Howard Hughes Day – December 24th
Superheroes Batman (DC) and Iron Man (Marvel) are both based on this eccentric 20th century empire-builder.
Born on this day in 1905 in Houston, Texas, Howard Hughes built Houston’s first wireless radio transmitter when he was 11 years old. By age 19, both of his parents had died and he inherited the Hughes Tool Company from his father. He first spent his money producing films, flying planes, and earning a reputation as a playboy dating famous actresses. Within six years, two of his films had received academy awards, including Hell’s Angels, the first real high-priced Hollywood action film with sound. He founded Hughes Aircraft at age 26 and he set several aviation world-records flying planes that he helped design—Hughes Aircraft went on to become a major government contractor. He took control of RKO (motion pictures, theaters, and radio studios) and began acquiring TWA Airlines in 1939. He continued buying and selling various airlines for three decades. In 1953 he founded the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which is still one of the largest medical and biomedical research organizations in the world with a $22B endowment.
Hughes battled OCD for much of his life, suffered nagging injuries from four different plane crashes, and started becoming more germophobic and more reclusive around 1958. He was rarely seen again in public. He would sometimes go months behind drawn drapes without bathing, shaving, or cutting his hair or nails. In 1966, he moved into the Desert Inn in Las Vegas and refused to leave. He ended up buying the hotel so he could stay and went on to buy five other hotel-casinos nearby, plus several local TV stations, with the aim of classing-up the image of Las Vegas, which he did. During the last few years of his life, Hughes moved to Nicaragua and finally to the Bahamas in an endless search for privacy and solitude before passing away in 1976 at age 70 due to kidney failure, apparently associated with a painkiller addiction.
Music Du Jour: The Aviator soundtrack and Songs About OCD playlist
Films Du Jour:
- The Aviator (2004)
- Two Arabian Knights (1927)
- Hell’s Angels (1930)
- The Front Page (1931)
- Scarface (1932)
- The Outlaw (1943)
- His Kind of Woman (1951)
Miscellaneous:
- 130: The Howard Hughes Blues podcast (well done)
- Bizarre Hughes trivia
- You can buy the house Hughes crashed into in Beverly Hills
- Empire: The Life, Legend, and Madness of Howard Hughes (audiobook)
- The Howard Hughes Fedora is due to comeback in style any day
- NY Post article on Hughes’ sexcapades
- The Watergate Connection discussion
- The famous flight of the Spruce Goose
- How the CIA Used Howard Hughes to Steal a Russian Sub in the Most Daring Covert Operation in History
Snacks du Jour:
- Steak and peas (Howard’s favorite meal); He carried a pea rake to sort each pea to its particular spot on his plate
- Hershey chocolate bars
- Glass of milk
Cocktail Du Jour – The Howard Hughes Cocktail
Recipe inspired by Luxardo Global Ambassador, Gareth Franklin:
- 5 oz gin (Aviation if you have it)
- 75 oz Luxardo Maraschino Originale liquor
- 75 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 4 sugar snap peas
Muddle the peas in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and the other ingredients and shake for 20 seconds. Fine strain into a martini glass and garnish with a Luxardo Maraschino cherry.
Mocktail Du Jour – The Howard Hughes Mocktail
- 5 oz non-alcoholic gin
- 75 oz Luxardo Amarena Sour Cherry Syrup
- 75 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 4 sugar snap peas
Muddle the peas in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and the other ingredients and shake for 20 seconds. Fine strain into a martini glass and garnish with a Luxardo Maraschino cherry.
Beer Du Jour
Olympia Beer or other Pabst brand labels
Hughes founded the Gulf Brewing Company at the end of prohibition and his Grand Prize Lager label became the bestselling beer in Texas. After a series of buyouts, the latest operating brewing company with a connection to Gulf Brewing is Pabst Brewing Company, which owns Olympia Brewing.
Wine Du Jour
Evergreen Vineyards ‘Spruce Goose – Howard Hughes’ Pinot Noir
Use freshly squeezed citrus in your cocktails and mocktails when called for – It makes such a difference! Here’s a reliable and inexpensive juicer.
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“Howard Hughes figure at Madame Tussauds Hollywood” by Castles, Capes & Clones is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
