Swimming, boating, golf, and tennis are probably East Hampton’s most popular sports, given our location and history as a summer colony, but what do sporting types do in the depths of winter? Of course, there are always indoor tennis courts and swimming pools, but for those looking to embrace the cold, there’s ice hockey.
In 1939, the Southampton Ice Rink was completed, and with it came the formation of the Suffolk County Hockey League. The group formed with the goal of promoting ice hockey and ice skating throughout the county.
Teams were formed, and in the first season, 1939-40, the Southampton Seagulls emerged victorious, winning every one of their eight games. Unfortunately, the East Hampton Bonackers didn’t fare as well, winning only two of eight. Buck Jones from East Hampton did, however, win the Harold A. White Trophy for most improvement throughout the season.
The magazine and program seen here was owned by Sherrill Clark Webb (1922-2015), center forward and left wing for the Southampton Seagulls. Webb, originally from Southampton, would go on to become the woodshop teacher at East Hampton High School from 1948 until 1988. According to his teammate S. Kip Farrington Jr. (1904-1983), Webb was the best player in the area.
This magazine presents a profile of each team in the league and provides a schedule for the coming season. Notably, Farrington, the Seagulls’ goalie, was its editor. This same S. Kip Farrington Jr. would later become famous for his career in sportfishing, in which he held 11 records. He continued writing about his sports endeavors, eventually publishing 22 books on fishing.
Sadly, the Suffolk County Hockey League would not survive the onset of World War II, when most of the young men of the league were drafted into service.
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Julia Tyson is a librarian and archivist in the Long Island Collection.
