In the late 1960s, Vicki Cooper's parents, who lived in Palo Alto, California, took a trip to Las Vegas. During the trip, they drove out to Pahrump, about 60 miles west of Las Vegas, to see what was out there. There wasn't much then, maybe a few hundred people, compared with almost 40,000 today."Dad, who liked to browse, went into a junk/pawn shop to look around," said Vicki, recalling the story her mother told her. "He saw this ring with the HRH initials and immediately thought of Howard Hughes, who was big at the time in Las Vegas, and he had to have it. Mom said she thought it was stupid but he bought it and it couldn't have been more than a couple of bucks."
When her parents returned home, the ring was tossed in a jewelry box and forgotten about. A couple of years ago, Vicki and her mother were going through some stuff and came across the ring. Vicki asked about it and her mother told her the story.
Vicki can only speculate as to whether the ring belonged to Howard Robard Hughes (HRH) and, if so, how it ended up in a junk store in Pahrump.
"My guess would be, if it is Hughes' ring, that he gave it to someone who perhaps gave him a lift, bought him some food or did something for him and this was the only way to repay that person," Vicki said.
It is true that Hughes did not like to carry cash around with him, so if he did find himself in such a situation, he may have had to come up another means of payment.
That said, all the scenarios seem unlikely. Did Hughes even wear jewelry? Is so, would he have had a ring like this one? And if he did, how likely would it be for the ring to end up in a junk store in tiny Pahrump?
The question for today is whether anyone out there has any information or informed speculation about the origins or history of this ring. Does "HRH" logically stand for something completely different? If you believe you can shed any light at all, please comment on this item and we'll see where things go.
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10 comments:
I was employed by Hughes in 1957 as one of his personal secretaries, later traveled with him, and spent 32 years of employment with The Howard Hughes Corporation. I never saw Hughes wear any jewelry of any kind, including a watch. I doubt very sincerely that this ring had any connection at all to Howard R. Hughes. Paul B. Winn
Paul:
Thank you for your comments re: the HRH ring. The only thing I know for sure that it was purchased in Pahrump, the rest was all speculation. Thank you for clearing it up...
Vicki
Assuming it isn't Hughes' ring, then, what is the significance of "HRH"? One thing I came across is that HRH is a common abbreviation for "His/Her Royal Highness." The folks at Wikipedia report that "in the British monarchy, the style of HRH is associated with the rank of prince or princess."
So, could it be that the ring has a connection to British royalty? Again, probably not.
Paul, John C. here. Joe's friend. I really need to speak with you and this is basically my last attempt since you are very hard to find.I am in the same house with the same phone number. I know this is a long shot but if you read this please get in contact with me. Thanks and I hope all is well. John C.
imzgr81 you did well with this one, you only stated what you saw.
On a side note, there are a lot of reasons people don't wear jewelry, many of which could be likely. Some don't like it, others who have worked with machinery (Hughes did) know that is a prime way to lose digits and just get in the habit of never wearing anything.
I kind of have a unique reason myself, At the museum of Science and Industry in Florida (north of tampa) I held electrodes that guage the electricity in your body (commonly 25 to 50 millivolts)(the machine went to 300). I pegged the needle over and it was quivering trying to break the stop. The attendant said she had never seen that happen. I tell this to explain that I must insulate my battery watches,(skin irritation and running fast), must wear a leather band, and jewelry of any kind (especially rings) irritate my hands so much that I take them off and throw them away. My wife had a pure silver and turquoise ring especially made and I can't wear it.
Now back to the subject: people often give rings for gifts, this one appears to be solid copper (very common for joint pain and after his accidents and breakage Hughes obviously had that) but if it was his, he obviously didn't wear jewelry (just some of the possible reasons).
Howard Robard Hughes JR lost his hands and fore arms in the XF-11 crash and that ring wasn`t his
Hi,
I have to agree with imzgr81. Hughes wore a watch when he was 12 but later when he was photographed with his invention, the motorized bike.Look at all his pictures in later years and you will not see him wear any jewelry at all.But Howard had the same initials as his father .Couldn't it be that that ring was his dad, not his?
Dad Howard Robard Hughes JR lost his hands in the XF-11 crash and he woke fakes for any press photo`s.It is one of the reasons he was`nt seen in public photo,TWA was flying the friendly skys and the last thing anyone need to see was a handless howard Hughes.HRH is common.Howard in facto never carried any metal on his person at all because of radar reflections used to track him with
If he had had hands he would`nt have been wearing it..it would retain germs and he had skin grafts everywhere that failed over the years.Plus scars in his lungs from the XF-11.He would have to wear gold and he was never into showboating he lived like a bum sometimes..but interesting subject matter if you fished around vegas I bet anyone could find something that was howard`s
Howard Robard Hughes IIV a son of Howard Hughes jean Peters.Howard lost those hands braceing himself from huge G-forces in the XF-11 it`s a wonder he lived at all.He had some really bad fake forarms over the years and hooks for driving with of a spinner wheel on the steering wheel.His fake hnad got better over the years but also trapped germs under tham and he never wore tham much.He could`nt tie my shoes when I was three and his personal life made for a full time aid
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