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Lassie & Warren Greenan
August 2, 2002
Lassie –
Lassie
Maddox
Greenan This is Cara Doyle and I am talking with Lassie Greenan. Lassie Lassie Maddox Greenan. (laughter) Lassie Maddox Greenan, okay, we’re going to get the whole Maddox story today. It’s August 2nd, 2002 and we’re in Denver in Lassie and Warren’s home here in Denver, a beautiful neighborhood on a hot summer day. So let’s start with where you were born, Lassie St. Luke’s Hospital. Okay. So you were born right here in Denver. Lassie Right here in Denver. Denver Hospital. And where did you fall in the family? Lassie A year? Which child were you? You had - Lassie The fourth. You had four – there were four of you altogether and you were the youngest. Tell me about what your folks were like. Lassie They were wonderful people and just hard-working and business people and I – I don’t remember much my childhood but I was born – I was a menopause baby. How old was your mom when you were born, do you remember? Lassie She was – she was fifty-three when she died and I was – she was eight years younger than that when I was born. Okay. Lassie In her forties. About forty-five. Lassie Mm-hmm and… And what- how do you remember her; what was she like? Lassie She was a very…vivacious person; she was a hard worker, she belonged to the - - I even had stock in the ?______? that she had given me and she said to the people who voted, “I’ll take you to vote and vote the way I say!” (Laughter) Lassie My father came from Brooklyn Missouri and he ?started? in the Civil War and they were dirt poor. Everybody was on their own and … Where did they meet? Lassie Well, that … they met on Capitol Hill; she was a maid on Capitol Hill and he was the ice man. And tell us what was Capitol Hill like at that time for someone who doesn’t know Denver, what was that … Lassie Beautiful! And … Was it a very well-to-do neighborhood? Lassie It was all well-to-do. There was nothing that - - from adventures on up and… let’s see what else … (laughter). He was … So he was working for an ice company. About how old was he? Lassie He – I – when he was working for an ice company he was about sixteen and then he either wanted to be a butcher or refrigeration (inaudible) and he was very – he wasn’t – he educated himself (inaudible). He was scientific. Now you said a lot of the money came from your mom, but she was a maid, so where was this money really from? Lassie It came from Sweden. Somebody had passed away in the family, or was there great wealth? Lassie No, I don’t know whether it was – it was her… Warren That was from the potato famine … Lassie No, that came – that was later because that was the ?Ottoman? (inaudible). So there’s a famine in you- Warren It was pretty big over there. Okay. Warren (inaudible) coming to America and she and her family, brothers and sister died. I think… (inaudible). Lassie Well, they were in the wood business. They - they were forest people. Over there, over in Europe. Lassie They were in the forest. How old was your mom when she came to the country? Lassie About sixteen I think. So she had gotten some inherited money, and was this before she met your dad? Lassie No, I don’t think so. So they had already met and gotten married, and … Lassie Mm-hmm. And where did they settle, do you know, first? Lassie Yes, under the viaduct over … oh no! What’s the name of that …where the campus is now. Where the university… Lassie Auraria. Auraria? Lassie They had a home over there. Okay and that was where they first started. Lassie Mm-hmm. And then they – I guess that’s when they did the business under the viaduct near Colfax and ?_____? What business? Lassie The ice business. What was it called? Lassie It was called H.J. Maddox. I’m not sure that they, you know, my oldest sister was born in 1893 and they waited to get in this (inaudible) He was already ?_______? I don’t know whether he was working for somebody then but I don’t think so, I think he - - because I’ve got that card in there that says the address. Okay, and that was the - that early Denver address. Lassie Mm-hmm. Of the Maddox Ice Company. Lassie H. J. Maddox. H J. And what was H. J. for? Lassie Hillary Joseph. And who was that? Lassie My mother. He really respected her. She sounded like a woman who was really quite before her time. Lassie She was! She sounds like a very … Lassie Before her time. She was in stocks, farm chemical clothing industry. She wore ?_____? What was that called? Lassie Bio Farms. Bio Farms. Lassie I wonder if that g-h-a-r-m, yeah (inaudible). And when you say she was in it, was she an investor or was it one of her ideas, or… Lassie Yes, she was an in - investor. I would think that for even a woman to be that investing in these companies was something! Lassie Yeah, she was an investor in the – I think it was …she was interested in business here, taking an active part in the ice company and holding it stock in the Bio Farm Chemical Company and she had some mining ventures, she was a member of the Rec - Rebecca Lodge and a ?_____? of the IOOS in the – I don’t know what that is. Warren Odd Fellows. Odd Fellows? Lassie Uh-huh, and … fifty-three years old. Okay. Now, now you’re reading now from her obituary. Lassie Mm-hmm. But let’s – let’s jump back to when they first – they first met. Do you know where they got married? Lassie No. No, just somewhere in Denver? Lassie Mm-hmm. And were they married in a particular religion? Lassie No. No, she was – in Sweden, she was relig - - Lutheran, but she didn’t … Didn’t follow that? Lassie Didn’t follow that and I guess he was Baptist but they - - you don’t want to follow any religion. Okay and when did the first child come along? Was this after their ice company was already started? Lassie Mm-hmm. Okay. Lassie 1893. Okay. So there were four of you… Lassie Mm-hmm. When did the time - - when did the part of the mountains come in to play? From when they first started this business, when did they start going into the mountains for the ice? Lassie I think it was 18…let’s see, I’ve got that here somewhere … Warren (Inaudible). Lassie They say in this article it was ’93 but I think it was … So late 1800’s, early 1900’s, they started they started going up to the mountains? Lassie I don’t know how I even found… Who they came up with that… Lassie He did. He came up with the idea to go up to the mountains… Lassie Mm-hmm. And … Lassie And freeze… Freeze the water? Was that what they did? Or… Lassie We had ex - - we had, what do you call it when you have… Warren (inaudible) … North Fork of the South Platte. Lassie We could shut off the water any time we wanted. So when they purchased that land, it came with the water rights at that time. Lassie Mm-hmm. Okay. So tell me how did that work? Lassie Ahh! They built a big a facility that - - they actually had their own town! They bought this property and … Lassie Two lakes, three hundred and sixty-five acres. Warren They made the lake. Lassie They built the lake. Ohh! Warren A man-made lake. Lassie They were man-made lakes. And how many acres, you said? Lassie Three hundred and sixty-five. And so did that - - they actually established their own town on this property? Lassie Mm-hmm. They - - because of the railroad. They would- - Warren Railroad. (inaudible) Lassie C&S Narrow Gauge. Had it been a railroad stop before that? Warren No. So they put it on the map. Lassie Mm-hmm. And that the railroad to stop there. Male Voice Right, because they had to put the ice on the railroad cars (inaudible). How big a deal was that, do you know, to get the railroad to create a stop? Do you know what that process was, or … Lassie No, and we just ?