Sputnikfest 2014

Waterloo
Every puppy has its day.
Everybody has to pay.
Everybody has to meet his Waterloo. 
Stonewall Jackson, 1959

Meeting one’s “Waterloo” has come to mean meeting with one’s final decisive defeat.  It comes from the final defeat of military leader Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo in 1815.  The song was first recorded in 1959 by country great Stonewall Jackson.  Honky Tonk country star Webb Pierce also released the song in 1962 – the same year the Sputnik IV "met its Waterloo" in the skies over Manitowoc, Wisconsin. 

At right is an interesting promotional photo of Webb Pierce from that time period in his “Sputnik III.”  The car appears to be a three-wheeled “bubble car,” so named because of the unique body shape.  “Bubble cars” were manufactured in the 1950’s in various European countries under license from BMW. 

We hope Webb had a license for his Sputnik III and drove it carefully.   We know that whoever was driving Sputnik IV was not driving carefully. 

Note this novelty “Sputnik Driver’s License” from 1960, which prophetically cautions “Drive carefully, or you won’t know your Sputnik from a hole in the ground.” (!)  Planet Terry