Al Capone's legend of bootlegging, gangland slayings and tax evasion lives on more than 60 years after the Chicago gangster's death. Now comes a footnote that is a sign of the times: foreclosure.

A Wisconsin lodge that may have been one of Capone's old hideouts goes on the auction block this week with a starting bid of $2.6 million.

The two-story stone lodge, tucked away on 407 acres in Couderay, Wis., was owned by the Capone family in the 1920s. It will be auctioned Thursday on the steps of the Sawyer County Courthouse, three hours from Minneapolis, Minn., according to an ad in the Chicago Tribune.

The property includes a 37-acre lake and eight-car garage.

The Tribune ad was placed in September by the Chippewa Valley Bank. The property,owned by Hideout Inc. owner Guy Houston, went into foreclosure in April 2008. The Houston family purchased the property in the 1950s and transformed the home into a touist spot. Visitors paid a few dollars for a walking tour of Capone's reputed hideout. The lodge is fortified with stone walls at least a foot thick and a guard tower. There is a separate facility that resembles a jail on site.

A rare leather-bound book that played an influential role in America's early history could bring a windfall for a soldier training for his second tour in Iraq.

Indiana National Guard Capt. Nathan Harlan was a high school junior when he paid $7 for a 1788 first edition of volume one of The Federalist — a two-volume book of essays calling for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

Harlan, a 35-year-old from Granger, Ind., said he always thought his find might be worth about $500, not the thousands it could fetch when it's sold online Tuesday by Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas.

"I'm really hoping it goes for $100,000, but I'm not holding my breath," he told The Associated Press.

The divorced father of three was 16 when he bought the 227-page book in 1990 after his mother spotted it among book stacks as they browsed at a South Bend, Ind., flea market.

Harlan's high school history class happened to be discussing The Federalist — also known as The Federalist Papers — that same week, so he knew the book was special.

The two-volume set was published months after the Constitution was drafted in September 1787 in Philadelphia. Its collected essays helped rally support for ratifying the document that provided the federal government's framework, said Mark Dimunation, chief of the rare book and special collections division at The Library of Congress.

The essays were penned by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, all of whom used the same pseudonym to focus attention on their pro-ratification arguments.

"It's one of the great political documents to come out of America," Dimunation said. "And the favorite parlor game of the late 18th century was who wrote which essay."

The coin world is abuzz over the auction of a rare silver dollar, one of the most valuable in the world and one of only 15 known to exist from a never-circulated group made for the likes of the King of Siam and the Sultan of Muscat.

The 1804 Adams-Carter silver dollar fetched more than $2 million in a private sale two years ago and is expected to top that again this week. The coin has been owned by a Boston banker, a Texas publishing mogul and by a collector who sold everything to help build a church school in Ohio.

The auction is a major happening for collectors — even ones who can't afford the expected price tag — partly because it will be a rare opportunity to see the coin. It's the highlight of the Central States Numismatic Society Convention that runs Wednesday through Saturday in Cincinnati. Anyone registered to bid on any item in the auction may view the coin, and that could number in the thousands, said Todd Imhof of Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas.

Joe Barrett, co-owner of three Rare Coin Gallery shops in the Cincinnati area, compared the convention to a movie buff's visit to a film museum, with Kevin Costner as tour guide.

"For coin people, it doesn't get any better than this," Barrett said. "For young collectors, this is an opportunity to see things they wouldn't get a chance to see otherwise."

Beth Deisher, editor of Coin World magazine, suggested the valuable coin may not be seen in public for another 50 years.

"It's a rare coin that has a great story," she said.

Coin Values magazine rates the 1804 Adams-Carter silver dollar as the seventh most valuable coin in the world. The most valuable is a 1933 $20 double eagle that sold for $7.6 million in 2002.

Wax statues are a lot like a Barry Manilow concert.

There’s the cool aspect ... like seeing one of the all-time great singer-songwriters crooning through hits like “I Write the Songs,” “Mandy” and “Weekend in New England” with an energy that belies his 65 years and one or two cosmetic procedures. At the same time, there’s something also very icky about watching soccer moms catfight ladies in moo-moos while “Tryin’ to Get the Feeling.”  

And while Manilow fans will have to remain content waiting to see him on Oprah or at the Las Vegas Hilton, wax fans have the chance to take a little weirdness home with them.

