Written by: Ron Wencer, Class of 1964 We can’t remember or discuss our days at Hicksville High without thinking of the word “Comet.” Our yearbook and newspaper were both called “The Comet.” Our athletic teams were the Comets. Eventually, a school mascot dressed as a dog stirred up crowds at games. The dog’s name? Comet. How did this Comet Mania come about? Did people just pick words out of thin air? Well, in a way they did. Early in 1921, newspapers reported that a comet was approaching Earth from the distant realms of the solar system. Although almost no one had ever heard of this particular comet (Pons-Winnecke), the news captivated people, even blasé New Yorkers. In part, this was due to playful reporting, like this article from the Daily News. About eighteen months after Pons-Winnecke left the Earth’s skies, Hicksville High began publishing its first school newspaper, The Comet. I have found no record of who chose the paper’s name, but the fact that it was accepted suggests that Hicksvillians were not immune to Comet Mania. As improbable as this sounds, until the early mid-1940s, few high school teams were given names. Long Island sportswriters wrote about the exploits of “the Hicksville team” or “the orange and black.” It’s hard to prove this, but I have scanned old newspaper sports coverage for the 1920s and 1930s, and also have searched electronically, and I have found no sportswriter who during these years used a team name for Hicksville’s football team. Nor did the Comet yearbooks of this era refer to any team by a nickname. In this context, the Fall 1944 football season proved to be critical. Hicksville got an exceptionally large amount of news coverage, as its team went undefeated, and Hicksville running back Ed Coleman led the Division in scoring. Among the honors he received was being named to Newsday’s All-Scholastic team. I have pored over all the extra news coverage devoted to this team and to Coleman, and in it no team name was used for Hicksville, or for most other Long Island high school teams. I found only two schools that used team names that season: the Garden City Trojans, and the Farmingdale Farmers. However…. At the end of the school year, the 1945 Comet Yearbook sarcastically referred to that team as “the Hicksville Bearcats or Comets or whatever you want to call them.” This suggests that there was interest and disagreement about naming the team. By the time autumn 1945 came around, things had changed: Hicksville’s teams’ name had been carved in stone. Beginning in the Fall of 1945, Hicksville teams were to be called “The Comets.” 
IntroductionPons-Winnecke?
New York Daily News for February 14, 1921Naturally, the public’s anticipation grew. When June came, so did the comet, and people spent their lunch time crammed together in open places to watch the comet (see the opening photo above). Comet gazers at Battery Park at the foot of Manhattan would be elbow to elbow, straining their naked eyes or using binoculars. If they were lucky enough to own a telescope, and didn’t got jostled, they might get a decent view. Seeing a comet, whether it was large or small by comet standards, was exciting, especially for those who took to heart speculations about a possible comet collision with Earth.Toning Down the Hype
New York Daily News for May 27, 1921As the comet came closer, some newspapers decided to atone for stoking fears of astronomical mayhem; they wanted to make clear that there was no indication whatsoever of upcoming doom. Or maybe those papers’ lawyers just wanted to avoid potential accusations of inciting public panic.
New York Daily News for June 16, 1921Hicksville Embraces Comets
Huntington Long-Islander for January 26, 1923On the Playing the Field
Newsday, November 30, 1944Appendix: Sources of Information
That’s It!
October 2026: Volume 27 - Issue 1 - October 2026: Comet Mania
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