense my chatter a little more next time since you want me to be saving of this paper. I must say, you did real well in your last letter. A nice long letter like that helps out a lot. That Hermann must have been some guy if he could write a letter every day. I’ll bet there weren’t more than ten words in any of them though. Maybe he will give me some pointers if I should see him while I am there.
Well the big Screwy County fair starts this week. I’m not going myself if I can get out of it but I may have to. Tuesday is children’s day and LaVere’s Ag. teacher has given him some kind of a job, so if he has no other way of getting there, I’ll have to take him. I guess the rest of the family are planning on going Thursday with Lula.
It is nearly seven o’clock so I’ll quit for a while and go down to P.H. I want to listen to Major Bowes on a good radio. It there is any news from there I’ll add it to this when I get back.
9:30 p.m.
Rather early for me to be arriving home on Sunday night. What say you? I gathered a little more gossip or news, whatever you want to call it, so I’ll try and relate what I can remember of it.
Janice is still staying down there as there is no school Monday and Tuesday. She has Fran’s ribs all raw from tickling him and she can just about handle him when she gets after him. Lydia had some chocolate cupcakes in the show case and they looked so good, I ate six of them and had two cups of coffee. I suppose you will say I deserve it if I get a pain in the tummy.
The radio was working good and the Amateur Hour was fair. Did you hear it? Lydia says to tell you the radio is improving with age. They can get four stations on it now and not all at once either.
Pete is not doing so well for himself. I guess the meat diet that he has been living on is beginning to tell on him. Anyway, Lydia and Janice went up to the house one afternoon and he threw a fit out by the well. They were both scared to death of him and went in the house and locked the screen door. Lydia said she thought he was dying and she didn’t want to see it so she went into the bedroom and peeked out thru the blinds. Can you imagine that? I almost threw a fit myself when she told that. Looks like you will have to come back and practice your profession on the cat if you want him to live.2, 3
Tiny was up one day last week. She told Lydia anytime she got tired of Fran to send him down to her. Wouldn’t that be swell for him. I don’t mean that she isn’t nice, but I think someone made a mistake and vaccinated her with a phonograph needle.
Ward also stopped at the station and made a few wise cracks or something. It’s too much to write about so I’ll have to save it until I see you.
Now for the news from Albany. Minerva was down one day last week. She says Mrs. Herlihy has a girl from St. Margaret’s I think she said. Anyway, she was out of work and has decided to do housework instead of nursing. She said if anyone thought you were tall, they ought to see this girl. She is about six inches taller than you and thin as a toothpick. Just the kind of girl Fran would like.
I guess that is about all of it that I can think of and from the looks of this letter, it is enough. I hope you can find time to read it all thru. You’ll probably have to take it in installments.
For anything I know now I guess I could get there Friday so as to stay two nights. Notice I say Friday and Saturday nights instead of Saturday and Sunday but that’s merely because it means one day less I have to wait before seeing you. If you would rather have it Saturday and Sunday, say so. That would make it either October 4 or 5 if you haven’t decided to stay longer than the three weeks. It comes pretty near falling on the lucky day, October 7. Now ask what is so lucky about that date.
I hope you and your Mother both get over your colds. You will have to take turns nursing each other.
You won’t be able to say anything to Lynn about coming to Albany and not seeing you if you have been home all this time and haven’t been over to see him yet.
Well, my dear, I’m going to call a halt to this immediately or you will have to pay some extra postage to get it and I guess there isn’t even three cents worth in it now.
Good night, dear,
Dave
P.S. Lydia says to tell you everybody is well but Alt4 and the children.
September 24, 1935
Adams Center, N.Y.
Dear Dave,
I guess I misjudged you or something. I accused you of not writing last week and this morning when I went out to mail your letter I found a letter from you in the mailbox. It had been there since Saturday. How did it happen? Saturday morning I was supposed to go to Adams to get the car painted and be there by 8:00. I killed a lot of time getting ready so I was here when the mail came (9:15). I saw the mailman take a letter out, but I didn’t see him when he put the one from you in, so I came to the conclusion you hadn’t written and took myself off to Adams. I wouldn’t have confessed, but I know if didn’t, someone else would as it was a good one on me. I am sure I won’t make the same mistake again as it has been the cause of me writing two letters instead of one.
