Left - Former major leaguer Ike Davis was the playing manager of the Medicine Hat Royals of the Southern Alberta League and, when the southern circuit folded, the Ponoka Panthers of the Northern Alberta League.
Right - "Cannon Ball" Berry was advertised as the ace hurler of the Van Dykes, the coloured House of David. Calgary Mustangs beat them 10-5 and 10-7.
Ham Olive (right) was a big draw of Ray Doan's touring House of David. Emory "Ham" Olive was a standout centre fielder and team comic in the 1930s and 1940s for the HOD after playing minor league ball in the 1920s in the International League. He went on to become an umpire
Olive claimed to have invented the game of pepper, a pregame shadow-ball drill that House of David was known for and a version of which became a staple among major leaguers. Some people would come just to see the House of David play pepper, then leave before the game began, Olive recalled. The House of David played up to ten exhibition games a week in big and small cities while traveling up to sixty thousand miles a year. They were a white version of the Indianapolis Clowns in the 1930s; there also was a black version of the House of David. The white House of David team played black teams like the New Orleans Crescent Stars and became famous for their tours with the Kansas City Monarchs, Jackie Robinson's old Negro League team. (A Summer Up North: Henry Aaron and the Legend of Eau Claire Baseball By Jerry Poling)