The Real Howard Hughes and His Impact on Las Vegas
Hughes first came to Southern Nevada in 1931 and it had nothing to do with the just passed law permitting legal gaming. He came because Boulder City, the workers’ housing area for Boulder Dam, had an airport. It was convenient for Hughes because of nearby dry lake beds. Hughes was an aviation pioneer and felt the lake beds were excellent safety precautions; ideal for landing in case of malfunctions. He stayed at the Boulder City Hotel which still stands.
As an aside, his feelings about safety considerations proved quite valid. He was flying in Southern California when the plane he was flying crashed. He was severely injured and in such pain that doctors had to administer heavy doses of narcotics which led to the addictions thereafter.
During his visits, Hughes got the feeling that Las Vegas would one day become a tourist mecca. He started buying up land and tried to encourage his Hollywood friends to open up hotels and restaurants there. He bought up a great deal of land and was, at one time, the largest private landowner in Nevada – the US government still owns the vast majority of land in the state.
As part of his vision of Nevada, he had the Las Vegas Municipal Airport built north of town. That was where commercial flights went to service the growing city. That, however is no longer the main airport that brings millions of visitors to Las Vegas. It is said that during World War II, Hughes somehow garnered the wrath of Nevada Senator McCarran. When the war was over, McCarran donated a large tract of land he owned south of town to the county with the stipulation that it would be turned into an airport. It was opened with a dirt landing strip, a windsock, and a Quonset hut.
McCarran was either a seer or just plain lucky because, in the 1950’s, the British developed the first jet-propelled passenger aircraft. (The wings kept falling off and it would crash so it never went into full-scaled operation.) But it spurred Boeing, Douglas, and Lockheed into developing their versions of which Boeing’s 707 model was the most popular.
The problem for Hughes was that these aircraft needed an immensely longer runway to take off and land than what was at the Las Vegas airport. Hughes’ people sought to buy up the surrounding land to expand the property and discovered that it had all been zoned for residential and light business. They approached the county for zoning variances but somehow never seemed to be able to get anything done. (Isn’t that odd?)
Meanwhile, the county put a lot of money and effort into turning the county airport into a major facility that could handle the larger aircraft. So, when you come to Las Vegas, you will be arriving at the “county” airport. The other airport is still there, now called The North Las Vegas Airport, still owned by Summa Corporation, but limited to small craft such as tour flights, helicopters, and private planes.
Something that isn’t talked about much is that Hughes was a notorious womanizer. He made it a point to “audition” every starlet in Hollywood. He was also an inventive man and came up with something an unknown number of women have used – the under wire support bra that he made for Jane Russell, a well-endowed actress in the studio he owned.
Hughes returned to Las Vegas Thanksgiving Eve, 1966. It is said that he was carried on a stretcher from his private plane to a closely guarded ambulance, then to the Desert Inn where he was taken on a draped gurney through the freight elevator and up to the top floor VIP suites. During his stay, nobody ever saw him but his two male nurses/attendants. I’ve talked to a maid who worked in the hotel and took care of those suites and she told me that she was never allowed into the room where Hughes was reputed to be and saw no signs of the man at all.
Here’s something – Bob Mayhew, Hughes’ senior aid, never met the man face-to-face. He has said that he got all of his instructions on hand-written notes.
While physically isolated, Hughes used every bit of technology available to keep tabs on things. Up to then, the “eye in the sky” surveillance system used in casinos was simply a set of walkways in the ceiling where men with binoculars could keep an eye on the action on the casino floor. As Hughes started buying up casino properties, starting with The Castaways, he had high-tech cameras installed with monitors in his suite so he could personally keep tabs on things.
It is said that Hughes bought The Castaways in order to fire the manager. The story goes that Mayhew had tried to book The Castaways for Hughes and had been refused. It was therefore no coincidence that the manager was fired within hours of Hughes taking over the property.
The Desert Inn – specifically Meyer Lanski – had a problem with Hughes. They’d had no qualms about him taking over the VIP suites because he was the richest man in the world and they thought that at least his staff would spend lots of money in the hotel and casino. As it turned out, that was far from the truth. Hughes’ staff was almost entirely Mormons who didn’t gamble or drink. Hughes himself never ate anything from the hotel. There’s a story going around that Hughes was a fanatic for ice cream. The local dairy says that he would order ice cream by the gallons. When the Desert Inn was being prepared for implosion, a locked refrigerator vault was found in the basement that held hundreds of gallons of ice cream from Hughes’ stay.
As New Year’s Eve approached, The Desert Inn management became concerned. They wanted the suites to be available for the usual high rollers who came at that time of year and asked the Hughes people to consider vacating the property. The then-Governor of Nevada, in his memoirs, told how Hughes often called and talked to him on the phone. The Governor was aware of the problem Hughes had with the hotel and asked him how he and Lanski were getting along. Hughes reportedly replied, “Just fine! I made him an offer and he agreed to sell me the hotel.” The selling price was $19 million, a mere pittance to Hughes.
Hughes set about corporatizing the properties he bought – each part of the property had to operate on a profit only basis. This was a far cry from previous times when food, booze, broads, and entertainment were solely for the purpose of getting players to the tables. Hughes also spent a lot of money hiring efficiency experts to determine what was the best way to make a profit in the casino. After months of study and lots of cash, the experts discovered what the old-time casino bosses had known for years. To get to the Registration Desk from the front door, one had to go through the casino and there was never a direct line – one always had to detour around gaming tables or slot machines. The ceilings and walls were high and mirrored to make the casino area seem bigger. Lots of “money colors” were everywhere; red. green, silver, and gold. Lots of noise to get the adrenalin flowing.
Here’s a trick I bet you never thought of; the trays in the slot machines were specifically designed so that the sounds of falling coins were amplified.
The experts also determined that live games had less of a profit margin than slots. It was determined that for every dollar coming in, it cost seventy cents in overhead for live games. On the other hand, the overhead for slots was only thirty cents. At that time, slots were not all that popular and people didn’t have confidence in them. Hughes approached the manufacturers and was the impetuous behind the proliferation of slot machines.
And, finally, because of Hughes’ presence in Las Vegas, the State of Nevada expanded the powers and authority of the organizations that controlled gaming in the state. The Gaming Commission got legal powers to thoroughly investigate and determine the fitness of potential gaming licensees and who would be barred from gaming while The Gaming Control Board got what it needed to keep things honest.
It’s kind of sad to think that the richest man in the world never got to truly enjoy the glitter and excitement of the city upon which he had such an impact.