So you finished your game of pinochle. I don’t care how many card games you have, but I do object if they interfere with the letters I am supposed to get.
You can tell Lydia for me that if she doesn’t answer my letter, I won’t even bother to bring the corn back to her. She has just as much if not more time to write than I do.
Probably by this time you are all finished at the camp. You had better wait until I get back to make the grease pit. I bet I would be as much help as Fred, at least.
Gee, I’m sorry Eva has gone home, but maybe if I would tell her what you said, she would come back.
Maybe there weren’t many “whiskers” involved in the kisses, which goes to prove that it isn’t a few whiskery kisses, but when they are too numerous that they cause pimples.
I helped fill the silo today. I mean I went down and helped get dinner for the hungry men. I have been down to Grace’s all day. It is 7:30 and I just got home a few minutes ago. This was Kent’s day off so he was over. He is as big a pest as ever.
Tuesday 8:40 a.m.
I just got up, and if it hadn’t been for finishing this letter, I probably wouldn’t have been up yet. The bed was nice and warm and the atmosphere was chilly so it would have been much easier to remain in bed. How’s about giving me a huge credit mark. I bet you never got up and wrote to me before breakfast. The kids just went to school so everything is quiet for a change. Mom is writing to Lydia so I suppose I should contribute a little. Tell Fran what I think of him for making you play cards when you should be writing to me.
Joe Cuffy seems to be holding his own. He has a nice fat mouse every day. (Bill catches them in a trap.) Harold tries to tell me that their kittens bring the mice up to Joe.
I am trying to find a dog to bring back to Lydia. I tried to tell them Pat belonged to me, but they refuse to let her go. Glenn has the dog Lynn used to have and Lynn seems to think I could have her for the asking. She is part chow and shepherd or sompin’. I guess it isn’t known just what. She is smart and a good watch dog. Maybe you could sell Lydia the idea. I don’t think the dog would mind riding back with you.
I guess I’ve said enough so I’ll try and write a half postcard full to Lydia.
Be good and don’t forget to wash your ears.
Ruth
September 24, 1935
Adams Center, N.Y.
Dear Dave,
Your letter didn’t come in the mail this morning and I had resolved to wait at least six days before I answered, but I took Harold to Adams Center tonight and sent Joyce in to see if I had any mail. I was surprised when she brought your letter out. I was occupied reading it during the remainder of our wait.
So you had to go to church, too. You were luckier than I was at that. The minister shook hands with me when I went in and again after the service. I don’t know if I will manage to get up again next Sunday or not.
Billy says I’m not as good looking as I used to be. He sure can hand out the compliments. June has him down now and is sitting on him. They make so darned much noise you can’t hear yourself think.
I just came upstairs and June thought she would pull a fast one and hide under the bed. There seems to be a question as to who sleeps with me.
I’m afraid poor little Pete hasn’t had the proper care. Maybe he will pull himself together and be o.k. I find my Joe cat has too much pep. Today he went out and chased Billy’s chickens for excitement. His intentions were all right, he only liked to see them run. I made him a bed down behind the stove and Bill says I’m only encouraging him to be lazy.
Billy is feeling bad because he has no one to sleep with, so I asked him if he would like to sleep with you and he said yes, but you aren’t coming up in two months.
You can come up on Friday if you want to, but don’t have the people down there expect you back any special time ‘cause we may not want to go back on Sunday. Be sure and let me know what time your bus gets in Adams.
I just went out and tried to console Billy by lying down with him and I nearly went to sleep.
It is going to be too bad when I have to go back to work after this vacation, if I ever do. I’m sort of getting out of the habit. I did manage to scare up enough ambition to wash all of the downstairs windows today.
Maybe Mom and I will go to Gouverneur some day this week. I don’t think I’ll stay overnight. Now that I am at home, I don’t care if I don’t go anyplace else. I have to go to Belleville some day soon. I sort of dread it but I really should go. Kent tried to get me to go down last Saturday night, but I couldn’t see it that way.