________? In this thing, we know more about it than I. Okay, so it was Maddox, Colorado and that was located you said between… Lassie Shawnee and Bailey. And that’s where the school is now. Lassie Mm-hmm. If anyone sees, it’s was Platte Canyon Schools, now, 2002? Lassie I think it is, it’s… The middle school and the high school? Warren High school. High school, okay. Lassie High school. And what all was up there? Lassie Well, … Warren Pastureland. Pastureland? Lassie Pastureland and … Because they grew food there for their own animals? Lassie They grew their oats… Animals? Lassie And wheat. Okay. And then we had a dug-out for the canned vegetables and fruit and we had a meat house, I mean, a real meat house. What’s a meat house? Lassie Mm-hmm. What do you mean by that? Lassie Well, I mean it was decorated from the hanging doors ?_____? cooking shaft they called it (inaudible). So we probably have to explain, they’re feeding a whole bunch of people up there! Lassie A hundred. A hundred employees working just in Maddox. Lassie Mm-hmm. And sometimes they… Warren (Inaudible) Lassie The ice ?______?. Sometimes the fellows would quit - - take leave of their regular job and go up there and they all went up to…we made them all go in the stand-up wagon or stand-up truck and they couldn’t bring anything get away from you ?_____?. There as just too many of them you know, they were young. Close them in a truck, put all the ice ?______? I only remember the truck and they just - - we all had like a picture that had knives. (inaudible). Lassie My mother did all the cooking with the helpers. A couple of other people … Who were these men that worked up there? Lassie Mr. … Bob ?Newgens? and you know I can’t remember… he was - - he was pretty old. The lady? Lassie My mother. A lady worked there, too? Oh, okay. Lassie Mm-hmm. Your mom. Where did they find the employees? Lassie He would - - they didn’t have to - - the employees looked for them! (laughter) Because it was considered a good job? Lassie Mm-hmm. Do you have any idea what the wages were? What did you make doing that kind of work? You must have gotten room and board… Lassie Oh, yes! And what – and maybe so much a day? Lassie So much- - oh yes. I don’t know how much they made a day, but one time he got some bums from Larimer Street and they just wanted to use about three or four of them and they just didn’t want to work. They just wanted to … Warren They just wanted to eat. Lassie Eat. Room and board. Lassie So my father got out his gun and he was knew just exactly where they were in the bunks. And he shot at - - over their heads and they came out running and they never stopped working. (laughter). Oh, my goodness! Lassie Yeah. Now how much as a child would - - what did you think of all this; was it kind of exciting? How come you got to go up there? Lassie Oh, I went up from the time I was born and I had a crib at first. And then we talked - - it probably was because you were the baby! Lassie Yeah, they took me with them. And the older kids stayed in Denver. Lassie Yeah, they stayed in Denver and I don’t remember all of it; it was just normal. What did you do for fun? There’s all these big guys working, doing serious work. What did a little girl do? Lassie Well, I don’t know who took care of that. I - - later- - later on, she taught me how to sew; I was never just a run-around kid, you know. She taught me - - she kept me busy and kept me in her ?king? and so did the rest of them. Fellas, you know, the ?____? We had a Mr. Bill Ellerman was a watcher - - watchman and I could ask Papa one day when Mr. Ellerman was born and he said, “I don’t know, but he said he saw the crow fly over Crow Hill.” (laughter) And he - - we never had a fire up there but he was there all the time and I helped with the dishes when I got old enough, so we had one - - one house (inaudible) he’d grow out of the house, one - - two houses I guess it was, in so the - what do you call the when the telegraph men would know when they were - - know when they were getting the boxcars and when they were leaving? We were in constant contact with them. Western Union I guess, I don’t know who it was, but that was… Warren Railroad ?jugs? Lassie Railroad jugs. Yeah. And they were very well-done. What was it like to take the train up at that age? Lassie Ohh! As a little kid? What do you remember about the train? Lassie You could - - it - - sometimes it made me sick. And some - - and you could reach out in some places and touch the rock. ‘Cause the train was so close to the mountains? Lassie That narrow. It was narrow, narrow, everything! (laughter). Warren It was ?__________? What - - Lassie And the old road was just beautiful. Which train was that? Lassie C&S. C&S? Lassie Mm-hmm. What is that - Colorado… Lassie Colorado and Southern. And Southern. Lassie Narrow gauge and it came right down to our place in Denver. What did you tell me about the man with the candy on the train? What did you call him? Warren Candy butcher. Lassie Candy butcher! Candy butcher? Lassie Yeah. And what did he do? Lassie He sold ice cream cones and I don’t know how he did - - oh! We had a great affiliation with all those people because they sold ice to the lettuce cars and - - see, there was no refrigeration then and the ?___? was two o’clock, three o’ clock in the morning those men had to go over there to the Union Station and blow ice, crush ice, or what ever it was, into those loader cars so they could refrigerate the fruit and vegetables. So would they bring fruit and vegetables up to the mines, is that what they were… Warren No, bring it down to … Lassie Down to Denver - - no, I don’t know where they took it! They took it everywhere. They… Warren They put it on a ?_______? In spring they used to raise a lot of celery. Lassie But they did ?_______? Here in Denver cause all Italian celery and whatever else they could grow. Tulip bulbs,… So they went all over on the trains. Lassie Mm-hmm. And part of the deal was that the ice went… Lassie The ice went… a lot of those places wouldn’t do that but we did, no matter what time of night, morning, or whatever it was they ?copied?. They didn’t have a phone. Papa put a phone in and so they could be in touch. Now were there other big competition company at the time? Lassie Well, the Colorado Ice and Cold Storage was supposed to be all cold storage. Their - their ice was the color of tea! (laughter). Warren It was made. Lassie It was made and it wasn’t clear. Ours was clear. We have a - - on the back of our ice card it has a Colorado State School of Mines approval and ?somebody? else ?___________?. So it was all tested. Lassie Mm-hmm. So how did - - do you remember how it worked? How did they actually make the ice up there? Lassie They just let it freeze. On the top of the lake that they had made. Lassie Mm-hmm. The water running underneath the - - there was two lakes; the upper lake and the lower lake. And so then they cut it in blocks? Lassie Mm-hmm. How did they cut it? Lassie With a - - some kind of a saw that was ?_____? boughten or it was made by them. Warren Jigsaw. Lassie Jigsaw. Like a jigsaw? Warren They scored it with a ?______? saw. They scored the sides of the ?________? Okay. Warren Jigsaw. Lassie And go down. Warren Big ?