Caption: Clown band, Searchlight, Nevada 1906

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."