NEW YORK (Jennifer Peltz/AP) — Punk rock is on the block. Make that the auction block.

Memorabilia from some of punk rock's biggest acts and seminal moments - including a scrawled flyer for one of the Clash's first shows and publicity photos signed by the Sex Pistols - is headed for a Nov. 24 Christie's auction.

The event includes more than 120 records, photos and promotional pieces for such punk, garage rock and new wave legends as the Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, the Ramones, David Bowie, Blondie, the Cure and the Smiths.

The auction is Christie's first to focus on punk mementos, signaling the collectible status of a brash, anti-authoritarian rock movement that largely thumbed its nose at posterity.

"Ten years ago, punk memorabilia probably wouldn't be something we'd be auctioning here," said Simeon Lipman, Christie's pop culture chief. "But now, people of a certain age have a certain ability to splurge on this material."

Should they care to, highlights include a rare poster for a 1976 Ramones concert in London widely credited with helping inspire such British punk titans as the Clash and the Sex Pistols and a flyer for a show later that year featuring the latter two bands and the Buzzcocks.

Other prime finds: a copy of the Sex Pistols' first press release and a 1966 promotional packet in which an up-and-comer called David Jones promulgated his new last name: Bowie.

The various punk items are expected to fetch between $300 and $6,000 apiece.

The items generally weren't designed to last for decades, making the few that have survived all the more tantalizing, Lipman said.

The auction also features artist-designed toys and several big-ticket classic-rock collectibles, such as the portable organ John Lennon played in the Beatles' indelible 1965 appearance at Shea Stadium.

It was broken during the show and quickly traded in at an Atlanta music shop, where the owner realized its significance and held onto it, Lipman said. The now-functioning organ is expected to fetch $150,000 to $200,000.

• Inverted Jenny, B Grill post big numbers.

• Want to break bread with John Glenn?

• Despite growing Asian interest, pricey wine loses flavor.

WINDHOEK, Namibia (Rodrick Mukumbira/AP) — The first ivory auction in a decade sold over 7 tons of tusks to Chinese and Japanese bidders Tuesday, raising more than $1 million for elephant conservation.

The sale took place under a special exemption to the international ban on trade in ivory.

Last year the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species ruled that Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe could make a one-time sale of 108 tons of government ivory stocks.

Some environmentalists have condemned the sales, fearing it will encourage smuggling and poaching.

Tuesday's auction, held behind closed doors in the capital, was monitored by Willem Wijnstekers, CITES Secretary General. In all, 7.2 tons of ivory were sold, fetching a total of $1.3 million at an average price of $164 per kilogram (2.2 pounds).

Proceeds will go to the Game Product Trust Fund created in 1999 to promote conservation in communities where elephants range. Most of Namibia's elephants are found outside protected areas and have to compete for land and resources with communities, which often leads to conflict between people and the animals.

"Without a way of benefiting from elephants, elephants can only be seen as a liability or loss to rural communities, who lose significant subsistence crops and even human lives," Leon Jooste, deputy minister of environment and tourism, told reporters.

The two Chinese and two Japanese buyers were not named.

Most of the tusks came from elephants who died of natural causes. Southern Africa is home to about 300,000 elephants — half of all the giant creatures on the continent.

Namibia had expected to sell over 9 tons of ivory and the remaining tusks will be distributed to communities involved in making traditional jewelry.

Over 44 tons will be sold in Botswana on Friday, while auctions next month will see 51 tons being offered in South Africa and almost 4 tons offered in Zimbabwe.

No new sales from the four southern African countries will be allowed for the next nine years.

Ivory trade was banned globally in 1989, but reviving elephant populations allowed African countries to make a one-time sale a decade later to Japan, the only country which had previously won the right to import.

In July, CITES said China should also be allowed to bid for ivory as it had dramatically improved its enforcement of ivory trade rules. The organization said it will monitor Chinese and Japanese domestic trade controls to ensure traders do not use this opportunity to sell ivory of illegal origin.

The auctions have prompted widespread protests by animal rights activists, leading online auction giant eBay Inc. to say it would ban ivory sales.

"The elephant ivory trade is responsible for the slaughter of at least 20,000 elephants a year," Christina Pretorius of the International Fund for Animal Welfare said.

"Relaxing the current international ivory trade ban, such as these stockpile sales, will signal to poachers that it is open season on elephants and provide them means to launder their illegal ivory stocks," she said.

