The Carpetbaggers is the title of a 1961 bestselling novel by Harold Robbins, which was adapted into a 1964 film of the same title.
The term "carpetbagger" has the generic meaning of a presumptuous newcomer who enters a new territory seeking success. It derived from ambitious Northerners who flocked to the Post-Civil-War South (carrying their clothes and possessions in a handbag made of carpet material), seeking opportunities to help newly-enfran...
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The Carpetbaggers is the title of a 1961 bestselling novel by Harold Robbins, which was adapted into a 1964 film of the same title.
The term "carpetbagger" has the generic meaning of a presumptuous newcomer who enters a new territory seeking success. It derived from ambitious Northerners who flocked to the Post-Civil-War South (carrying their clothes and possessions in a handbag made of carpet material), seeking opportunities to help newly-enfranchised black citizens run for political office—in return for various favors. In this novel, the territory is the movie industry, and the newcomer is a wealthy heir to an industrial fortune who, like Howard Hughes, simultaneously pursued aviation and moviemaking avocations.
Ian Parker described the book as "a roman à clef—it was generally thought to have been inspired by the life of Howard Hughes." In an interview with Dick Lochte, Robbins said "The airplane manufacturer in The Carpetbaggers was Bill Lear, not Howard Hughes, by the way." TV...
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