Charley Miller Papers
Scope and Contents
The collection contains the papers of Charley Miller of Bangor, Maine, an outdoorsman, Maine guide, fight conditioner, and outdoor cook. Included are photographs, celebrity endorsements, 16 mm films, and news articles documenting his work as a Maine guide, outdoorsman and outdoor cook.
Dates
- 1931-1966
Creator
- Miller, Charley, 1900-1966 (Person)
Restrictions on Access
Kept at Fogler Library's offsite storage facility. One week's notice required for retrieval.
Use Restrictions
Information on literary rights available in the repository.
Biographical Note
Maurice Charles Miller was born in Bangor on July 4, 1900, the son of Max and Rebecca Miller. As a young man he had a brief career as a boxer, quitting the ring after his first defeat. He then opened a training and conditioning camp for fighters at Moosehead Lake, introducing boxers such as Primo Carnera, Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney and Jack Sharkey to the Maine woods, hunting and fishing. He later branched out as a guide and host to famous people in sports and show business. From these associations he became a celebrity in his own right and spent more than thirty years promoting the state of Maine and himself at numerous sports shows, fairs, and public venues around the country. Miller also billed himself "The world's greatest outdoor cook" and spent a great deal of time cooking outdoor meals for his celebrity guests. In 1963, with Bangor attorney Oscar Walker, he formed the Charley Miller Outdoor Cooker Corporation to market his all-purpose outdoor cooker, a kind of reflector oven. This unit, the result of two years of experimentation, aimed to take advantage of the increasing popularity of backyard barbecuing. He also devoted considerable time to charitable activities, presenting his shows and demonstrations at hospitals and orphanages as well as to Boy Scouts and other groups. He was especially active at the Pine Tree Camp in Maine. He maintained a large library of films of famous fights and outdoor activities and showed these often at clubs, civic organizations and youth groups. He was a veteran of World War I. He died in November, 1966, survived by six brothers and a sister.
Extent
3 boxes
2 film boxes
18 photographs (framed)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The collection contains the papers of Charley Miller of Bangor, Maine, an outdoorsman, Maine guide, fight conditioner, and outdoor cook. Included are photographs, celebrity endorsements, 16 mm films, and news articles documenting his work as a Maine guide, outdoorsman and outdoor cook.
Organization and Arrangement
The collection is arranged in two series: I. Photographs and Scrapbooks and II. Personal Papers. The photographs and scrapbooks make up the majority of the collection and thoroughly document Miller's career and his association with sports and show business celebrities of his day. At some earlier date, members of the library staff prepared an individual list of photographs for a segment of the collection; this list is retained at the start of the Box List because it gives a good indication of the contents of all of the notebooks and scrapbooks in Series I.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Charley Miller papers came to the Special Collections Department, Raymond H. Fogler Library, University of Maine as a gift from Abraham and Frieda Miller in 1983.
Alternate formats available
Fogler Library made a microfilm of some parts of this collection in 1983; the microfilm and a frame-by-frame guide to its contents are also included in the collection.
- Boxers (Sports) -- United States Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Boxing trainers -- Maine Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Camps -- Maine Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Celebrities -- Portraits -- United States Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Clippings Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Fishing guides -- Maine Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Hunting guides -- Maine Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Microfilms Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Motion pictures Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Outdoor cooking Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Photographs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Recipes Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Scrapbooks Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Title
- Guide to the Charley Miller Papers
- Status
- Box And Folder List Available
- Date
- 2012
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Code for uncoded script
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Raymond H. Fogler Library Special Collections Repository
5729 Raymond H. Fogler Library
University of Maine
Orono ME 04469-5729 United States
207-581-1686