But CITES' Wijnstekers disputed this.

"There is no proven scientific explanation that ivory sales lead to poaching," he told The Associated Press.

LOS ANGELES (Jill Serjeant/Reuters) — H.G. Wells wrote that Mary Pickford was "his life-long devotion," Thomas Edison dedicated his entry to "the sweetheart of the Americas," and Benito Mussolini simply signed his name and the date, May 10, 1926.

More than 120 famous names from 1926 to 1981 signed the silent film star's personal autograph book, which is among more than 750 lots from the Pickford estate going up for auction for the first time in November.

"These books contain the Who's Who of the 1920s and 1930s," auctioneer Darren Julien said of the autograph book and two leatherbound guest books signed by visitors to the Pickfair mansion in Beverly Hills shared by the Canadian-born Pickford and actor Douglas Fairbanks.

The autograph book, which also includes dedications from playwright George Bernard Shaw, aviator Amelia Earhart, U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower, and automaker Henry Ford, carries a pre-sale estimate of between $6,000 and $8,000 U.S.

However, Mr. Julien said he thought the book could fetch five times that much at the Nov. 22-23 auction.

"These people came to Pickfair, and, when Mary travelled, she would take the book with her to get autographed. Those books are probably the most valuable and rare autograph books that I've ever seen come up for auction," he said.

He said that in 2006, a collection of 20 love letters written by Fairbanks to Pickford were sold for almost $30,000.

Dinnerware from parties thrown by the Hollywood couple for royalty and the leading minds of the times are also up for sale, along with paintings that graced the walls of Pickfair, furniture, photos and jewelry.

Mr. Julien said the auction contained the biggest collection to date from the Pickfair estate, where the screen star of Hollywood's Golden Age lived with Fairbanks and, later, her third husband, musician Buddy Rogers, for more than 50 years before her death in 1979.

The Pickfair estate, which has changed hands several times since Pickford's death and was rebuilt in the 1990s, was put up for sale in September with a $60 million asking price.

The items in the November auction come from the collection of Buddy Rogers, which was passed to his heirs. It is expected to raise a total of $400,000-$600,000.

Pickfair Estate Auction: They were the Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes of early 1900s Hollywood. Now you can own one of more than 700 pieces of fine art, furnishings and jewelry that graced the home, dubbed “Pickfair, owned by Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks.  

This amazing two-day auction, conducted by Julien’s Auctions, and broadcast live on Auction Network (auctionnetwork.com) will be held at the Beverly Hilton, Saturday, Nov. 22 and Sunday, Nov. 23, starting at 10am/8c both days.

Pickford was known as “America’s Sweetheart” during Hollywood’s Golden Age of silent films. Dinners there were legendary with guests including Charlie Chaplin, Albert Einstein, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.  

Some of the storied and exotic items from Pickfair up for bid include rare artworks such as two oil-on-canvas still life paintings by Paul de Longpre’ and Philip Mercier.

If you can’t make it to Los Angeles for this event, you can get a front-row seat on the Auction Network. Be sure to register now for this event. It’s free, and easy to Watch, Bid, and Win on Auction Network!

To register for this auction, click here.

DALLAS (AP) — A woman distraught over losing her house showed up to watch it auctioned off, but that wasn't the end of the story. Tracy Orr will return home after a stranger bought the house back for her Saturday.

"It means so much to all of us," Orr said. "It's not just a house."

Marilyn Mock said she decided on the spot to buy the house after striking up a conversation with a sobbing Orr at the auction Saturday. Mock was there to help her 27-year-old son bid on a house.

Mock successfully bid $30,000 for Orr's house in Pottsboro. Orr will make payments to her once the deal is finalized.

"She needed help. That was it," Mock said. "I just happened to be there, and anybody else would have done the same thing." 

Orr bought the house for $80,000 in 2004 but lost her job a month after taking out the loan. She fell behind on her payments and lost the house this year — an increasingly common story across the nation.

"She didn't even know if I had a job or was a nut case," Orr said in the Wednesday online edition of The Dallas Morning News. "She didn't even see a picture of the house."

The two are waiting on final approval from mortgage giant Fannie Mae before visiting the home. Mock's son also bought a house at the auction.

NEW YORK (Dennis Waszak Jr./AP) — Sold! For $16 million, 620 personal seat licenses for choice spots in the New York Jets' new stadium.

