Collectibles

Now that Dolores Hope has passed away, Bob Hope’s massive collection of WWII and Nazi memorabilia worth millions will be sold, and collectors are already licking their chops. The collection has long been housed in a vault in Palm Springs, and it’s legendary among knowledgeable dealers. Hope was in Europe performing with the USO for years, and he was given many souvenirs by the allied forces at the end of WWII. These included personal property confiscated from captured Nazis- – uniforms, medals, weapons, I.D.cards – even Hitler’s stationery. Some of the rare articles – like Hope’s Nazi decanter, were left behind in Hitler’s bunker after allied troops overran it. Bob was certainly never a Nazi sympathizer, but he saw the historic value of the items he collected. Dolores didn’t want to deal with the valuable collection while she was alive even though Jesse James, among others, made attempts to buy it. (Above, Bob and Dolores in 1939 in the S.S, Normandie on their way to Europe.)