For the first 21 years, the Hickok Belt was presented at the annual children's charity dinner given by the Rochester Press-Radio Club. In 1971, the Tandy Corporation of Fort Worth, Texas, purchased Hickok Manufacturing and also acquired rights to the belt. The presentation was then made in larger cities, including Chicago and New York. The Hickok Belt Award, which was discontinued after 1976, was won by several major league baseball players. In fact, of the 27 Hickok Awards which were handed out, 15 went to baseball players.

Hickok Award Winners

Year Winner, Sport 1950 Phil Rizzuto, baseball 1951 Allie Reynolds, baseball 1952 Rocky Marciano, boxing 1953 Ben Hogan, golf 1954 Willie Mays, baseball 1955 Otto Graham, football 1956 Mickey Mantle, baseball 1957 Carmen Basilio, boxing 1958 Bob Turley, baseball 1959 Ingemar Johansson, boxing 1960 Arnold Palmer, golf 1961 Roger Maris, baseball 1962 Maury Wills, baseball 1963 Sandy Koufax, baseball 1964 Jim Brown, football 1965 Sandy Koufax, baseball 1966 Frank Robinson, baseball 1967 Carl Yastrzemski, baseball 1968 Joe Namath, football 1969 Tom Seaver, baseball 1970 Brooks Robinson, baseball 1971 Lee Trevino, golf 1972 Steve Carlton, baseball 1973 O.J. Simpson, football 1974 Muhammad Ali, boxing 1975 Pete Rose, baseball 1976 Ken Stabler, football