Team executives celebrated Tuesday as they announced the results of an unprecedented online PSL auction, though the nine-day sale occurred as the stock market plunged and more than two-thirds of the seats originally up for bid went unpurchased.

"The fact that the Jets have sold this many seats in a brand-new process, I think is absolutely amazing," team owner Woody Johnson told The Associated Press.

Bidding ended Monday night as the team initially auctioned 2,000 PSLs for the exclusive Coaches Club — located near the 50-yard line and behind the Jets' bench — on the ticketing Web site StubHub. It was the first time a U.S. sports team auctioned off PSLs online.

"We thought this was an unprecedented opportunity for fans to buy these seats and they stepped up and bought them," Johnson said. "It kind of validated our thought that there is value to a PSL because people paid a lot of money in the open market in a way that had never been done before."

The average winning bid was $26,000.

Buyers "have the vision to look over this deep valley we're in right now," Johnson said. "They can look out two years and look out for their kids and grandkids that come along and realize that this is kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy something for the long-term."

The highest bid came in the auction's final hours at $82,000 for front-row seats around the 45-yard line.

"That was the cherry on top," said Matt Higgins, the team's executive vice president of business operations.

The next-highest winning bids were: $65,100, $61,100, $60,500 and $55,500, while the lowest was $10,500.

"In terms of what we did, we're very happy with what occurred, extremely happy," Johnson said.

StubHub, an eBay company, also was pleased with the results of the auction after dealing in the past with fixed pricing for events.

"It was unique and groundbreaking, and that was one thing we knew going in and unlike something StubHub had supported in the past," spokesman Sean Pate said. "It was an extremely huge success for us on a number of levels. Certainly, the overall output from the auction and the results that the Jets realized were very exciting for us."

Pate said the auction became more manageable when the Jets scaled back on the number of PSLs they made available to bid on. "There was literally a surplus of supplies," he said. "Once it was determined that there was a better opportunity to scale it back, the prices shot up and were very healthy."

The Jets were still analyzing data from the auction and were uncertain of the nature of the winning bidders, but believed it was a mix of fans and corporate buyers.

"The types of fans willing to shell out this kind of money are probably secure, or hopefully secure, with their economic futures and what they have and what they can spend," said Jon Greenberg, executive editor of the Chicago-based Team Marketing Report. "These types of deals aren't for everyone. Obviously, they're not for the average fan."

Given the tough economy, some financial analysts said they'd be surprised if most of the winning bidders weren't corporations.

"They use them for marketing and advertising purposes and as an investment," said Bernard Baumohl, managing director of The Economic Outlook Group in Princeton, N.J. "If there was evidence that it was individuals and not mostly corporations that bid that high, I'd be shocked."

The Jets are offering winning bidders five- and 15-year financing plans to pay for all PSLs, including those that have not yet gone on sale. The team is planning to sell the remaining PSLs over the next several months.

The online event was kicked off at an auction preview party Oct. 16 at The Four Seasons restaurant in Manhattan, where the winning bid for a pair of PSLs on the 50-yard line was $200,000 per seat.

Winning bidders also have to pay $700 for each Jets game ticket, but they'll have the opportunity to leave their seats in the stands and watch the game from a fenced-off section of the field 5 yards behind the Jets' bench, or from a bar and lounge area directly behind them.

"I think you'll really feel like you're part of the team and you're really going to know the coach, really going to know the team," Johnson said. "This is for the fan who wants the best, expects the best and will be getting the best."

In August, the Jets announced their PSL plan, including for seats that weren't in the auction. They'll cost some season-ticket holders between $4,000 and $25,000, but spares 27,000 upper-level seats from the new fee.

"There were fans that have expressed some feelings initially without really knowing that we've left a third of the stadium PSL-less," Johnson said.

The Giants' most expensive PSLs will be sold at $20,000 per seat, but they are imposing a $1,000 fee for the upper-level seats that are spared in the Jets' plan.

• The Telegraph gets “crude” when it comes to 30-year-old jokes from Price Charles and Camilla.

• Got $40 million laying around for an Edgar Degas?

• The Baltimore Sun questions whether eBay has forgotten its roots?

• The Wall Street Journal examines a not so pretty picture.

• Titanic survivor stays a float by parting with memorabilia.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (Oct. 20, 2008) — For seven decades the world invited Bob Hope into their homes like he was family. "Audiences are my best friends," he liked to say. "You never tire of talking with your best friends."
 
