Oftentimes, in the distant past, the place you worked for became a social nucleus in the village or town. Employees at large companies such as Endicott-Johnson Shoe Co. or IBM in the Binghamton area took part in activities after work such as sports, music and theater, both in and out of town, to represent their company.
For Oneonta, the Delaware & Hudson Railroad Co. employees had such a social nucleus, both here, and sometimes they played hosts for D&H employees from other company communities across the company territory.
With hopes for a 1927 baseball season in Oneonta, consisting of a team of D&H employees, help came from out-of-town D&H workers to make that team a reality, through a fundraiser. A cast of employees from the D&H offices in Albany came here to put on a show at The Oneonta Theatre on Tuesday, May 10.
"This evening at 8:15 o'clock the capable cast from the employees at the general offices at Albany, which produced 'The Show Off' so successfully in that city recently and scored such a signal success an evening or two at Carbondale, where the comedy was presented for the benefit of the Athletic association of the Pennsylvania division brings the play to this city for one presentation, the proceeds being devoted to the maintenance of the base ball team that will represent the Susquehanna division," The Oneonta Star reported.
"Last year the proceeds, which went over $500, were generously donated to the Fox Memorial hospital, and this year, when it will be used to aid the local ball team, the city should respond with equal interest and give the performers a crowded house."
Oneonta's committee of the D&H Athletic Association was not disappointed, as the Star reported the next day, "The house was packed when the curtain rose on the first scene, and from then on, the action was so tense, so sad at times, and again so gay that no one noticed the hours slip by."
No figures were reported as to how much money was raised to make the baseball team possible, but it was apparently enough.
"Oneonta is to be represented on the base ball diamond this season by the Oneonta D. & H. nine. Master Mechanic George Brown was again elected president of the association and he is making every effort to produce a crack ball team," it was reported on Tuesday, May 17.
"'Dutch' Damaschke has been named manager of the team, and he has secured the services of several excellent ball players." That's Ernest C. Damaschke, the name behind the ballpark we know today in Neahwa Park.
"Saturday at 3:30 the team will play its first game against the Endicott team. The season will not open official, however, until Decoration day, when the local outfit is scheduled to play a double header against the Kingston Colonials. New uniforms have been ordered, but will not be used until Decoration day."
Oneonta had a team for 1927, but things were uncertain whether they'd be part of the D&H League, which was under consideration that month.
If that failed, Oneonta was ready to make a bid for entrance into what was called the Tri-County League.
And if that fell through, plans were confirmed for games with Cooperstown, Ewing's All-Star Colored team, Kingston and Schenectady.
According to Bob Whittemore's book, "Baseball Town," published in 1995, this was the general uncertainty of Oneonta baseball during the mid-1920s, but "Dutch" Damaschke always helped to ensure a team for many years.
On Monday: A truly lighter side of news in Oneonta in May 1952.
City Historian Mark Simonson's column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or email him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com. His columns can be found at www.thedailystar.com/marksimonson.
Mark Simonson
Damaschke essential to ensuring Oneonta baseball in 1927
- Mark Simonson
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Blackmail scheme failed to hurt Richfield Springs resort season in 1888
The timing simply couldn't have been worse. Thousands of visitors were making plans for their summer vacations to Richfield Springs in 1888 when a bombshell of a newspaper article hit the newsstands of New York City. The article appeared in The New York Sun that stated typhoid fever and diphtheria had a "heavy presence" in the resort village, known and respected worldwide for its cleanliness and good health.
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General Clinton Canoe Regatta got a new home in 1972
Ever since 1963, when Charles Hinkley and a group of Tri-Town businessmen came up with the idea for what we know today as the General Clinton Canoe Regatta, people lined the shores of the Susquehanna to watch the canoeists as they made their 70-mile trek from Cooperstown to Bainbridge.
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Sunday movies in Oneonta finally shown in 1934
You know an issue is divisive when a vote to resolve it is quite close. In Oneonta during the early 1930s there were probably plenty of discussions or arguments at the family dinner table or sermons from the pulpits on Sunday mornings, regarding whether or should be able to see a movie in Oneonta on Sunday.
