Coe, Harrie B. Collection

SummaryCollection contains promotional films made by Harrie B. Coe for the Maine Publicity Bureau, featuring life in Maine. Included are scenes of Rockland lime quarries, blueberry raking and canning, Eastport sardine industry, sheep ranching, Portland's water front, Cape Elizabeth Drive and ocean views, Cathedral Woods in Eustis, and the Rangeley mountain and lakes region. Collection also contains actualities: "Water Sports Day at the Rangeley Lake Hotel" is footage of hotel activities shot, edited and titled by Coe. Scenes include motorboat races, swimming, a beauty contest, a picnic and various games such as potato races and watermelon eating contest. See also Brick Store Museum Collection.

Biographical/Historical NotesHarrie B. Coe (1866-1949), born in Portland, Maine, was general secretary and manager of the State of Maine Publicity Bureau, beginning in 1924. The Bureau had been founded by Hiram W. Ricker in 1922. Starting in 1880 (as a 14-year-old office boy), Coe worked at Maine Central Railroad, with Holman D. Waldron writing guide books including The Summer State of Maine, ca. 1893 and The Visitors' Hand-book of Portland and its Summer Delights, 1896. After leaving Maine Central Railroad in 1908 Coe ran an advertising and printing business, in 1916 serving in the Red Cross in Italy. He returned to work for Great Northern Paper Co. He edited the five-volume work, Maine, Its Resources, Attractions and Its People: A History. Biographical information from a newspaper clipping headlined Among the Books, ca. 1928, in the collections of Maine State Archives.

RepositoryNortheast Historic Film

AvailabilityThe Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and UseAuthorization to reuse and/or reproduce must be obtained from Northeast Historic Film. See http://oldfilm.org/content/stock-footage-licensing for more information.