And those friends, both famous and private, turned out in Beverly Hills, Calif., this weekend to pay respects bidding on 680 lots of the entertainer's memorabilia, including costumes, clothing, sports, presidential and movie related items, as well as furniture and decorations.

In two days of the Julien’s auction at the Beverly Hilton $601,000 was raised for the Bob and Delores Hope Charitable Foundation.
 
During the preview party on Friday night (Oct. 17), Jane Russell recalled stories of working with her Paleface co-star while Bob Hope Desert Classic host and funnyman George Lopez ogled Hope's putters and golf caps.

"They were both fanatical golfers," said producer Ann Lopez, George's wife, in an interview with The Associated Press. "George hosted the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic for two years. He wants to wear the hats on the course to keep Mr. Hope out there in spirit, still golfing."
 
The Lopezes were but two of hundreds of fans and dealers who bid from the floor and online through auctionnetwork.com.

Hosting with Tava Smiley and joined by Worthpoint.com's Christopher Kent, we watched repeatedly as bidding wars broke out in cyberspace. Every item sold, a tribute to Hope's continued relevance five years after passing away at age 100.
 
As seen in past celebrity auctions, the items that represented the most important and/or unique moments of Hope's career and the ones that were most intimate to his personal life also tended to be the items that bidders sought out and brought the highest prices. And, as also seen in prior sales, estimates were only a loose guideline because each individual item had it's own "celebrity factor" which could only be determined in the final bidding.
 
Named Entertainer of the 20th Century, Hope performed and socialized regularly for presidents and royalty. Therefore, it was no surprise that a personally inscribed photo of occasional golf partners Duke and Duchess of Windsor sold for $27,500 (estimate $300-$500) and presidential cufflinks (lot 101) gifted to Hope with a personal letter his from close friend Richard "Dick" Nixon (who appreciated Hope's continued loyalty after his 1973 presidential resignation) reached $10,000 ($1,000-$1500). A photo of Nixon and Hope putting in the White House (lot 95) and another (lot 98) inscribed by Nixon ("To Bob Hope / Like Me, He Nose All!" / From Dick Nixon) settled at $5,000 ($400-$600).
 
Hope first met Dwight D. Eisenhower when he was a general leading the Allied Forces in North Africa in 1943 and Hope's USO tour stopped in Algiers to entertain the troops. Terrorized by a 10 1/2 hour bombing raid plus their unbounded passion for golf bonded the two together for life. While Eisenhower signed photos have generally sold at auction in the mid-hundreds, this one-of-a-kind World War II vintage photo (lot 86), inscribed to Hope, rose to $5,500 ($800-$1,200).
 
Hope's paneled personal executive power desk (lot 550), which he sat behind for 50 years, sold for $18,750 ($5,000-$7,000). "Presidents sat in front of it and Mr. Hope conducted countless meetings from behind it," said Darren Julien. "Everyone cheered when it sold. It wasn't the most expensive item, but it was the most exciting sale."

A Louis Saphier oil on canvas portrait of Hope that hung in the office (lot 546) found a new home at $16,300  ($1,000-$1,500).

While our used suitcases would be handed down or thrown out, Hope's well traveled Gucci travel bag rolled to $7,500 ($200-$300), many times for what it sold for new!
 
In 1932 Hope first met Bing Crosby when they played a bill at the Capitol Theater together. Hope later said, "It was love at first sight. We started to insult each other from the moment we met."

When Hope moved to Los Angeles in 1937, the duo’s impromptu shows at Crosby's Del Mar Turb Club prompted Paramount producers to pair them for first Road To … movie, igniting a partnership that lasted through seven movies and innumerable golf matches.

A 1951 Crosby handwritten letter that addressed Hope as "Dear Flab" jiggled to $5,000 ($600-$800); a gold tone money clip gift to Hope (lot 486) finished at $3,750 ($1,000-$1,500) and a 1962 script for the Bing Crosby Show (lot 490) exited at $4,800 ($200-$300).
 
Fans bid on more than 150 lots of Hope sports memorabilia, possibly hoping that some magic would rub off on them.

A Tiffany sterling silver putter (lot 177), given to Hope on his 95th birthday by NBC dropped at $9,100 ($2,000-$3,000) while a special putter featuring a paper mache caricature head of Hope (lot 170) reached $11,950 ($700-$900).
 
