Whenever Bob Hope came to Washington D.C. he would stay at the Shoreham Hotel in Suite B120. I know this because I used to work there. I saw him there in the lobby on several occasions. He would always go see Mark Russell the local comedian who performed nightly in the Marquee Lounge right off the main lobby. Russel had a joke back then about Bob Hope going to Angola to entertain our money. Angola got our money but not our troops.
In September of 1976 the new Playboy magazine featured among other things nude pictures of Elizabeth Ray who was in the news then along with congressman Wayne Hays from Ohio.
Before starting work that day I went in the gift shop to take a look at the September issue of Playboy and Elizabeth Ray. It was very crowded in the hotel that day. We had some large conventions going on so the gift shop was crowded shoulder to shoulder in a very small space. I was standing in front of the magazine rack looking at a copy of Playboy and intently focused on Elizabeth Ray. I felt a sharp blow to my rib section. I looked over an much to my surprise there was Bob Hope standing next to me. Now either he wanted me to get out of the way so he could get a copy or he was just mad that I had not recognized him and was not paying any attention to him. Maybe it was both those reasons he elbowed me in the ribs. I put the magazine back on the rack and moved out of the way without saying anything.
Here is some information on Elizabeth Ray.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Ray
