Ricky Walker Day

“Ricky Walker Day” is arguably the most exciting event in the town’s history.  National celebrities were on our square, Life Magazine did a spread on the occasion, there were newsreels made of the day’s events, schools were dismissed for the students to attend.  All because one boy entered a contest about a television show.

Ricky Walker was a fifth grader and attended St. Patrick’s School.  He watched a television show called “Space Patrol,” which aired from 1950-1955 on Saturdays.  “Space Patrol” was sponsored by Ralston Purina, and the company had constructed a rocket called the “Ralston Rocket” for promotional purposes to travel around the country and do appearances at grocery stores.  In 1953 the promotional run for the rocket had ended and the company came up with a creative promotion to get rid of it.

On September 19, 1953, the “NAME THAT PLANET” contest was announced on an episode of the show.  The planet, referred to as “Planet X” on the show, had become a relatively new part of the storyline.  The prize for the contest was billed simply as a “Rocket Club House.”  Weekly promotions continued until December 1 when the contest ended.

Ricky Walker was not a huge fan of the show, at least not more so than other shows, he just liked entering contests.  He submitted only one entry to the contest, at the last minute.

A few weeks after the ending of the contest the family got a letter from “Space Patrol” saying a private investigator was going to come to the house.  What followed over the next week was several visits from Ralston representatives, basically checking the family out to make sure they were suitable for what was about to come.  At one of those final visits, they revealed to the Walkers that Ricky had won the grand prize, the Ralston Rocket.  Included in the prize was a full-size tractor-trailer to pull the rocket, a new bicycle, and many other prizes.  To present Ricky his prize would be the star of the show “Captain Don,” actor Don Jacobsmeyer.

The presentation was to take place on the square on Tuesday, January 12, 1954. The Washington High School band performed, and schools let students out of school early to watch.  The Ralston Rocket rolled into town at 3:15 p.m. and parked on the south end of the square.

For some rare and amazing newsreel footage of this day, click here.

The next Saturday, January 16, the rocket was to return to the square so people could tour the inside.  The event was set up as a fundraiser, raising $436 for the March of Dimes.  Mayor Earl Zimmerman proclaimed the 16th “Ricky Walker Day” in Washington and many businesses had space-themed specials for their customers. 

Life Magazine sent famous photographer Yale Joel, known as “the photographer of the impossible,’’ to capture the festivities.  Joel was one of twenty media photographers there that day.  The Ricky Walker feature appeared in the January 25, 1954, issue of Life Magazine, with Diane Sinclair on the cover.   

After receiving the Rocket, Walker was somewhat discouraged with the fact that the internal furnishings were not space-themed at all.  It was a camper.  Beds, cupboards, etc.  The rocket functioned as a clubhouse for Ricky and his friends for a few months, but the novelty quickly faded, and the Walkers were left with an unsightly behemoth in their driveway.

In the summer of 1954 the Walkers leased the rocket to a traveling carnival from Wichita, Kansas.  By 1955 the rocket had been permanently sold to other interested parties and by 1956 the Walkers had moved to Michigan.

Diehard fans of the show tried to keep track of the Ralston Rocket’s whereabouts, and in 1979 had located it in Quincy, Illinois.  By 1985 it was in New York state, where it was eventually dismantled and sold for scrap, thus putting an end to the Rocket and our story.