______? six, eight foot long. Lassie One time, a whole big square of that came apart with the men on it. Ohh! Lassie And they could have gone over the spillway, but Papa had some way to rescue them. So was that fairly dangerous work? Was that considered dangerous? Lassie Mm-hmm. Warren Very dangerous. Lassie (inaudible) Warren Especially the one that goes up the johnnyhook. Okay, and that kind of like the little assembly line, you showed me a picture of that. And you’re calling it a johnnyhook? Lassie Mm-hmm. Okay, this is a picture of the… Lassie Spillway. Okay. Oh yeah, you wouldn’t want to go over that! Lassie They - - and nobody could fish. At the end of the season, they’d stand there at the spillway and catch the fish that came down. (laughter) And this was… (looking at photographs) on the back of this there’s… She’s showing more pictures here. The bunk house and the tool shop. Lassie Mm-hmm. Tool shed. So there’s a bunkhouse… Lassie (inaudible) There’s a tool shed, the kitchen area… Lassie No, that was way down. Okay. And did you have a house of your own up there as well? Did the - - was there a family house? Lassie No, we - we were in the private part of the room at the end of the bunkhouse. Okay. What was that like? Lassie That was rough, but it was good. It was … When you say rough, what do you mean? Lassie It was made out of that - - that we had a stove in there and … A wood stove? Lassie A wood coal stove. And was - - were there separate bedrooms for the kids? Lassie No, no. One room? Lassie One room. And did you have a private family kitchen, or did you all eat with all the guys? Lassie We ate - - we could either eat with them, or bring it in the room. We were all very good friends; very good friends. They just loved us. And I don’t know what time they got up; it was early, early in the morning and like I say, some of them ate four times a day. Mm-hmm. Lassie And … Do you remember what you ate? Lassie Well, we - - a lot of pancakes I know and a lot of - - the butcher, we had every kind of meat there was. Warren They had a stove up there. Lassie They had a stove that was quite… Warren ?_____? nailed to the wall. It was long. Lassie I t was a great big one Hmm. I can imagine to feed a hundred working men… Lassie We had a… Warren The stove used to be up there; I don’t know (inaudible) Lassie Yeah. See, after we sold the... Warren Fitzsimmons… Lassie Fitzsimmons, why, we had ?grain? over it and I couldn’t, you know get up there. Okay, let’s go … this is up until your age about eight years old, right? Lassie (inaudible) And that’s when your mom had an accident? Lassie Mm-hmm. And I went up there after that. So it stayed in - - your dad continued that work. Lassie Mm-hmm. Do you want to talk about what happened to your mom, or do you want to … to pass on that for now? Lassie Well, what’ll I do, huh? My, my mother and I had been up in the mountains two weeks and she was - she was having the hay and the oats and all that - - reaping; reaping the harvest… Well, when you talk about being in the mountains, you’re talking about being at the ice company up in Maddox. Lassie Yeah, up at the Maddox, Colorado. You’re all spending time. Lassie And we picked - - she raised potatoes and we picked choke cherries, we’d bring down here and can and I think that we - - I know that I helped her put rocks in both end of the bridge that they had just built… Okay. Lassie On the old road and the rain stopped for us over on 8th Avenue and Florida wherever it was right then it went… And that was near your ice house down here… Lassie Yeah… The real - - the family home. Lassie Yeah and it - - we just had a few blocks to go home from there and my mother was - - well, I was helping her. We were cleaning the house from being gone so long and my sister Edith came to - came to see her who was just - just been married and pregnant and she picked a fight with her and my mother asked me to go outside and play, so I did and playing with my nephew, who was two years older than I was and then she said to me in the house, “You can get another ball,” and when I went in the house, my mother’s laying at the foot of the stairs and she was unconscious, but she never regained consciousness and to this day, I think my sister pushed her down the stairs and so does my nephew. ?Pulate? Davis is his name. (inaudible). Did you ever say anything to your dad? Lassie I told… Did you ever talk to him about what you thought might have happened? Lassie I think I did. Yeah. Lassie I think I did. And what did he have to say? Lassie He didn’t say anything. And then I – I told my sister I knew she did it. Mmm. Did she say anything? Lassie Mm-mm (negative). What was life like after your mom passed away? You were pretty little and it sounds like you were very close to her. Lassie Well, I was very reliable. My father was older and he was a kind person who had a very good philosophy of life and I - - he read Will Rogers to me every day… Mmm-hmm. Lassie And he just said to me, “Be the best expression of yourself you can possibly be.” And there was no religion in our ?_____? You have to be scared out of my life to miss that and I was a sinner and all that stuff… Mm-hmm. Lassie And I had a lot of responsibility. So what happened right after that; where did you live? Did you stay with your dad? Lassie Yes, I stayed with him. And one woman, we had - - after - - sometimes in between, we had several housekeepers and one of them said she was going to marry my father and I began to - - I went to him and I cried.! Uh-huh. Lassie And he said, “There will never be another Mrs. Maddox.” Huh. Lassie “Don’t think about it.” He bought me a car when I was fifteen… What kind of car? Lassie Chevrolet with a rumble seat. Wow! Lassie That was in the … You’re pretty uptown! Lassie Yeah, because I had to walk through the railroad shops and … in a bad area over there and I was always late to school. What school were you going to? Lassie That was the new West High. It was the new West High, built two years ?____? Is that - - it’s still the one that’s there now? Lassie Mm-hmm. It’s beautiful! Hmm. Lassie And we went to the - - to the eight grade and then we were into high school. We ?_____? middle school. What grade school did you go to? Lassie Yellow Park up in Barnham. Yellow Park? Lassie And it was condemned. Part of it was condemned; the auditorium part was condemned. It was very old when I went there but I just loved it. Hmm. Now when you were up living in part of the time in Maddox, did your mom teach you or did you go to school up there at all? Lassie No, no we didn’t - - no… Stay that long? Lassie You know, it’s kind of - - I kind of forget it… and that’s normal. Mm-hmm. Lassie And then when I got old enough, I think I stayed here and - I’m sure I did and Papa - - oh , that was a big ?_________? He gave away a lot of ice. Kids came with their wagons from all around. He called it - - he called it “Frog Hollow,” because the part of the river just ?palled? all the time and it was named “Weir’s Addition.” Weir’s? Lassie Uh-huh. I guess somebody named Weirs founded it. It was - - first it was a Now you talk about specifically that neighborhood? Lassie Mm-hmm. Weir’s Addition. Lassie Mm-hmm and they were - - what is it when they settle down; they come in and grab a hunk of property and … Homestead? Lassie Yeah, homesteaders… Warren Squatters! Lassie Squatters! Squatters, oh, okay. Lassie Uh-huh. And then I remember a lot of ornery men under the bridge… Huh! Lassie And then - - and there was a paper mill where they made paper, but I never saw that mill. What do they call that? Warren The ?