[1] Born and raised on a farm in Royalton, Minnesota, Mary Jane (February 1, 1917 – 1981) and Carolyn DeZurik (December 24, 1918 – March 16, 2009) were part of a family of seven.
Inspired by their family and the sounds of the animals and birds around them, they developed an astonishing repertoire of high, haunting yodels and yips that soon had them winning talent contests all over central Minnesota.
Carolyn accepted a proposal from Ralph "Rusty" Gill, a singer and guitar player, on September 1, 1940, and Mary Jane said yes to Augie Klein, an accordionist, before the month was out.
After Gill and Klein were drafted into World War II in 1943, Mary Jane took a break from music to look after her new family and Carolyn joined Sonja Henie's Ice Review for a year or so, afterwards returning to Minnesota for a series of appearances on radio station KSTP-AM.
By 1951, after a stint at Cincinnati's WLW-AM and WLW-TV, Lorraine had retired and Carolyn had joined the Ramblers as their new female vocalist, filling a vacancy created by the absence of trick yodeler Patsy Montana.