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Politics, fitness and landmarks dominated local news in May 1968
Area residents mulled over the idea of Gov. Nelson Rockefeller as their next President of the United States. New fitness opportunities emerged for all ages. One area landmark was saved while another was razed. It was only a part of our life and times in May 1968.
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Local people sought income in many ways in 1933
In the economy that was the Great Depression, there were times people would do what it took to try to earn some money.
- Monday, May 6, 2013
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Local windstorm in 1983 caused tense moments
I realize I've got the wrong month in mind when I say "May came in like a lion." However, that's what happened in 1983 as a number of twisters moved through our region, leaving plenty of damage behind in their trails. Add some melting snow and heavy rain, and scenes of cleanups were widespread 30 years ago this month.
- Saturday, May 4, 2013
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Disaster, expansions put people to work in May 1913
- Monday, April 29, 2013
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Job opportunities abounded in area 45 years ago
If you were looking for a job in April 1968 in our area, or perhaps looking to change your employment situation in the near future, opportunities were pointing in your favor.
- Saturday, April 27, 2013
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Oneonta greeted an aviation giant in 1928
An early aviation superstar came to Oneonta in 1928.
- Monday, April 22, 2013
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Area saw its own armed standoffs 30 years ago
This past Friday, we watched how the Boston area went into a lockdown during a tense search for the last suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings. Had I still been living and working in that area, as I was in the early 1990s, I would have had a day off from work Friday, as police scoured the city of Waltham.
- Saturday, April 20, 2013
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U.S.S. Maine explosion, war drew much local sentiment
For most people in our area in early 1898, a growing conflict between two distant nations probably didn't get much attention, other than some glances at the newspaper. When a young Oneonta man was one of many injured or killed in an explosion of a battleship he was aboard, the local attention increased markedly to what was soon to become the Spanish-American War.
- Monday, April 15, 2013
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Oneonta river walking path came from a surveyor's daydream
Leon Kalmus of Oneonta spent a lot of time surveying land near the Susquehanna River in the early 1970s around the time Interstate 88 was being planned and built in this area. What he saw along the shores of the river, he called “pristine,� and soon had an idea for some kind of walking or hiking pathway along the shores of the river in the town of Oneonta.
- Saturday, April 13, 2013
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Decline of Prohibition led to return of beer in April 1933
“I think this would be a good time for a beer,� remarked President Franklin D. Roosevelt, when he signed the Cullen-Harrison Act on March 22, 1933. This marked the beginning of the end for Prohibition that year.
- Monday, April 8, 2013
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Dietz Street shifted from residential to commercial through the years
By taking a walk along Dietz Street today, heading north to Walnut Street, one can see a lot of businesses and the recently refurbished parking lot on the east side of the street. It would take some imagination to see this street lined with houses and a church, but prior to the late 1940s, that’s what was there.
- Saturday, April 6, 2013
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Oneontans voted for a 'dry' city in 1918
- Monday, April 1, 2013
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Future city historian kept family busy for Easter and April 1958
- Saturday, March 30, 2013
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Colliscroft became new Oneonta landmark in 1902
If the Oneonta building trade sector of the economy could have awarded a plaque to a most valuable individual customer of 1902, it would have nearly been a shoo-in. That was Edward H. Pardee, who was listed in the Oneonta Directory around that time as a farmer, on Southside.
- Wednesday, March 27, 2013
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Historic Cooperstown cottage got a new address in 1988
To unknowing tourists seeking information from the tourism information center at 31 Chestnut St. in Cooperstown, they would probably believe that the mid-19th century cottage had always been on that site. It blends in well with some of the grand old houses along that street, and the same tourists might think it has an interesting history behind it.
- Saturday, March 23, 2013
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Free mail delivery began in Oneonta 125 years ago
- Monday, March 18, 2013
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Oneonta enacted first building code 60 years ago
There will be no parade, fireworks display or commemorative coins minted for the occasion.
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Blackmail scheme failed to hurt Richfield Springs resort season in 1888