It sure did seem good to get such a nice long letter with all the latest dope. I hope if you went to the fair, you enjoyed it more than I did the night I went. I’m glad Fran finally managed to get his license. I don’t see how he ever managed to tear himself away from the station that long.
Bill works from 4 to 12 p.m. now. I guess there isn’t too much work up there to be had. Kent expects to be laid off soon.
Come to think of it, this is only Wednesday and the third letter I have written this week. No wonder there isn’t much to say, not that there ever is. No wonder I don’t have any money, it keeps me broke buying stamps.
The mailman will soon be here and I haven’t had any breakfast yet so I’ll be signing off.
Ruth
September 24, 1935
Middleburg, N.Y.
Hello Dear,
How are you and what’s doing? Plenty I guess judging from your letter I received today. Boy, if the reporter for the local newspaper is attempting to keep track of all your doings, he must be a busy man. Better not run that Ford around so much. Remember it has a long trip ahead of it and I still don’t trust a Ford too much.
So you figure you are getting gypped on the letters. Probably it did look so to you when you only got one last week. The second one I wrote didn’t leave here until Friday morning and, of course, the excellent mail service didn’t deliver it to you until Monday. I was surprised to get one from you today. I didn’t expect it until tomorrow as both of your other letters took two days to come and this one got here the day after it was mailed. Nope, I’m not on strike and I’m still writing letters. You’ll get enough of them this week.
Advertisement for Simoniz car polish 1935
Well tonight is the big fight.5 I suppose you will be listening. Yes! Yes! You can bet you my life I will be if nothing happens. And speaking of sports on the radio, you will have to arrange to have a radio close by me while I am up there. The World Series starts October 2 and they are another one of my favorites.6
Today and tomorrow I am working in Livingstonville. After that who knows, probably not much of anything all winter. There isn’t much danger of my having to lose any work to stay up there with you two nights so you can plan on going to Gouverneur while I am up there unless you would like to spend more time up there than even that would allow you. As for my being able to stand it up there, I’ll take my chances. If I have survived so long in this place, I guess I’ll be able to take it even if I do get locked up again.
Looks like we both got religion last Sunday. I hope you were able to keep your place in the song book at least.
I took LaVere to the fair this morning before I went to work. Got in Cobleskill at 7:45 and there was quite a crowd on the grounds already. If I’m not working Thursday, I may change my mind and go myself.
Lynn isn’t the only one who painted his car. I slopped a can of it on my fenders and running board yesterday. The guy who owned it before I must have worn his arm out using Simoniz as the paint was wore thru in a good many places and it was beginning to rust. I did it for necessity and not for beauty. I did it all in twenty minutes so you can imagine how much pains I took.
Well here I am near the bottom of the page again and I’m going to haul up this time before I overrun. If I write too much, there won’t be anything left for next time and anyway you will probably get this before you finish reading the one I wrote Sunday.
So long, dear.
“Me”
September 26, 1935
Adams Center, N.Y.
Hello Davie,
Whata day! It sure has been hot this afternoon. This morning Mom got two bushels of peaches, one for her and one for Harold so we had them to can. Mom and Beulah got them all ready and I canned all of them. We had 43 cans, so you can imagine what an afternoon’s work it was. This forenoon we went to Watertown so we didn’t get started at our job until late in the afternoon. The hardest part of it was I got some new embroidering uptown, and I am anxious to get Lydia’s set finished and start something else.
I hardly think that crack you made about me keeping my place in the song book was necessary. As I remember, the excuse I had was not being able to see without my glasses. I wouldn’t attempt to say why I didn’t have them on but maybe you could dope it out or was that before you were troubled with glass interference.
I knew you would listen to the fight. I guess Harold listened so it was almost as bad as if I had listened. Loretta says she likes fights and when I told her you did, she said we would have to go to a fight some time.
