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Betty Miller Papers

An inventory of her papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MRC
Date: 22 Jan 2020

Biographical History

Betty Albertus Miller (1933-2019) was an American beautician and an expert in decorative hair combs.

Miller began collecting combs in the late 1950s, and eventually she and her husband Ralph accumulated the world's largest antique ornamental hair comb collection. In 1985 they opened the Miller Hair Comb Museum in Homer, Alaska, which held more than 3800 examples of hair combs, representing a wide variety of eras, regions, and materials, including combs from indigenous peoples of Alaska and the American Southwest and combs made from celluloid, jet, and tortoise shell. Miller was one of the founders of the Antique Comb Collectors Club (AC3), which became the Antique Comb Collectors Club International (AC3I) in 1992, and an appraiser of historical combs for a number of auction houses including Lloyd's of London. [Information drawn from her obituary in the Homer News, 19 Jun 2019.]

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Betty Miller Papers contains administration files, artifacts, correspondence-subject files, memorabilia, printed materials, research material, and miscellaneous items.

Administration files contains two subseries: AC3I and Miller Hair Comb Museum. The AC3I subseries relates to the Antique Comb Collectors Club International; it includes the club's constitution, convention materials including photographs, newsletters from the beginning of the club to its end, and so on. The Miller Hair Comb Museum subseries includes collection files, photographs of the combs in the collection, and information posters first used before there was a museum in 1983.

Artifacts consist predominantly of handmade combs, but also includes one textile item, a few mass-manufactured commercial items, and samples of materials commonly used for creating combs, such as jet, tagua nut, and tortoise-shell. One interesting item is a comb once owned by Natalie Talmadge, Buster Keaton’s second wife.

Correspondence-subject files consist mostly of letters from the directors of AC3I, including Mary Bachman, Theresa Bagasra, Glenn Beall, Jen Cruse, and Belva Green, discussing club and convention details. Scrapbooks created by Doris Dreyer-Hedge include newsletters from AC3I, convention photographs, the club’s constitution, and her own journal entries written during conventions.

Memorabilia contains a biography of Miller written by Belva Green, three commemorative coins from Leominster, Massachusetts, Miller’s lecture notes on the history of combs, her business cards and convention name tags, and a questionnaire on hair combs.

Printed materials includes publications compiled by and/or for AC3I, such as a book of trademarks and patents related to the comb making industry compiled by Theresa Bagasra, an AC3I member, a bibliography for AC3I members wishing to do more research on combs, and a hair comb and accessory museum guide compiled by Cheryl Canada, another AC3I member. Miller collected many clippings about the club, the museum, Alaska artifacts, and combs for sale. Mary Stokrocki, a professor at Arizona State University, published an article discussing Miller’s comb collection in relation to intergenerational understanding of hair combs as material culture.

Research material includes subjects such as Alaska and Native Americans of the region, comb advertisements, celluloid, horn, Martha Washington’s hair comb, Spanish combs and mantilla, and tortoise-shells, all of which seem to correspond to the types of combs Miller possessed in her collection. Miller’s original organization has been retained, with additional subjects identified during processing.

Miscellaneous consists of a photograph of the 1955 best breed at the Westminster Kennel Club, a partial newsletter, a treasure hunt activity sheet, and stories written by an unknown person.

Arrangement of the Collection

Where possible, material has been kept in its original order. Administration files are divided into AC3I and the Miller Hair Comb Museum, each of which are then organized alphabetically. Artifacts are arranged numerically by box number. Correspondence-subject files are arranged alphabetically by person or topic. Memorabilia, Printed materials, and Research material are arranged alphabetically by type then chronologically.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advance notice for retrieval. Please contact SCRC for more information.

Access to recordings requires advance notice to produce a use copy.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

See also the Antique Comb Collector's Club (AC3) Records, Antique Comb Collector's Club (AC3) Collection, Glenn Beall Comb Collection, Mary Bachman Antique Comb Collection, Mary Bachman Papers, Jen Cruse Antique Comb Collection, Margaret Kimball Herlihy Papers, and Belva Green Papers.

Subject Headings

Persons

Bachman, Mary.
Beall, Glenn.
Cruse, Jen.
Gardiner, Eleanor.
Green, Belva.
Miller, Betty Albertus, 1933-2019.

Corporate Bodies

Antique Comb Collectors Club (U.S.)
Miller Comb Museum.

Subjects

Celluloid.
Clothing and dress.
Hair ornaments -- Collectors and collecting.
Ivory.
Jet (Precious stone)
Material culture.
Ornamental combs -- History.
Ornamental combs -- Societies and clubs.
Ornamental combs -- Specimens.
Small museums -- Alaska.
Tortoiseshell.

Places

Massachusetts -- Leominster.

Genres and Forms

Administrative records.
CD-ROMs.
Celluloid (cellulosic)
Clippings (information artifacts)
Combs (hair ornaments)
Correspondence.
Ivory (material)
Jet (coal)
Magazines (periodicals)
Minutes (administrative records)
Museum records.
Newsletters.
Photographs.
Research notes.
Scrapbooks.
Tortoise-shell.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Betty Miller Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Ralph Miller, 2020.

Table of Contents

Administration files

Artifacts

Correspondence-subject files

Memorabilia

Printed materials

Research material

Miscellaneous

Inventory