Howard Hughes (wearing hat) receives congratulations from Mayor Fiorello La Guardia at Floyd Bennett Airport in Brooklyn. The gentleman wearing a polka dot bow tie, standing behind the mayor is Grover Whalen. Mr. Whalen was president of the 1939 New York World's Fair.
Description printed on photograph's accompanying strip of paper: "Hughes catches up with cables in Moscow. Moscow---Howard Hughes, sorting a packet of congratulatory cables on his arrival in Moscow. He was just beginning to sprout stubble with which he returned to New York, after his record-smashing round-the-world dash. 7/25/38"
Text typed onto a piece of paper attached to the image: "Howard Hughes strutting across a New York hotel lobby after completing a Round The World flight. 7-15-38. (Press Association)."