Bob Hope items will be auctioned

A foot-high cowboy hat from “Paleface.” An autographed photo of Lucille Ball with some teeth blackened out. A money clip from Jack Benny.

These were a few of Bob Hope’s favorite things.

Nearly 800 items of Hope history, from foolishness to fine art, will be sold at a mid-October charity auction commissioned by the family of the famed comedian, who died in 2003 at age 100.

“Dad was a pack rat,” daughter Linda Hope says. “He loved to collect things.

“Even when he wasn’t conscious of collecting, people would give him things. They would be brought home, listed, photographed and placed in storage. There are 11,000 items in his memorabilia collection.”

Now keeper of the family flame, Linda, 68, announced the Bob Hope Estate Auction on a recent sunny morning at the comedian’s longtime compound in North Hollywood – 7 acres of mansion, office building, swimming pool, greenery and golf course.

“A lot of the things will go to the Library of Congress,” she said. “Most of the paper goods will be going there, scripts and photographs and other things that Dad donated before he died.”

Going on 99, Hope’s widow, Dolores, still keeps a close eye on the family business.

“Mother agreed that (the auction) would be the thing to do, and we got an agreement from the Library of Congress,” Linda Hope said. “We decided that after giving important gifts to museums, there was still a lot of wonderful stuff that people could enjoy.”

Some of the items will be shipped to Hope’s native England in September on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 so passengers – and prospective bidders – can get an advance look.

They also will be displayed in Ireland, one of Hope’s favorite countries to visit. All items will be returned to Los Angeles for the actual auction in October.

For those who can’t make the cruise or get to County Kildare, the collection will be displayed online and proxy bids taken beginning Sept. 1 at www.juliensauctions.com.

Hope’s connection with the Queen Mary dates back to the late 1930s, Linda Hope explained.

“Dad took my mother to England on the first Queen Mary so she could meet his grandfather, who was just shy of 100 years old,” she said. “They were scared to death on the trip back because the Germans had started torpedoing English ships.”

In the years that followed, Hope sailed to Europe aboard the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth 2 on numerous occasions, performing in the ships’ lounges and practicing golf drives from the upper decks.

Predictably, the collection of auction items is heavy on Hope’s beloved golf:

•A pair of red-and-white golf shoes marked “Made for Bob Hope.” (“I don’t know who would have the courage to wear those,” Linda quipped. )

•A golf bag jammed with clubs from various pros. (“It seemed that every time he met a golf pro with golf clubs, they would send them to him.”)

•A huge golf cap the size of a large pizza. (“He enjoyed having fun with golf and had pretty outlandish outfits.”)

Hollywood, too, gets star billing with such items as:

•A letter from Ronald and Nancy Reagan, thanking Hope for appearing on a March of Dimes event and congratulating him on winning the Jonas Salk humanitarian award.

•A letter from Bette Davis during World War II thanking Hope for entertaining GIs at the Hollywood USO.

•A large sign for Hope’s parking space at NBC in nearby Burbank.

And then there’s just the stuff of Bob Hope:

•A set of small knives and forks once belonging to Queen Elizabeth II, which yes, Hope bought at a charity auction.

•A large metal suitcase, with signs of where it had been.

•A desk plaque that reads: “Bob Hope. Thanks for the Memories.”