Lot 423, a Johnny Carson Friars Club Roast program from 1974 signed by a who's who of stars (Jimmy Stewart, George Burns, Dinah Shore, etc.) estimated at $500-$700, rose to $10,800. Signed photos of Lucille Ball generally sell in the $50-$300 range, but this photo (lot 347), with blacked out teeth, sold for $6,562, thanks to this unique inscription: "For Rapid Robert / Because he appreciates beauty." A giant photo of Hope in top hat and tails (lot 466), signed by dozens of stars and gifted to Hope in 1992, hoofed to $7,500 ($500-$700).
 
The flip side is that in large sales such as this, there is always something for everyone. Here fans could find many items to win in the $200-$700 range including lots of teaching golf clubs, putters, hats, shoes, shirts, ties, decorations, fan gifts, signed college team and All-America footballs, fishing poles and even pairs of Hope's USO Army boots!
 
In this sale, a 1970s era Nudie designed rhinestone cowboy suit worn by Hope in an NBC special with Barbara Mandrell (lot 407), sold for only $4,800, which is probably what it cost new. Granted, the wagon wheel motif was a little over the top, but Nudie designed iconic outfits for Hank Williams, Elvis and Johnny Cash and it was a featured item in the sale, so it was surprising that it didn't receive more interest.

Likewise, with most of the cufflink lots selling in the thousands, I thought that the pair of record shaped cufflinks gifted by Tony Bennett to Hope in 1951 as a thank you gift (lot 348) would far exceed the selling price of $4,650, particularly since Hope discovered the young Joe Bari in a Greenwich Village club, convinced him to shorten his name from Benedetto and took Tony on the road with him.
 
It is the unpredictability that makes auctions exciting. Bidders fight to get what they want and sometimes they also get souvenirs of their favorite stars for less than dinner at a fancy restaurant. No one knows exactly what is going to happen until it's all over and when it's all said and done, it's the bidders who decide the market.
 
In the end, this weekend sale was a great celebration of fans saying to Hope … "Thanks for the Memories."

Behind the Byline: Through her auctions at Sotheby's and her own business, collectibles specialist Leila Dunbar has rumaged through the closets, attics and cellars of some of the most famous entertainers and athletes ever, including Katharine Hepburn, Johhny Cash, Cher, Wilt Chamberlain and Billy Martin selling more than $75 million in memorabilia. Currently Leila, when she is not doing color commentary for Auction Network, handles appraisals, consults with private clients and institutions, and offers management and auctioneering services for all types of collectibles. Like Hope, Leila grew up a sports fan, rooting for her native Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and Bruins. Also, like Hope, Leila fell in love with golf, and has three-putted at historic courses such as Merion and Pinehurst. Leila can be reached at leiladunbar@aol.com.  

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (Oct. 17, 2008) — Born in the United Kingdom, Bob Hope immigrated to the United States during his childhood and immediately fell in love with American baseball and football. At 16, he briefly boxed as a lightweight under the name Packy East when his friend Whitey had taken Packy West.

However, it was golf that was Hope’s ultimate passion, so much so that he often said, "Golf is my profession. Show business is just to pay the green fees."

The 200-plus lots of signed footballs, basketballs, baseballs, putters, markers, tees, shoes and hats (some that would make Elton John blush), clothing and fishing equipment in session two of the Hope estate auction, plus clubs and mounted fish in session four, reveal Hope as a lifelong avid sportsman.

The vast majority of clubs in the sale are putters, mostly gifts from friends such as Ted Weiner and Bob Goldwater, or pros who were also club makers, such a Toney Penna and Otey Crisman or as thank yous from fundraising organizations such as Cornell’s Phi Delta Epsilon medical fraternity.

Raised in Cleveland and after he became a star, Hope bought part of the Cleveland Indians from 1947-58, just in time to see them win the championship in 1948 and make it back to the World Series in 1954.

Hope's four decades of NBC Christmas specials were highlighted by his introductions of the Associated Press All-America college football players. Hope would meet each of the players on the stage, introduce them individually, and tell a joke about them. He also made time to see games during his travels, especially during his college campus tours from the 1960s-80s.

But golf was the ultimate obsession.

In 1930, when Hope first started playing golf, clubs were still hickory shafted and called colorful names as “brassie,” “mashie,” and “niblick.” There were no pro-ams.

In six decades of playing, Hope estimated that he “had three-putted on more than 2,000 courses worldwide.” At his best, coached by pro legend Ben Hogan, his handicap was down to a 4 and over the years Hope scored five holes-in-one, one of which may be lot 220; unfortunately the ink has faded so that the writing is illegible.

