The following article is from the RMHS school newspaper “The Orbit”
Or…the Mystery of Moleskin Joe
Though the Rocket name is synonymous with Reading sports teams today, the origins of this name are something of a mystery that has to be discovered within the RMHS Pioneer yearbooks and newspapers from almost 80 years ago.
In 2014, Reading’s Daily Times Chronicle published an article claiming the 70th anniversary of the Rocket name. The story mentions the school’s yearbook, The Pioneer, as a source for this date and cites the lyrics to the school’s fight song as a further source of the school’s nickname. The article is based on research conducted by Mr. Bill Brown, a Reading local and history enthusiast. In the article, Mac Cerullo writes of Mr. Brown’s discovery that “the name came first into prominence in the fall of 1944.”
