Hickman continued to pursue his interests in music and photography, practicing guitar and accepting payment for taking pictures.

He also began working for Stanley Hendricks, who had sold his photography business and opened a clothing store in Jamestown.

[2] In 1906, Hickman's father bought a smaller, eight-acre farm with a large house south of Jamestown, and moved his family there.

During this time he learned to play the clarinet, and continued his interest in magic, suspending his teaching job to give performances as "The Hoosier Magician" in churches and opera houses in Waynetown and Hillsboro.

[5] After graduating from Clark University, Hickman worked at the Mount Wilson Observatory with Robert Goddard, where he continued research and development on rockets intended for use during World War I.

Hickman's work enabled the development of Ampico's dynamic recording machine and the Model 'B' player piano.

Most development work in the industry had theretofore consisted of scratch-paper sketches and empirical constructing of models with hopes that they would function!

[7] For his achievements at Ampico, Hickman was inducted into the Automatic Musical Instruments Collector's Association Hall of Fame in 1976.

[11] When the Great Depression forced the research department to close, Hickman joined Bell Telephone Acoustical Laboratories.

Also at Bell, Hickman developed metal tape recording, devices for analyzing speech patterns, and new methods of telephone switching.

[2] During World War II, while in his position as director at Bell Labs, Hickman headed Section H of Division 3 (Rocket Ordnance) of the National Defense Research Committee.