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."

The control panel of HK-1, Hughes Flying Boat, on Terminal Island, Los Angeles Harbor.