Born in 1895, Herbert B. Miller was the son of the founder of the Miller Paint Company of Portland, Oregon. He was a member of the Amateur Cinema League, and an enthusiastic home moviemaker. He died in 1948. His son, Herbert G. Miller, appears as a child in many of the films and probably made the single one from the 1950s.
A collection of silent home movies which begins on 9.5mm in the 1920s, and continues on 16mm through the 1950s. Much of the collection is in black-and-white, but color films are also included, along with one that is tinted. Most of the footage is of family vacations, including Yellowstone National Park, Victoria, B.C., Mexico, Alaska, San Francisco, the Yosemite area, and the San Diego and San Francisco world's fairs. Trips around Oregon, include Mount Hood, the beach, Crater Lake, central Oregon, and the Columbia River Gorge. The collection also includes five short news and documentary films manufactured for the home market, including the explosion of the dirigible,
Several of the films have been edited with intertitles, possibly as gifts for friends of the Miller family. Notable among these is one featuring German-American members of the Turnverein at their gymnasium in Portland, Oregon. A few of the home movies were designated as Amateur Cinema League projects. Home movie titles were taken from labels on film cans and cassettes. One label on a 9.5mm film cassette notes Herbert B. Miller's first use of Pathex camera and film.
The films are individually numbered and have been organized into three series:
Preview videotapes are available for 16mm home movies.
The 16mm home movies are available to the public through videotape viewing copies. Viewing tapes can be made for the commercial films upon request. The 9.5mm home movies are unavailable for viewing until conservation has been completed.
The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library before any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.
Herbert B. Miller Motion Picture Collection, [film number], Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Gift of Curtis "Corky" Miller, 1983 (Accession no. 16590)
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.
The 16mm films are available to the public through viewing tapes. The 9.5mm movies are unavailable for public viewing until conservation has been completed.
A family vacation trip to Yellowstone National Park, with scenes of Old Faithful, Yellowstone Lake, wildlife and the surrounding scenery. Also includes a trip to an unidentified beach area, an oil field, boating and a picnic. There are scenes of children and adults playing and enjoying vacation time. The film ends with ship traffic on the Willamette River. Appearing: Curtis Cowgill, Peggy Cowgill.
Many family scenes, including boating, shuffleboard, eating sandwiches, children at birthday party, playing with electric trains, a dance recital, fishing for smelt, and playing at the beach. Also includes a section on Mt. Hood, skiing, ski jumping, and the Battle Axe Inn at Government Camp. Appearing: Peggy Cowgill, Curtis Cowgill, Herbert Miller.
Many scenes of the Miller family having fun. Includes skiing, pretending to shoot apples from each other's head using a bow and arrow, a Rose Festival parade, and visiting friends at a cabin in the woods. One sequence shows a magic act, using trick photography. Appearing: Curtis Cowgill, Manville family.
Family vacation trips to Depoe Bay, Oregon, and Long Beach, Washington. Includes children and adults playing on and around the beach, rock climbing, and a trick photography sequence. Features an airplane trip along the Washington Cascades, especially Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier. Appearing: Curtis Cowgill.
Family trip to Mt. Hood, including a sequence of the Timberline Lodge St. Bernards. Also playing on the beach and a football game. One sequence, with intertitles, depicts the Oregon Trail. A color sequence shows a soapbox derby. Appearing: Curtis Cowgill, Blanche Miller. The photographer, Herbert B. Miller, is listed as H. Bud Miller on this movie.
On a vacation trip to Victoria, British Columbia, the Miller family visits the Madrona Inn in Washington state, and the Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island. They visit the Victoria harbor and take a boat ride, possibly on a ferry. Other sequences show a rescue on Mt. Hood, Peggy Cowgill driving a tractor, a woodland hike, and children playing. Color sequences include a seaside boardwalk, bicycle riding and a church. Appearing: Peggy Cowgill.
On a visit to Yellowstone, the Miller family goes skiing, feeds bears, and visits the Yellowstone River. Other sequences include Multnomah Falls and fishing at Celilo Falls on the Columbia River. One sequence consists of only the intertitles for a film about a trip to Mt. Hood; another shows a woman singing (a "Home-Talkie Production"). Appearing: "Miss Patricola," "Abel Baer."
Many scenes of the uncompleted bridge and San Francisco Bay.
Various family activities including visiting the Columbia River Gorge, watching an American Legion parade, a beach trip, children playing and visiting farm animals.
Probably made as a Christmas present for friends, this film documents a vacation trip to Alaska by steamship. Departing from Tacoma, Washington, the ship moves north from Puget Sound to Ketchikan, Petersburg, Juneau, Cordova, and Valdez. They pass Miles Glacier, Childs Glacier and Columbia Glacier. Appearing: Blanche Miller, Emanuel Vera, Lew Ayers, Sr.
A vacation trip through central Oregon, including stops at the Deschutes River and the Lava Ice Caves near Bend. The trip continues at Crater Lake and the Oregon Caves before reaching the California redwoods. The film ends at the San Francisco Zoo.
A vacation trip to California for the California Pacific Exposition in San Diego. On the way they stop at Yosemite. The film finishes with a trip into Tijuana, Mexico.
A family film with intertitles made for the Amateur Cinema League. The film follows the adventures of Herbert Miller, Jr., with his parents, his dog Chips, and his toys, including a pedal car and a teddy bear. Other segments show a ski trip to Mount Hood and a Miller's Paint store. Appearing: Herbert Gayle Miller
A family trip along the northern Oregon coast. With intertitles. Appearing: Curtis Miller.
Family trip to Crater Lake, including a boat excursion on the lake and feeding the chipmunks near the lodge.
Family trip to Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood. Includes scenes of the lodge, skiing, snow plows, sunrise and sunset.
A family trip to the beach. Includes a trick photography segment. Other sequences include the Boy Scouts, playing on the beach, a coastal harbor with fishing boats and the sailing ship
A family trip to the Golden Gate International Exposition (also known as the San Francisco World's Fair) in 1939. Many views of the buildings, fountains, statues, and entertainments.
A humorous film about group exercises and volleyball at the Turnverein gymnasium, Portland, Oregon. Produced by "Miller Picture Corruption Ink" under the auspices of the Amateur Cinema League, probably as a Christmas present for Miller's friends. Appearing: Members of the Portland Turnverein.
Several very short home movies with scenes of Victoria, B.C., yardwork, a trip to Mount Hood, tobogganing, Lambert Gardens, Oregon State Fair, children playing, Glenn Avenue [NE 32nd Place, Portland, Oregon], orchard, playing on the beach, babies. One film is identified as "Here is our first movie taken with a Pathex."
Various scenes of the Miller family, including duck hunting, archery practice, spraying apple trees, using a horse-drawn plow, pets and farm animals. Probably filmed around the Miller house on SW Boundary Street in Portland, Oregon.
Viewing tapes may be made for the commercial films upon request.
Two films on one reel. In the first film a harpoon cannon is used to kill a whale. The whale is then beached to be butchered. In the second film, an adult bear is killed and a cub captured for transport to a zoo.
Many scenes of animals in Africa: rhinoceros, elephant, giraffe, water buffalo, gazelle, lion, and panther.
The film is in three segments. The first shows a hippopotamus moving from a crate into a pool. The second shows the British-French naval battle at Algeria in July 1940. The third segment shows the construction, opening ceremony, and collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Appearing: Admiral Marcel-Bruno Gensoul.
Various scenes of United States cavalrymen.
Various scenes of the dirigible