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Photograph of a worker at Hughes Tool Company, Houston, Texas, circa 1940s-1950s
Date
1940 to 1959
Archival Collection
Description
Press release attached to back of photo: "A roughneck fits a new Hughes Jet bit into the drill collar preparatory to running the drill stem into the hold. In 1953 more than 500,000 rock bits produced by the Hughes Tool Company of Houston, Texas, were used in the United States alone. The invention of the rock bit by Howard R. Hughes, Sr., made it possible to drill far deeper into the earth beyond the shallow oil deposits which are now practically exhausted. Without rotary drilling equipment of this kind the world might revert to a horse and buggy economy."
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Photograph of men working in the Hughes Tool Co. factory, Houston, Texas, circa 1950s
Date
1950 to 1959
Archival Collection
Description
Men working on Hughes rock drilling bit piece #5411-482 at the Hughes Tool company in Houston, Texas.
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Photograph of men inspecting drill bits at the Hughes Tool Co., Houston, Texas, circa 1950s
Date
1950 to 1959
Archival Collection
Description
Men inspecting drill bits at the Hughes Tool Company in Houston.
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Photograph of a man working on rock bit drilling pieces at the Hughes Tool Co., Houston, Texas, circa 1950s
Date
1950 to 1959
Archival Collection
Description
A man working on Hughes rock bit drilling pieces at the Hughes Tool Company in Houston.
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Photograph of a man working at the Hughs Tool co., Houston, Texas, circa 1950s
Date
1950 to 1959
Archival Collection
Description
A man working at the Hughes Tool Company in Houston.
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Photograph of Ira C. Eaker giving out an award, circa 1940s-1950s
Date
1940 to 1959
Archival Collection
Description
General Ira C. Eaker, the Vice President of Hughes Tool Company and Hughes Aircraft, giving an unidentified man an award.
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Photograph of a man working at the Hughes Tool Co., Houston, Texas, circa 1950s
Date
1950 to 1959
Archival Collection
Description
Transcribed from attached press release: "HUGHES ROCK BIT TEST In a block-long laboratory at Houston, Texas, the Hughes Tool Company can simulate oil drilling conditions anywhere in the world. Here a Hughes bit is tested on a hard formation. Howard Hughes' father invented the rock bit in 1908 and the resulting business became the cornerstone on which Howard Hughes built his fabulous industrial empire in motion pictures, air transportation, aeronautical research and design, aircraft manufacture, electronics, armament and brewing."
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Photograph of the interior of Hughes Tool Co., Houston, Texas, circa 1950s
Date
1950 to 1959
Archival Collection
Description
Transcribed from attached press release: HUGHES TOOL COMPANY Cornerstone of the industrial empire of Howard Hughes is the Hughes Tool Company of Houston, Texas, which last year produced more than half a million rock bits for drilling the kind of deep wells now producing 90 per cent of the world's petroleum. In the company's mechanical testing section (above) engineers test the products under conditions simulating actual drilling. Howard Hughes' father's invention of the rock bit is believed to be one of the most important industrial developments of the century; without such a tool we might still be living in a horse and buggy era."
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Photograph of a man working on rock bit drilling pieces at the Hughes Tool Co., Houston, Texas, circa 1950s
Date
1950 to 1959
Archival Collection
Description
Transcribed from attached press release: "HUGHES ROCK BIT PRODUCTION more than 500,000 rock bits produced last year by the Hughes Tool Company, Houston, Texas, for drilling the kind of deep wells which now produce 90 per cent of the world's petroleum. The rock bit was invented by Howard Hughes' father and the resulting business became the cornerstone on which Howard Hughes built his industrial empire. The machinist above is performing an operation on the cones which make up the rotating end of the Hughes rock bit." Transcribed from photo sleeve: "The Kearney and Trecker 4 spindle machine at the Hughes Tool Company in Houston, Texas. Ca. 1950s."
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Photograph of a drill bit at the Hughes Tool Co., Houston, Texas, circa 1950s
Date
1950 to 1959
Archival Collection
Description
Transcribed from attached press release: "LITTLE BIT Only an inch and a quarter in diameter, this "microbit" enables engineers at the Hughes Tool Company, Houston, Texas, to estimate the performance of full-size bits for the oil drilling industry. The company operates the largest testing laboratory of its kind anywhere in the world and produces thousands of rock bits necessary to drill deeper and deeper as the world's shallow oil wells have become exhausted. Howard Hughes terms the Hughes Tool company the "keystone" of his industrial empire."
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