I had a letter from Loretta today, so consequently I am at sea again. She came off her case Monday night. Her sister is coming October 2 and they are going on their vacation until October 21. She says then she will be ready to go to Hewitt’s. I don’t know whether I should come back and stay at Hewitt’s alone or stay at home a week longer and go there when Loretta does. The only thing is if I go alone, I am afraid she will change her mind and I will have the telephone to pay for. I certainly don’t feel like financing the installing and the bill besides board and room.
Friday morning
I am still in bed. Billy decided he didn’t feel like going to school. I took his temperature and found it was 100 degrees so I told him if he stayed home, he would be confined to his bed. He said o.k. and went right to bed. He will probably make a quick recovery after the bus leaves. I think he has complications of a head cold and a hard arithmetic lesson. I found out about the arithmetic while Mom was downstairs. I decided to give the poor guy a break and let him stay at home.
It is raining this morning and I guess I’m like you. I have to have someone wake me up when it rains.
Now that the kids have gone to school, I guess I’ll get up and eat my breakfast. I think we are going to make jelly or some darn thing today.
If I decide to wait a week longer before I go back, that will mean another week of vacation for you. At the rate I pack, it will take me the greater part of the next week to get my things collected to go back to Albany, so, of course I’ll stay at Lydia’s. I will let you know what my plans are as soon as I decide.
Your letters usually come the day after they are mailed unless they get left in the mailbox. I suppose Sunday afternoon I can think of you in church. It is sort of hard to imagine. I think I have been to church twice in a year. Mr. Cash sure can put me to sleep.
Well, sweet, I think I’ll call it a day and get this in the mail box before it is too late.
Ruth
P.S. How about another nice long letter like the one you wrote last Sunday. That is about as long as the ones Eva would get from Hermann. The last time she was down, he wrote her not quite half a post card full.
September 26, 1935
Middleburg, N.Y.
Dear Ruth,
I should be writing letters to someone who leaves them in the mailbox over the weekend. Frankly, I don’t think I should but I’ll take a chance that someone else up there may be looking for mail and in so doing dig this one out from under the cobwebs in the mailbox.
It is 9:00 a.m. Thursday and I just finished the breakfast dishes. Everyone went to the fair early this morning and left me holding the sack. I didn’t intend to start this letter until tonight, but being alone here must have put me in one of my blue moods so I thought I would at least start this letter and maybe be able to snap out of it.
This seems like the longest three weeks I have ever put in, and there are still seven days after today before I see you. When it comes to counting the days I’m as bad as you were when you were on night duty on Lark Street.
I went down to P.H. last night and I guess everything is under control. Pete hasn’t had any more fits that they know of but he is scarcely home at all. He is over to Winnie’s most of the time. Lydia says to tell you if you bring that “mutt” of Glenn’s here, she will throw you both out, so I guess you had better look for a different dog.
She also started a letter to your Mother and she says she will have to change it and at least put your name in it somewhere so you will bring the corn back to her.
I expect to leave here Wednesday morning for Ft. Plain and Norwich, so if you write any letters that won’t reach here in Tuesday’s mail, you had better address them to me at 17 Plymouth Street, Norwich. If this timetable I have is right, I can leave Norwich Friday morning at 8:00 a.m. and get in Syracuse at 10:19, leave there at 11:15 and arrive Adams Center 1:25, so if there is a bus in there at that time, I’ll be on it. Don’t fail to meet me because I would hate to get lost up there all alone.
8:00 p.m.
Well, dear, I’ll resume this letter now and try to give you the rest of the news. As far as the above paragraph goes, you might just as well forget it because it don’t mean a thing.
I went down to camp this morning to see if my check had come in and while I was getting it Lieutenant Nichols told me that the main building at the Gallupville camp was looking for someone to put on insulin board and for me to go over and see him if I wanted to work. I went over right away and got the job. I go to work tomorrow morning. Naturally that breaks up all my plans providing I can hold the job. When I asked for the job he told me he wanted someone who was an expert and could do good work. That’s the rub. I never even saw any of the stuff until I worked in this camp and I only helped put a little of it on here. I guess you remember brushing the stuff off from me one night after work. Anyway, I told him I was just the man he was looking for. I’ve seen plenty of guys get by on bluff and nerve so I thought I would try it once. I figure that .75 an hour is worth taking a chance for.