The course was his personal playground, where he played with 11 presidents, royalty, as well athletes from all sports, celebrities and the wealthy.

"It's wonderful how you can start out with three strangers in the morning, play 18 holes, and by the time the day is over you have three solid enemies," Hope once quipped.

Among his favorites (besides Crosby, with whom he played many rounds in fundraisers) were Arnold Palmer and Jerry Ford, to whom he devoted an entire chapter in Confessions of a Hooker – My Lifelong Love Affair with Golf, calling President Ford, "the man who made golf a contact sport" with his frequent errant shots into the gallery at the Desert Classic.

In 1965, Hope found a way to get all of his friends together when he lent his name to Bob Hope Chrysler (Desert) Classic. Held every January, the unique five-day, 90-hole event was played over five golf courses. The $5 million purse draws the tour's largest field with 136 pros and three times as many amateurs, including names like Michael Bolton, Mark Wahlberg and Samuel L. Jackson.

"The Classic is the only event in the world where guys can get money out of the desert without drilling for oil," he once said. It has also raised more than $35 million for the Eisenhower Medical Center and 70 other area charities.

Hope was honored repeatedly for his humanitarian work related to golf, including a plaque featuring a profile of Hope at the World Golf Hall of Fame, which reads: "Known by his nose, applauded for his humor, envied for his wit and loved by millions for his unselfish concern for all beings, Bob Hope is truly a one-of-a-kind. He popularized golf to the unknowing, sponsored it for charity and played it for fun. Not a golf champion, but a great champion of golf."

Behind the Byline: Through her auctions at Sotheby's and her own business, collectibles specialist Leila Dunbar has rumaged through the closets, attics and cellars of some of the most famous entertainers and athletes ever, including Katharine Hepburn, Johhny Cash, Cher, Wilt Chamberlain and Billy Martin selling more than $75 million in memorabilia. Currently Leila, when she is not doing color commentary for Auction Network, handles appraisals, consults with private clients and institutions, and offers management and auctioneering services for all types of collectibles. Like Hope, Leila grew up a sports fan, rooting for her native Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and Bruins. Also, like Hope, Leila fell in love with golf, and has three-putted at historic courses such as Merion and Pinehurst. Leila can be reached at leiladunbar@aol.com.

Bob Hope Estate Auction: Collector and museum quality items from the life, career and estate of the legendary Bob Hope will be sold during a live televised and real-time online auction presented by the Auction Network (auctionnetwork.com) on Oct. 18-19, 2008 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Proceeds from this auction will benefit the Bob and Dolores Hope Charitable Foundation. Hope's extraordinary career spanned Vaudeville, Broadway, radio, television and film, and his numerous USO tours to entertain U.S. military troops earned him the admiration of generations of fans around the world.

Highlights include: a one page letter dated October 23, 1943 from Bette Davis to Hope; a red and white feathered Indian headdress worn by Hope on the cover of Life Magazine on May 11, 1962; a Movado watch inscribed "To Bob Hope in sincere appreciation — The Cleveland Press Christmas Show 1944"; and a turquoise western suit made by Nudies of North Hollywood and worn by Hope on several television shows including Barbara Mandrell, Mandrell Sisters Show and Ann Margaret Rhinestone Special.  

To register for this auction, click here.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (Oct. 16, 2008) — The scene: Any United States armed forces installation around the globe. Les Brown’s Band of Renown kicks into gear and out comes Bob Hope on stage, swinging a golf club, outfitted in jacket and hat from the troop he is entertaining. Thousands of soldiers, many who look as if they aren’t old enough to drive, start to cheer. There’s a monologue, a duet with the girl guest star, dance numbers, lots of laughs, a gentle pause in a violent conflict.

Welcome to a Bob Hope USO show (circa 1942, 1968 or 1990) depending on the war and the jokes.

Hope once estimated that in 50 years he and his troupe traveled 10 million miles to entertain several generations of servicemen stationed worldwide. When one considers that he also starred in radio, movies, television and on stage and performed for other charitable causes, it’s amazing that he had the stamina to continue at this pace for so long.

“If I had my life to live over again, I wouldn't have time," he once joked.

Instead of decals on his suitcase, the Hope estate is offering more than 70 lots of USO tour related memorabilia, including worn army boots and costumes, hats and caps, photos, patches, badges, pins and gifts from grateful soldiers.