The Hollywood Wax Museum is letting go of nearly 200 representations including Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch, Marilyn Monroe, cast of M.A.S.H., Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice and Batman, President Bill Clinton and even St. Louis Cardinals slugger/juicer Mark McGwire. The first auction in the museum’s 44-year history is set for May 1, 2009. A portion of the profits will support efforts to preserve Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.

And while some of the statues are showing their age, what guy is going to let a little chipping on Catwoman’s gloves keep him from wanting to take a body suit wearing Michelle Pfeiffer home?


 

Cowan's Auctions, located in Cincinnait, is preparing to hawk what its staff says would be the highest-priced firearm to be sold at auction in Ohio history.

The antique gun is an 1886 model Winchester rifle that was the favorite of many turn-of-the century sportsmen, including President Theodore Roosevelt. The .33-caliber weapon, designed by famed firearms pioneer John Browning, was known for its "buttery" smooth firing action. It was commissioned by American auto magnate John F. Dodge and delivered in 1913 but never fired. Dodge wanted it as a piece of art.

The rifle features inlay wood carvings of a buck, doe and fawn on one side of the receiver (the base of the barrel) and a bull-moose and cow on the other. The animal recesses are filled with some of the 195 grams (6.8 ounces) of gold that are on the rifle. The 1886 is one of two high-profile pieces commissioned by Dodge that will be auctioned at 10 a.m. April 29 at Cowan's in Winton Place. The event is open to the public.

Firearms expert Jack Lewis at Cowan's said the Winchester, consigned from a family in a Southern state, will fetch a minimum sale price of $400,000. Bids could go as high as $600,000.

That, Lewis said, would make the Winchester the highest-priced firearm sold at auction in Ohio (and that doesn't include a 15 percent buyer's premium, which is added to the high bid). The previous high is thought to be Sitting Bull's Whitney Revolver, sold for $120,750 at auction Nov. 17, 2005, at Cowan's.

Ever since the small, leather-encased oval daguerreotype of someone who looks like a young Abraham Lincoln surfaced a few years ago, experts have been arguing about it. If the picture, made around 1843, is of the 16th President, it would be Lincoln's first likeness, predating a daguerreotype in the Library of Congress that was made between 1846 and 1849. It would be a major historical discovery.

The image in question, known as the Hay Wadsworth daguerreotype, has thus faced all kinds of scrutiny: by a forensic anthropologist, a criminal identification specialist, a photographer who ''aged'' the image by computer and two medical experts who analyzed the vein pattern in the subject's hand. Most of them think it is Lincoln.

But skeptics persist, led by the doubter-in-chief, Lloyd Ostendorf, 77, of Akron, Ohio, the surviving co-author of Lincoln in Photographs (Morningside Press, 1985). ''I have no questions about what that is, and it's not Lincoln,'' he said, reeling off a dozen physical characteristics, from the big, sharp nose to the too-small ears, that do not match Lincoln's.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

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DALLAS (AP) — A Texas museum hopes a document found in its archives turns out to be an authentic government copy of Abraham Lincoln's eloquent letter consoling a mother thought to have lost five sons in the Civil War.

The famed Bixby Letter, which the Dallas Historical Society is getting appraised as it prays for a potential windfall, has a fascinating history.

The original has never been found. Historians debate whether Lincoln wrote it. Its recipient, Lydia Bixby, was no fan of the president. And not all her sons died in the war.

The letter, written with "the best of intentions" 144 years ago next week, is "considered one of the finest pieces of American presidential prose," said Alan Olson, curator for the Dallas group. "It's still a great piece of writing, regardless of the truth in the back story."
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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.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (Oct. 15, 2008) — Bob Hope once claimed, "I have performed for 12 presidents and entertained six."

We’ll never know which six (ha!), but it's safe to say that Hope's tenure as the nation's No. 1 patriotic comedian outlasted them all, from FDR to GW. He sang for Harry Truman and played golf with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon and Ford.

In 1996, Hope published a collection of presidential humor called Dear Prez, I Wanna Tell Ya, and that November, he aired his 284th television special for NBC, Bob Hope Laughing with the Presidents. The show featured appearances by President and Mrs. Clinton, President and Mrs. Bush, President and Mrs. Ford, Julie Nixon and David Eisenhower.