So all I can tell you is that I’ll be there either Friday or Saturday coming direct from here and arriving A.C. 4:25 p.m. There is a possible chance that if I do hold the job, I might be able to get Friday off or he might not want me that long anyway. I’m glad to get the chance to work but I’m awfully disappointed, too, because I had looked forward to having a little spare time up there. I had the same idea as you spoke of in your letter, that we might not get back here Sunday.
I went from Gallupville over to the fair and made the rounds there. I guess it was worth the time, at least I thought it was pretty good. I stayed until about 5:30 and then came home. The rest of the family are still there. They can sure take it I’ll say. I was tired out from the walking I did just in the afternoon.
So Billy thinks I’m not coming up until two months. Well you can just tell him I’ll be there before then if I have to walk every step of the way, and he can sleep with me when I do get there.
I still didn’t get over the lonesome feeling I had this morning in spite of all the letters you are writing. They help a lot though, dear, so please don’t carry out that threat to wait six days before you answer if one of my letters doesn’t arrive on time. I’m not responsible for the mail you know and it seems as though I do plenty of writing.
It looks as though you will have to come back and help protect Francis. Lydia is awfully mean to him. She used his music book to kill a fly with last night and he felt awfully bad about it.
I asked Fran last night when they were going to A.C. and from what he said, I guess it wouldn’t be a bad idea if you helped persuade Lydia that she ought to go. She has listened to old man Smith so much she is beginning to believe herself that they are going to starve this winter and she doesn’t think they ought to spend the money to go. My opinion is that if they don’t get away from that station for a while, they will go crazy instead of starving.
Well, sweet, it looks like no one is coming home tonight. I’ve written all the news and it is was past my bedtime so I’ll try going to bed and see if I can dream that I am with you instead of 200 miles away. If I don’t stop, I’ll be spilling all sorts of woes. I guess I just shouldn’t try to write when I get in one of these moods so good night and pleasant dreams.
Dave
Footnotes
- Lynn Parker had married Marion Richardson (b. 1908) in 1926. They had one daughter, Eunice Ann (1927-2001). A photo of Lynn with his twin brother Glenn was posted here, June 20, 1935. Kent Spencer (1909-1971), Ruth’s cousin (see background page, here), had married Ethel Tryon (1911-1999) in 1931. Kent at this time would have had an 8-month old daughter, Jeanne Spencer. She is pictured in this post, January 1, 1935.
- Pete is presumed to be the Spragues’ cat. He may have been suffering from distemper (caused by a species of parvovirus, feline panleukopenia) or any number of diseases for which there are now vaccines or treatment. Animal vaccines were documented as early as the 18th century; the distemper vaccine for dogs became available sometime in the 1950’s.
- There is mention of many stray cats and dogs throughout these letters. Though several humane societies existed at the time, they may not have been that common. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was founded in New York City in 1866. Likewise, a similar organization, American Humane, was founded in Cleveland, OH in 1877. Their mission was to prevent cruelty to animals in the interests of both child and animal welfare. Their headquarters were established in 1905 in an abandoned hospital outside of Albany, NY. Another non-profit, the Humane Society of the United States, was founded in 1954 by a small group of people who broke off from American Humane. Collectively, the accomplishments of these organizations are many. Some of these included outlawing cock-fighting, dog-fighting, and cruelty to animals in filmmaking (resulting in the credit line “no animals were harmed in the making of this movie”), launching spaying and neutering programs, animal shelters, etc.
- Possibly referring to Jennie Sedgemore’s brother and Ruth and Lydia’s uncle, Alton Spencer
- Max Baer vs. Joe Louis in Yankee Stadium. For the first time ever in his career, Baer, the reigning heavyweight champion, was knocked to the canvas on one knee in the second round. He was knocked down again in the 4th, and the referee called it soon after.
- That never changed! Dave was a big fan of the New York Mets, which was an expansion team introduced in 1962. Prior to that, there were the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants; both teams had moved to California in the 1950’s.