Weiss, Martin

Biography

Martin (Marty) Weiss was a Jewish Colorado pharmacist. He and his brother are the sons of European immigrants. Martin received his pharmacy degree from the University of Colorado in the 1930s, but the Great Depression made it hard to find a job in Denver. In 1935, he moved his family to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he worked as a pharmacist. Marty returned to Denver around 1938. Martin and his brother Fred Weiss founded Weiss Drug pharmacy together around that time in 1938. After the two brothers parted ways in the 1940s, Martin opened his own pharmacy, Marty Drug, at the corner of Adams and Colfax, two doors down from the Bluebird Theater. Like many early pharmacists, Martin compounded his own drugs, using mortar and pestle to make salves and pills. Marty Drug closed in 1955, and Martin spent a few years at the Sam Frank Drugstore before going to work for National Jewish as a pharmacist.