____? Mill. Lassie ?Colt? mill. Colt Mill. And that was all in the little area that you lived. Lassie No, it was right on 8th Avenue, but 8th Avenue didn’t go through then. 8th Avenue didn’t through to the Boulevard. And so Papa and this Councilmen… Warren Eugene Madden. Lassie Eugene Madden put - - Papa cut the ribbons to the Eight Avenue Viaduct. Oh, okay! Lassie Mm-hmm. And you said he had some part in that. Lassie Oh yeah! What… Lassie I - - Don’t ask me the details because I don’t know, but they together had the city do it! Okay! So that opens up that connected your area over to Federal, is that what that did, or… Lassie No… What did that open up? Why did he want that? Lassie Well, beyond Alcott from 8th to 7th and that’s how we got up to 8th Avenue we - we - - oh, we had to buy Alcott. I don’t know whether it was already there and they just named it Alcott. I know that; that we had to buy it and we had to keep it up. Now were you considered- - was that fairly wealthy in that day? Were… Lassie According to the kids at school! Yeah? Lassie Yeah, they’d get mad at me and I told Papa and - - “Oh, you think you’re smart because you’re rich,” and he just said, “Don’t pay any attention to them. Walk away,” he said, “They’ll pick on somebody else later on.” He was very ‘to-the-point.’ Did you feel like you had money? I mean, did you have fancy things at home or did you have fancy clothes, or … Lassie No, I wasn’t raised that way. I learned how to sew my own clothes when I was very small. Warren There were just ?_________? clothes. Okay. Lassie Mm-hmm. I - I already did the - - the people around us were - - we employed a lot of the people around us. So there was a little jealousy. Lassie Mm-hmm and they - - well, those people weren’t and a lot of people bathed in the Platte River; there wasn’t any - - I guess we had electricity that - - at first they didn’t have electricity or lamps, but they did have electricity and running water when I - - as far back as I remember. Okay. I’m going to have you hold on for just one second and we’ll go switch this tape. Tape #1 Side B Cara Okay, we’re going to start side Two again and we moved the tape recorder because I think as you’re getting tired, you’re fading away from me! (laughter) Lassie Oh! We were talking about like at home with your aunt and she was a little different than your mom. Lassie Very. She was not as avid, forward, whatever you want to call it. She - - she had me do a lot of shopping, you know, we’d - we’d go to the downtown, she’d always like to take me with her and pick out… She wasn’t quite as independent as your mom. Lassie No, she’d been married, but she lost her husband and she always did house - - she’d house… keeper, or house whatever. Mm-hmm. Lassie She even worked in Shawnee in a hotel that … Do you remember the name of the hotel? Was it the one the railroad had up put up there? Lassie It was for - it was for tourists and I don’t know, I don’t remember the name of it, but I do remember the Glen Isle. I don’t know whether she worked there or not. Mm-hmm. Lassie But she loved all that. She married a construction engineer because he was in - - in them…he built ?coals? off the coal mine. He used to come searching ?everywhere? and she had a boarding house on the street at first and he died in Wyoming from some kind of a ?_______? or something like that, but we had to go up and get him. Ohh! That must have been ?______? Lassie Mm-hmm, in a horse and buggy. All the way to Wyoming! Lassie Yeah, he was in Wyoming. What did you think of that as a kid? Lassie It was terrible! To have this body in the… Lassie Yeah, it was - - and I was - - my mother was very calm and told me not to think about it… Huh! Lassie And that was - - but they didn’t have these ambulances… Sure! So by the time she was helping raise you, she was already a widow. Lassie Oh, yeah. Mm-hmm. Lassie She was a widow and… And was life at home much different? Did she run things different? Lassie Well, she… she certainly watched over me and taught me a lot. She taught me sewing and she taught me cooking and it wasn’t - - I never had - - I never had a spanking in my life. But I was expected to do - - take care responsibility and I did. And I had to - - to ignore my brother and sister as much as I could. We became to know each other later on, not … Not as kids though. Lassie Well, some. I played with Henrietta and Clay, but there was a lot of jealousy… And you just never got along very well? Lassie No, but you just didn’t when we were kids. Well, I don’t know why. I got a lot of criticism, but – and I wouldn’t talk with them very much. We didn’t have the same kind of outlook on life. They were… Did they think you were the spoiled baby? Was that… Lassie No… No? Lassie No, it was just the - - that’s not what they thought but later on, Papa had to open up charge accounts, or I could just say, “Charge it to Mr. Maddox,” because I never - - he’d forget to give me money for things and I had a charge account at the May Company or - - and my gasoline… What was the May Company? Lassie It was on 16th Street and it was wonderful. Like a department store or… Lassie Oh, the May Company owns … Warren May D&F. Lassie All this… the May Company owns Foley’s. Warren Foley’s now. It’s Foley’s now. Oh, okay. Really! Lassie And we - - May D&F that was wonderful. It was only a couple - - and Neustetter’s and there was a Joslyn’s… Warren JC Penny. Lassie And there was a JC Penny on Santa Fe and my sister told me, well, I heard her say, “We’re going to have a J - - we’re going to have a Penny store here,” and I said, “Is everything for a penny?” (laughter) I wish. Lassie Yeah and the Post Office was between 8th and 9th on Broadway - - Santa Fe. It was close. It was a nice place and I bought my first hand lotion at Clark’s Drug Store and that was Chamberlain’s. You can’t get it anymore and I have gotten some at until ?Hodell’s? closed up and I wrote them the other day and told them I did not - - using it since I was sixteen years old. Boy, maybe they’ll put you on a commercial. Lassie They might! (laughter). Yeah, so it was - - but I had to - - I had a lot of responsibility in my youth and I think the only reason I got married was because I wanted a home of my own. Papa was very fond of Mrs. ?Rogey? that they - - they didn’t live together, but as he got older, he spent a lot of time away and I was alone! Mm-hmm. Lassie So - - and then he lived from ?_________? I guess fourteen, fifteen… So you were very young and ?___? Pretty ?________? What did you - -you mentioned some school activities; what did you - - what activities did you participate in? Lassie In high school, I was in the … Warren Debating. Lassie Debating class and I was president of something, I don’t know what that was. And then I wrote … different things for the … and the thing on the live Christmas tree they called it and …I was… I liked writing and I ?_____? the house. I took cooking and you know, different - - and my father and the principal were very good friends. They both worked nights ?company? when they were young and then he went into - - he was the principal of the school. Do you remember his name? Lassie Mr. Eagleton. Now the school up there is Eagleton School. Oh, okay! Lassie From - - and … So you graduated from the high school. Lassie I didn’t. When my sister got in… You didn’t! Lassie When my sister got into bootlegging, we kids just ran… Oh, wait. No you don’t! How - - how did this happen? You were in high school… Lassie Mm-hmm. And your sister wasn’t that much older than you. Lassie Well, she was … Warren Ten years older. Ten years? Lassie And she got into bootlegging and Prohibition and the Rocky Mountain News had an article in the paper and you’d say, “How many cakes do you want; one or two?” and they meant whiskey. Oh! Where was she doing this? Lassie Right - - she was two doors from us. She stashed her liquor in the ice house because it was cool… Ohh… Lassie And somebody found out about it. So what happened to the company then? Lassie Well, my father had to have airplane pictures taken of it and prove that he didn’t know anything about it and he didn’t! And then they were watching near the scale house one day ?