Although Hope was born in England, he adored his adopted country.

After the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, during a radio broadcast Hope declared, "There is no need to tell a nation to keep smiling when it's never stopped. It is that ability to laugh the makes us the great people that we are … Americans!"

At the suggestion of Al Capstaff, his NBC radio producer, Hope made his first GI broadcast at March Field, Calif., on May 6, 1941.

In 1942, Hope joined 20 other major stars, including Groucho Marx, Bing Crosby and Cary Grant on the Victory Caravan, touring the country raising funds for the Army and Navy Relief Funds. He followed with his own tour for a 65-show run.

Lyle Morain, one of Hope's former stand-ins who had joined the armed forces, asked the comedian to make a tour of Alaskan Army bases. Hope enlisted his radio cohorts Frances Langford, Jerry Colonna and guitarist Tony Romano among others, which became the nucleus of the variety show that Hope took to Europe, North Africa and the Far East during the war.

In 1944 alone, Hope’s South Pacific tour logged more than 30,000 miles and 150 performances. Along with the regulars, Hope took Patty Thomas, a young dancer. Standing next to a skimpily clad Thomas, Hope cracked, "I just want you boys to remember what you're fighting for." This began a tradition of attractive female guest stars that ranged from Doris Day and Jayne Mansfield to Barbara Eden and Brooke Shields.

The first Bob Hope Christmas USO tour was in 1948, performing for the servicemen who participated in the Berlin Airlift. For the next 34 years, Hope and company (which included Les Brown’s big band) spent Decembers visiting military bases and veteran hospitals, filming specials from all parts of the world, which were televised on NBC from 1954-91.
  
Hope's 1970 and 1971 Christmas specials, filmed in Vietnam at the height of the war were seen by more than 60 percent of U.S. households.

Hope’s tours during conflicts often put his cast near the frontlines, particularly in Vietnam, but on stage he tossed it off. In 1968, at Long Binh Post, he quipped “I planned to spend Christmas in the States, but I can’t stand violence.”

However, daughter Linda Hope couldn’t remember her father joking about his own mortality in private. "He was in Vietnam and had some close calls. He always said, 'When it happens, it happens.'”
  
Hope’s total focus was on entertaining the servicemen.

"He once said that as long as there are troops in a combat area, he could not in good conscience not go," said his USO show writer-director Mort Lachman.

And those soldiers adored Hope for his efforts.

Lt. Col. Timothy Mundy, 38, was stationed with the Marines in Saudi Arabia in 1990 just before the Gulf War broke out. "They'd gathered 201,000 Marines, all pulled up in a half circle around a makeshift stage. Bob came out with his wife and told a few jokes. I thought about my dad (retired Marine Corps general Carl E. Mundy Jr., 68) seeing this guy in Vietnam, and here I am, 24 years later, and Hope is still doing it. It was remarkable."

Behind the Byline: Through her auctions at Sotheby's and her own business, collectibles specialist Leila Dunbar has rumaged through the closets, attics and cellars of some of the most famous entertainers and athletes ever, including Katharine Hepburn, Johhny Cash, Cher, Wilt Chamberlain and Billy Martin selling more than $75 million in memorabilia. Currently Leila, when she is not doing color commentary for Auction Network, handles appraisals, consults with private clients and institutions, and offers management and auctioneering services for all types of collectibles. Leila can be reached at leiladunbar@aol.com.

Bob Hope Estate Auction: Collector and museum quality items from the life, career and estate of the legendary Bob Hope will be sold during a live televised and real-time online auction presented by the Auction Network (auctionnetwork.com) on Oct. 18-19, 2008 at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Proceeds from this auction will benefit the Bob and Dolores Hope Charitable Foundation. Hope's extraordinary career spanned Vaudeville, Broadway, radio, television and film, and his numerous USO tours to entertain U.S. military troops earned him the admiration of generations of fans around the world.

Highlights include: a one page letter dated October 23, 1943 from Bette Davis to Hope; a red and white feathered Indian headdress worn by Hope on the cover of Life Magazine on May 11, 1962; a Movado watch inscribed "To Bob Hope in sincere appreciation — The Cleveland Press Christmas Show 1944"; and a turquoise western suit made by Nudies of North Hollywood and worn by Hope on several television shows including Barbara Mandrell, Mandrell Sisters Show and Ann Margaret Rhinestone Special.  

To register for this auction, click here.