Oral History Interview with Max Grimes, 1976 September 20

"Max Grimes recounts life in Denver, Colorado, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He discusses the immigration of his ancestors from Russia and Poland to Denver and his father's various attempts to make a living in Denver and Salt Lake City, Utah. Grimes details his boyhood, pastimes, and education in Denver while also discussing numerous Jewish families and businesses in the city in the early 20th century. He recounts his first and second marriages, his brief time studying at Colorado School of Mines, and his experience founding the Denver Metal Co. (which became Grimes Pipe & Supply Co.). Max Grimes provides much of the same information he gave in B098.01.0001.00006, but he also discusses later periods in his life, including his current life with wife Ann.

Max Grimes was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1894. He spent most of his boyhood in Denver and graduated from East High School in 1912. Grimes studied at Colorado School of Mines but then quit school after a year and became employed in his father's junkyard, where he continued to work throughout his lifetime. He married Fanny Shapiro June 16, 1916, in Salt Lake City, Utah, and they raised four children. Fanny died in 1932, and Grimes later married Ann Friedman."