____? whatever it was, and my brother was in there and they said, “What’s your name?” and he said, “Earl Maddox,” and they said, “You’re under arrest.” Oh! Lassie And he didn’t have anything to do with anything. He didn’t either; you’re sure. Lassie Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah! So it was just your sister. Lassie Mm-hmm. She was real - - she was a devil! So did she stash money during this time or did she just - - was she just having a great time spending money? Lassie No, I - - she spent a lot… Uh-huh… Lassie Anything that she could get away with she did away with it. So was she arrested? Lassie Her husband had to spend the time in jail. They… Was he in on it? Lassie Yes, but he worked every day and she was the one that started this. But she never had to do jail time for it. Lassie Mm-mm (negative). And they sold - what kind of beer is that? She made homemade beer and they came to the house and made at - - drank it by the … Warren Home brew. Lassie Home brew. Buckets! Buckets of home brew they’d just pass it around and take a … Oh my goodness. Lassie Isn’t that something? Huh. So now how did this impact you finishing school? Lassie Well, because the kids razzed me about it and I told Papa about it. I said, “Do I have to keep on?” And he said, “Not if you don’t want to.” So I went down to Opportunity School down… I finished high school down there. Like a certificate program? Lassie Mm, yes. Okay. Lassie Where they pass the GED test? Warren GED. Lassie Yes. My goodness. And what did you do? Lassie Well, then I got - - pretty soon I got married. I was … Where did you meet him? Lassie Well, I met him in - - I didn’t give you that, did I? No! Lassie I met him at West Pond. I can’t remember his name now. What was his name? Lassie This was Raymond MCaraonald. I forgot - - I forget about him. Wait a minute! Did we miss a husband? Lassie Yeah. Oh my goodness! Lassie We missed a husband. (laughter) Okay! (laughter) Lassie See how you can do in this? Isn’t this fun? Did Ray tell you there were many people who had quite a few? Oohh! We’re getting to the juicy stuff on the next tape when I come back. Lassie Okay. So you met Ray and got married. Lassie I liked his mother…and I didn’t know… I hope you liked more than that! (laughter) Lassie Well, no not - -and I liked his brother and I liked his…sister. Warren Genevieve. Lassie Genevieve. They owned a …Oh. I did. Warren Yes. We’re still chuckling, but – we’re going to edit another husband in here. So – so when did you get married? Lassie Nine - - I was seventeen Warren Seventy years ago. Lassie Seventeen. Okay, so Ray MCaraonald was your first husband… Lassie Mm-hmm. And your first daughter was from Ray? Lassie Mm-hmm. Okay. Lassie And so was Warren, the second. Okay, and your second child was Warren… and then, my goodness, I’m changing all these dates. Lassie Mm-hmm. Okay. Tell me about your - - starting out married at that age. Lassie Because I wanted a home of my own. You didn’t really know what you were getting into, did you? Lassie No. Absolutely not. His mother was very nice to me. Did you have a big wedding? Lassie I didn’t wear a gown. He was Catholic and I didn’t’ get into that, so we had a off the - - I don’t know what you call it - - off the altar. Mm-hmm. Lassie And I didn’t know he drank so much! And they lived in Aspen - - not when I met him. Aspen. Huge ?_______? They did. She married another man but he stayed in aspen. He was the sheriff. Randy ?__________? Lassie No, she, no, his father died in – in something in the mountains. Okay. So this is his mom and this gentleman that she knew was the Sheriff in Aspen. Lassie Mm-hmm. Were you a housewife during this time? Lassie What? Were you a housewife or were you working outside the home as well? Lassie No, my Papa wouldn’t let me. He says… Stay home with the baby. Lassie Why, he wouldn’t let me work when I was younger. We really didn’t do that very much. woman’s place was in the home. Well, but now look at what your mom did! Lassie Oh, yeah! But it was always tied to the family, so it was okay that way? Lassie It was always… mm-hmm, yeah. She was a businesswoman! Yeah! Lassie She was into everything. She had beautiful parties, she was very congenial, she was very popular. Had the biggest ?sphere? on the city of Denver at that time. And I got - - I wore sailor’s dress and so did my niece that we got at ?_______? I - - I was lost. I hate ?__________? stuff and I couldn’t understand any of them. Hmmm. Lassie So, ‘cause she was - - we were close. Yeah. Lassie ‘Cause I was taught - -I was treated like a - - not a - - not an adult, but you know, just about. Take responsibility. Mm-hmm Lassie And I - - on the day that wasn’t school you’d clean up and paint it. I’d do something around - - they used to have that day you had to “clean up and paint up” something at school and I always cleaned out the coal shed! (laughter) Huh! Lassie And I learned how to embroidery when I was very young and sew! Mm-hmm. Lassie ‘Cause that was - - I had one of those peddle Singer sewing machines and I had – - and this cash that Papa had some kids – some cash - - some amount of cash, he’d give it to me rolled up. You had to roll up those things then and then I started a bank account. Mmm. Lassie He was … in the bank, it was like big bank he stopped at one of the banks one time bringing the guys their money… Wow. Lassie And they said, “If it’s good enough for Mr. Maddox, it’s good enough for us.” So… it was a lot to tell! I’ve got a lot… I know and I know there’s so many things we’re skipping, but we can go back. Lassie Yeah. Let’s - - we’ll get the basics down. We over seven ?_____? this young housewife with two babies in the house and a guy who doesn’t sound like you were getting along very well with. Lassie My Papa… It happens. Lassie Yeah, my Papa bought all the furniture; it was next door. My brother used to live in here in it. And he went somewhere, he had syphilis; isn’t that what he had done? He got syphilis… Who did? Warren Venereal disease. Lassie Venereal - - my brother. Your brother did. Lassie He was a stage door john. He waited for the … Well, what is that? Lassie That’s when you go to the movie houses and wait for the sort of whores to come around. Huh! Warren It’s more like chorus girls. Lassie Yeah. Okay. Lassie And he had … Warren Stage door time ?____________? Lassie You know, what was car he had? Warren Duesenberg. Lassie Deusen… A Deusenberg? Lassie Very expensive. Where was he getting all this money, your brother? Lassie He never paid for anything in his life! I think my mother helped him to do the ?