In the first session of the Hope auction (Oct. 18) there are about 30 presidential related lots up for bid, not counting lots of patriotic related memorabilia. Here is an eagle eye look at some of Hope's favorite commanders in chiefs and their relationships.

Hope met General Dwight D. Eisenhower in the summer of 1943 when the Victory Caravan (the first title for the USO tours) traveled to North Africa. Despite assurances from the general after the show ("You're perfectly safe here, we haven't had a bombing raid in three months."), that night Hope and his troupe had to huddle in a bomb shelter while waves of German Junkers hit Algiers with a 10 ½ hour blitz.

In 1946, Eisenhower honored Hope for his wartime entertaining with the nation's highest civilian award -- the Medal of Merit. Lot 86 is an Eisenhower signed photograph, in uniform, "To Bob Hope with appreciation for a great job in national office / Dwight Eisenhower."

Their friendship grew through Eisenhower's reluctant presidency.

"I happen to know why he's running for president," quipped Hope. "It's the only way he can get out of the Army. If he slices the budget like he slices a (golf) ball, the nation has nothing to worry about."

During Lyndon Johnson's presidency Hope made numerous USO trips to the troops fighting in Vietnam. On his last morning in office, Johnson awarded Hope the Presidential Medal of Freedom with a citation that read: "With his gifts of joy to all the American people, he has written his name large in the history of our times."

For many years Hope was a relatively closeted Republican as his barbs extended to all parties. However, Hope and Richard Nixon began their long close friendship when Nixon was vice president. In 1972, Hope openly campaigned for Nixon for presidential re-election, appearing at fundraisers and on talk shows.

Lot 95 shows Hope and Nixon putting in the White House. Ward Grant, who worked for Hope for 28 years, remembered Nixon dropping in on the Hopes at their Toluca Lake home.

"Nixon landed his [presidential] helicopter in Bob's backyard," Grant recalled. "Nixon said, 'Do you mind if we park here?' Then they went over to [a local course] to play golf."

Like Chevy Chase, Hope loved to lampoon Gerald Ford's occasional lapses in athleticism. In fact, he titled a chapter “Gerald Ford: The Man Who Made Golf A Contact Sports” in his book Confessions of a Hooker – My Lifelong Love Affair With Golf.

From playing 15-20 rounds a year with Ford, largely in PGA Pro-Ams, Hope got lots of material.

"It's not hard to find Jerry Ford on a golf course; you just follow the wounded."

"You all know Jerry Ford -- the most dangerous driver since Ben Hur."

Ford did rebut Hope: "I would like to deny all allegations by Bob Hope that during my last game I hit a birdie and an eagle, an elk and a moose."

Lots 126 and 127, a signed golf group photo with Ford and a money clip from Ford's tournament, show their shared love of the game.

Hope and Ronald Reagan were bonded by their early Hollywood ties, as can be seen in lot 88, an inscribed group photo of Reagan's homecoming in 1941 to Dixon, Ill.

Hope contributed to Reagan's California governor campaign, giving his own support. "Ronald Reagan is not a typical politician because he doesn't know how to lie, cheat, and steal. He's always had an agent do that."

As governor and president, Reagan sent Hope numerous thank you letters and telegrams (lots 89, 90, 91) for Hope's charitable work.

The Reagans attended Hope's 80th birthday party in 1983 at the Kennedy Center. Hope quipped, "Ronnie's hero is Calvin Coolidge and Nancy's is Calvin Klein." In 1997, Nancy Reagan presented Hope with the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award.

When Bill Clinton was elected to the White House, Hope welcomed him with the comment, "Clinton loves to make long speeches," Hope said. "In fact, this inaugural address will be the first with an intermission."

Like those before him, Clinton honored Hope’s work repeatedly, including the Jonas Salk Humanitarian Award (lot 118) as well as a resolution making Hope an Honorary Veteran -- the first individual so honored in the history of the United States.

Despite being targets of his jokes, it's obvious that the men in the Oval Office appreciated Hope's comic contributions. After Hope's death in 2003, Clinton remarked that he "leaves a matchless legacy of laughs." And golf partner Ford called Hope "one of the premier entertainers of all time."

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.