Phyllis Diller wore this outfit, including the red and white Santa dress with belt, a pair of red panties, red pantyhose, white gloves, and a head band with a white pompom at the end of a rod, when she joined Bob Hope’s USO tour of the Persian Gulf in 1987. Other members of the 1987 tour included I Dream of Jeannie actress Barbara Eden, Connie Stevens and her daughters Joely and Tricia Leigh Fisher, “God Bless the USA” singer Lee Greenwood, and Miss USA Michelle Royer.
Diller was lifelong friends with Bob Hope, co-starring with him in 3 films and many TV specials. In 1978, the USO of Philadelphia, Inc. awarded Diller the USO Liberty Bell Award “for demonstrating concern for the welfare and morale of America’s armed forces.” The award is also at NMAH (Catalog Number 2003.0289.42).
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