_________? My father and he didn’t’ get along that well ‘cause he was not a businessman. He never was part of the family company; he didn’t work for your dad or anything? Lassie Yeah, he’d keep all the money! Yes, he had a route and the men … the men owned their own wagon and truck and they’d just bought ice. They didn’t - - my father wasn’t in on - - they - their own business. And if they couldn’t do either one, he’d do it for them. If they couldn’t start out and they were really interested in owning, having a route, and owning their vehicle, he would drive for them. Hmm. Lassie So, one day I was cleaning out the manure in the… in the stable I’d even do that! And he said, “Just don’t ever get behind a horse. You might startle them.” Mmm-hmm. Lassie And that’s all he ever said .He never stopped me for - - I had access to the safe and one time I found these big things of stamps and didn’t know what they were and I pasted all over his office Oh, no! (laughter) Lassie And he said… What were they? Lassie He said, “Didn’t I ever tell you that these…” Warren Postage stamps. They were what? Lassie Postage. Postage. Oh, they were postage stamps for the business! Lassie Mm-hmm. Warren Yeah, they come in sheets. So you spent them all. All that was gone. Lassie Yeah, and he said, “Didn’t I ever tell you what a stamp was for?” He said, “Let me show you!” See, I … Mmm. Lassie And he never - - he never did:” Now, I’m your father; you never do that.” And she didn’t either. Mm-hmm. Lassie It was a responsibility at good cause in the ?________? So you first married and lived right next door to your Papa’s house. Lassie Mm-hmm. And you had the childr - - where did you have the babies? Lassie At St. Luke’s. Same – same hospital that you were born. Lassie Mm-hmm. And how – how was your husband making a living? Lassie Working for my father and he was crocked all the time. Mmmm. Lassie He wouldn’t bring me - - the money he collected he’d spend. That was - - I only was married until Joyce was three, I think and… And then what happened? Lassie I filed for divorce. Okay. And then what did you do? Lassie Then my Papa helped me. He supported me. He remodeled the house. Mm-hmm. Lassie And he was always there. And was that the time you met your second husband then? Lassie Yeah! He was another one! Did he work for you dad, too? Lassie They - - no. he was a… Let’s see, this was Marvin. Marvin Moss. Lassie He was with the fire… Warren Fire Department (inaudible). Lassie No, it was…Yeah. Did he sell fire extinguishers, or was he a fireman, or …? Lassie No, he sold them. He sold - - he ?saw? mine running though. Warren He sold equipment. Lassie He sold equipment. Okay. Lassie But he - - he was always mining. Money and he was gone all the time. Okay. And you had another child then with him is that right? Was that John? Lassie John. Warren John. And that’s Marvin’s son. Lassie Mm-hmm. Okay. And that was in 1939… Lassie Mm-hmm. And then how long did that - - did you stay then with ?_________? Lassie Well, he…American LaFrance … Warren America LaFrance Lassie He got the boss fired ‘cause he wanted to be the boss and he’d been - - he thought that he would be the boss after that so he got her fired and they came around from New York American LaFrance, and said they were going to close this down. Mmm, okay. Lassie So he met a woman who he couldn’t stand, but had a lot of money and my oldest son she ?_________? my oldest son’s mother-in-law. Huh! Lassie And after he - - she loaned, she gave him the money to - - he hated her! And she gave him the money to take - - take that place over, so he got a divorce. What, well, was he going to be with her for the money? I mean,… Lassie Yeah! He married her! He was courting her to get the money. Lassie He married in ?_________? Oh, so you got another divorce. Lassie Mm-hmm. And there you are with three kids. Lassie Yeah. Yes. They were my priority. Mm-hmm. Lassie That they learn, as I did, to stand on their own two feet. And were you still living next door to your dad? Lassie No, I moved up on east 16th and Williams right by - - I wanted the kids out of that school so I moved up to… would Lafayette? (inaudible) Warren Williams. Lassie Williams. Why did you want them out of the school? Lassie Because they had … They’d been teased? Lassie My son ran into… Warren For the neighborhood. For the neighborhood. Lassie Yeah, and no - - one day my oldest, my son, my - - the only son I had then, ran right into an automobile on Federal Blvd. Very badly hurt. And they would take hands and never part when they were going to school but he… Well, that’s a kid thing. Lassie Hmm-hmm, so I decided I wanted to move out of there. So you moved on your own with the three kids? Lassie No, Marvin was… You were still married at that time. Lassie He was still with us and… Okay. Lassie But see, I bought the house and, and he, he ran around ?______? I don’t know whether there was really ?meant? it or not, I guess there was. Hmm. Lassie But,… Then how much time did you spend on your own after he left? Lassie Well, quite a while. I … Now I know you did some work; when did you work some of these jobs that you mentioned earlier? Lassie Mm-hmm. Well, I got in that modeling business and that was doing alright, too. And I worked for … Now you did modeling yourself? Lassie Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Lassie I did modeling myself. And that was very new them and I worked for clothing - - Mrs. Cates… Is that a clothing shop? Lassie Mm-hmm and she was down here on Third; she had a big place. It’s Wells Fargo now. Huh. And then now you worked in a modeling agency. Are you - - you ran a… Lassie I ran… When was that, was that later? Lassie That was… no, that was when I was married to that Clint ?________? Alright, now we didn’t - - we didn’t get to the marriage to Clint; when was that? Lassie Oh gosh, I was about forty. Okay. Warren That was after Marvin. Lassie Yeah, it was an in between thing. I… Your kids were older by then. Lassie Mm-hmm. And you’d been working… Lassie Oh, yeah. Mm-hmm. Lassie I was in Cherry Creek and I was a waitress and oh, I worked out at the … what’s that ?__________? out there? ?_________? and all the lights… No, not Terry Jim’s where they have all the lights, right out here on Colorado Blvd. Warren Oh, Wilshire. Lassie Wilshire. Okay. Wilshire Country Club? Lassie Mm-hmm. Okay. And then when- - how did you meet Clint and ?_____? Lassie Well, a friend of mine, he was coming to Denver for some kind of a big meeting and this friend of mine, George Dewey, he had all the - he had the concessions in many places in Denver. Warren He as doing ?__________? Lassie Yeah, and… Did he set you up with this guy? Lassie No, he didn’t. I just met him. He just - - I just met him at the dinner. Okay. Lassie And then he told me - - he came here from Salt Lake all the time to see me and it was George, I said he’d ask me to marry him. And he said, “Don’t do it!” Mmm! Lassie And he talked me into it anyway because… So George kind of knew better! Lassie Yeah, he was, he knew him well. He said, “Don’t. Don’t marry him.” Well, I think that lasted two years. Hmm. Okay. Now in the meantime, what happened with your dad and the ice house, this big ice business through these years. Lassie Well, he died when he was seventy-six and … So, after your mom passed away that probably what… better than twenty years he continued this ice business? Lassie Oh, yeah. Oh yeah until ’40, whatever it was - - ‘42? Warren ’46. Lassie 40 whatever it was, yeah. The - - yeah, he died in ’42, but the electric refrigeration didn’t go over so great at … It kind of cut into the ice business. Lassie Well, it cut in ?_____? And now how did that company get passed on? Lassie My - - after my - - we - we had a - - we had a will that my sisters and I got 20 per cent of the profits and my brother got 40% but he never gave it to us. Once in a while he’d give us five hundred dollars or something. I was… Was he supposed to be running the company? Lassie He - - yeah. Okay. And he didn’t do very well. Lassie He couldn’t - - he stole! Warren Well, you set up another ?_____? on the side… Lassie For his son… and used the company’s money to do that. Warren The company paid only ?______________? So the second company… Warren Second company. Lassie Mm-hmm Warren Second. So when you said he kind of “cooked the books” Warren There was no profits in that company. Lassie Yeah. So the other company did fine and the ice company slowly went broke, is that what happened? Lassie Yeah, well, he got out of it because he didn’- - he wouldn’t sign a thing. He didn’t sign a thing. So did he sell the company or it go bankrupt? What happened? Lassie No, he just went into his son’s hands and… Warren It shut down! Lassie Huh? Warren It was shut down. The Maddox Ice Company? Warren Just shut down after the flood. Lassie Yeah, after the flood. When was the flood. Lassie ’65. And it just ruined everything. And was it doing to refrigeration at that point? Because I’m sure refrigeration had taken over by then. Was it still an ice company? Lassie Yeah, but they made refrigeration. Okay. Lassie He- he turned it into a refrigeration. I’ve got the … Warren Those are the ?plans? there ?____________? To make ice after the railroad shut down in 1937. This is your father, built a plant down here to make the ice because he couldn’t use the mountains anymore. Warren Right. And did you sell off that property up there? Lassie My brother did two years after he died. Okay. Lassie When Mr. … what’s his name? Warren Fitzsimmons. Fitzsimmons? Lassie Fitzsimmons. Warren That middle school’s named after Fitzsimmons. Okay and I think that is the name of the middle school. Lassie Yeah it is! It was named after her. Okay and so down here he had this - - he was creating his own ice down here and then slowly turned to refrigeration? Lassie And his – in this, Earl, this brother of mine, took the brother, cousin… what is his - - nephew, took it over when he - - but he was in the service and when he came back here why he… So your brother turned it over to the son. Lassie Mm-hmm …and his crooked wife. He had been married to a lovely woman called - - that he gave her… This is the son? Lassie Mm, no. This is my brother. Your brother. Lassie He’d been married to a beautiful woman and they just had the one son, but he had given her the “disease” and she died very… Oh, she died from the syphilis. Lassie Mm-hmm. Oh, how sad. Lassie Yes, he wouldn’t tell anybody that she had it and… So he was fooling around on her … Lassie Uh-huh, yeah. Okay, and she passed away and when - - I mean, were you all quite young at that point yet? Lassie I was - - that was when - - well, he was born, this boy was born, when I was eight. Okay. Lassie So she didn‘t live very long. Mmm. Lassie And then he met a - - he met a woman who ran a whore house. She thought just like he did and together, they… And they got married? Lassie Uh-huh. And what was her name, do you remember? Warren May-ee. Lassie Huh? Lassie May-ee. May-ee? Lassie Mm-hmm. Okay. And so they kind of came up with this plan… Lassie Yeah. With the company money. Lassie Mm-hmm. My goodness… okay, so what was happening with you? I’ll jump back. That’s what happened to the company them, so it was eventually lost, basically. He did inherit the money the Maddox Ice Company. Lassie Well, not our- - not the - we didn’t get our - - they - - I - - the - - my oldest sister was trustee and then my next oldest sister was trustee, and I’m supposed to be trustee now, but it all went down the drain, see. It’s all gone. Lassie Mm-hmm, well, whatever he got out. Mm-hmm. Lassie And … Okay… and in the meantime, you made - - you did quite a nice career of your own. Lassie Mm-hmm You told me you were teaching… Lassie Yeah. What did you teach? Lassie Social fundamentals. What – what is that for the modern kids? Lassie Well, it goes from etiquette to walking to dressing… End of tape 1 side B Tape 2 Side A I was listening to you intently and I wasn’t watching to see where the tape was. So we were talking about your teaching, you were teaching Social… Lassie Fundamentals. Fundamentals and it’s basically, like how to be a lady! Lassie Yes, oh yeah. And it was what school? Lassie Colorado Women’s College and a doctor that I knew in my son’s elementary school, he was the one that recommended me. I don’t know why! Well, you probably had some of that training through your modeling… Lassie I did. And the modeling agency; I bet that was… Lassie Uh-huh, and I went out there the Dean hired me just like that! Hmm. How long did you teach that? Lassie Oh, about eight years. And it sounds like you talk about it pretty fondly, was that a good time? Lassie I did. It was - - I just loved it and they were, you know, the girls and I became great friends and (tape on pause) Okay, we just took a break… Lassie Okay. And I got to see the ice tongs in the back yard. Lassie Yeah, we did. And Lassie found a book that she wrote! Lassie Yeah, well yeah, this is it. It isn’t a book, it’s a booklet I guess. A booklet, okay… and this was the series of columns that you wrote… Lassie Mm-hmm. Warren ?____? saved them over the years. Lassie That one … Oh, and then they put a collections together. Lassie That one …see and they put - -they’ve got… they’ve got my …
So you
had a
regular
column
that you
wrote.
Where did
this
appear? Warren School paper, wasn’t it? Lassie No, the Monitor was a like one of - - Warren A local… Lassie Yeah. Warren A western ?________? Okay, here we go, “Appear weekly on the women’s page.” Lassie That’s a pre-cut. And it’s called, “As Others See You.” Lassie Mm-hmm. “A new column designed to give today’s women sincere and practical information on personality and social problems.” That’s neat! What a great picture of you and everything! Lassie Let me see. Oh yeah, I look pretty good. So they put this together between 1998. Lassie Well yeah, I had – I had the originals and then when I wrote this when the school went over there. (Okay, now she’s looking at an article). Lassie Temple Buell. What is it? Lassie Temple Buell got that school. Warren He was a rich guy. Lassie He was a very rich guy who after Mr. Hutchison left, the man that hired me, why… This is the women’s college you’re talking about. Lassie Mm-hmm. And it was purchased by this other gentleman? Lassie Mm-hmm, Mr. Hutchison. Temple Buell? Warren Buell. Lassie Temple Buell. Temple Buell bought the school? Lassie Mm-hmm, after Mr. Hutchison and I wrote that. You don’t have to look at it, but… Okay and that was when the women’s college closed. Lassie Yeah. And now do have any idea what years this was happening in? Where are we in time? Lassie In the forty’s, in the early forty’s. See, here’s my picture (gesturing). Okay, that’s great. The faculty picture. Lassie All of them. I was quite a few… Warren She was a good-looking gal, isn’t she? Mm-hmm! Lassie A lot of - - I’ve got an article ?_______________? Okay, so what was happening in the forty’s? What happened then? You taught for the school; then what did you do? Lassie Then I married that - - I was met that Clint. Okay, and that was just two years. Lassie Yeah. And then what? Lassie Marvin. Warren Marvin before ?________? Right, we talked about Marvin and we talked about Clinton. Lassie Mm-hmm. I’m trying to work my way up to Warren, but you guys aren’t following me! (laughter) Lassie Well,… Who’s the - - who’s the guy in the room with us? (laughter). When did he come about (laughter) Lassie Well, I worked at the ice company in the office until the flood. Okay, you didn’t tell me that part. Lassie Well, I worked in the office and I got very little pay. My two sisters did, too and it was in – what was that in bank - - not bankruptcy, but when ?________? took it over? Trustees? Was it - -while there was a hand in trustee according to the Court. Okay and this was after the shaky stuff with the brother, and the money… Lassie Yeah, mm-hmm. Okay and so you were all still trying to make a go of it? Lassie Yeah, I was still trying to - -I worked there for quite a while. Okay and your kids were basically away by then? Were they grown? Lassie Yeah, yes, they were gone. Okay and now how to we come on Warren? Let’s get the juicy details. I’ve ignored him thus far because we’re trying to just get your story straight! (laughter) Lassie Well, I know. Well, after ’65, I went broke. Absolutely, totally broke. I didn’t - - and he didn’t give us - -I think he gave us a monthly - - do you recall that? On the… Like a month stipend or something after? Lassie Something like that. So this was after the flood and the company was basically lost at that point. Lassie Yeah. It was a mess. Where was this flood? Was this a huge city thing? Did this happen on … Lassie Platte River. Platte River flooded? Lassie Right where we were. We were just right on the Platte River. Okay. Lassie About - well, Eighth Avenue and Seventh Avenue. And it flooded through downtown? Lassie Oh! I could see it coming! It wiped everything out. So this wasn’t just your business, but this was pretty devastating in the city. Lassie Everybody. Oh! Homes and everybody got - - the whole thing was… Warren The railroad yards, the ?_______? Lassie Everything. Warren The boxcars were turned over (inaudible). Lassie Yeah, and I lost - - I was going to move and I had stored all my furniture with my sister and that went down the Platte River. Mmm! Lassie And so I stayed with my daughter, she had – she had just gotten married for as long as it was decent, you know? Okay. Lassie And then I looked for another place to live, so I went to the Manchester over here in Cheesman Park and… What’s that; the Manchester; is that an apartment building? Lassie Apartment building. Okay. Lassie Brand new - -well, it’s not brand - - but anyway, I went in there and I talked to the manager and she said there was a problem in there and she had to run downstairs so she said, “Come down with me.” So I got a garden level apartment that had not been lived in forever and it was a mess and … And this is the sixty's. Do you remember what the rent cost? Lassie Fifty dollars a month. Okay. Lassie And I fixed that up like a - oh, it was just a joy. I got everything used; even that lamp there is one of the lamps (laughter) and one day I was - - I didn’t have anything. Warren You know, I lived in that place. Lassie He lived in that. Okay, now we - - now we get this guy on the other side of the room Lassie Yeah! Who’s pitching in with more. Lassie So I went down Okay. Lassie I went out to empty by trash in the … Don’t tell me you met over the trash. Lassie Yes! (laughter). I said - - I was out there emptying over the dumpster, into the dumpster, and he had just come home and put his car in the garage and he came out that way and he said, “Well you must be our new tenant! And… And that was a smooth line. (laughter). Warren (inaudible). Lassie And then the next day or so I got - - I got a - - I received a Reader’s Digest, which I didn’t take, in my mail and it had his name on it. Now did you do that on purpose? Did you work that? (laughter) Lassie So I called him up and told him there was a magazine here for him and he said, “I’ll be right down and get it.” Uh-huh. Lassie And then we went out to dinner, didn’t’ we? That night? Warren Yes. Lassie So… And you knew he didn’t want you for your money… Lassie No, he want me - - I didn’t have any! (laughter) Lassie And . . where was I working then? Warren The Brown. Lassie The Brown Palace. You were working at the Brown Palace! Lassie As a waitress. Oh, I still have never been there. Lassie I was working, yeah. So you were a waitress. Lassie I was a waitress in lots of places. Mm-hmm. Lassie And then I quit that place and I was working at … Warren Duffy’s Tavern. Lassie Duffy’s Tavern and I was a food waitress, I wasn’t a cocktail waitress. What was the Brown palace like in those days? Was it the place to be? Lassie Ahh! Oh, it was wonderful. It’s just - - it still is! What do you mean; what was wonderful? Lassie Well, it was so… I understood those people. It was really a high class place, you know. Was it kind of going back around for you? Lassie Yes, it was really nice. I mean would you have been on the other side of the table before? Lassie Yeah, mm-hmm. And how did - - how was that emotionally for you? Lassie Well, it was okay, but some - - it was right downtown there, you know and they were really - - and I worked at the Top of the Rockies too, but that’s one of the first times I ever saw a one-dollar tip. Really? And was that a lot? Lassie Yeah. You worked for $1.25 an hour and got a few tips and I kept up - - then I could keep up with everything. Were you allowed to eat there? Lassie Oh yeah, mm-hmm. Did you see any famous people come through? Lassie Oh yeah and they didn’t impress me, you know. Because you’d seen that world. Lassie Uh-huh, so they didn’t impress me a bit. Mm-hmm. Lassie And well, they had these really heavy shoulder trays you know, and that got to be a bit much (laughter). Mm-hmm. Lassie So I went by Duffy’s one day and he said, “I’ll call you back.” I had hardly got in the got in the room and he had called me back and that’s where Warren and I went. Warren Mm-hmm. Lassie So I worked over there and we went together for a little over a year and that was it! That was it. Lassie We moved up into his apartment. Mm, okay. Lassie And he’d been just divorced from his wife. Okay, she keeps talking when I put it on pause (laughter). Lassie, what did you just say to me? Lassie I said I’ve been up to down and down to up. You’ve been everywhere. Lassie Uh-huh, worked the Top of the Rockies, worked at the Brown, worked at place out by the airport and I worked for - - not Hertz, but another one that’s gone bro - -bankrupt. Car company? Car rental? Lassie Mm-hmm, rentals and women’s clothing and … What was Warren doing when you met him? Lassie He was a president of Merrill’s Engineering. He was in hydraulics and we just hit it off! Just clicked. What did you do for fun? Lassie Oh, we - - I can’t remember there, television was pretty good those days and we went on trips and we - -he loved it because I could cook so good (laughter). Mmm! Lassie And just we - - he didn’t have any children so he inherited my children and they liked each other a lot. Hmm. Lassie And that about the first time. My first two children, they never knew their own dad ?____? So … So he was more of a father figure. Lassie Yeah, he was and so when my husband that bought the American LaFrance franchise, why… Now wait, which husband? Lassie That was Marvin. Okay. Lassie And Marvin bought the American LaFrance franchise well, that was the end of everything because he went with that woman who gave him ?_____? Okay. Lassie It was - - he died from emphysema. Hmm. Lassie And I don’t know, she died in a nursing home or something. Hmm. Lassie So, that’s been a long time ago. Okay. Now what are your kids doing now? Lassie Well, my son, my youngest son, is he owns C& I; that’s a construction company. He builds all of coffee companies… Starbucks and now – he’s in business. He builds. He used to build some private homes wherever he can, but he’s done a lot of ?time?. He’s in the contracting business. Okay. Lassie And it’s called C&I. C&I and let me take a look at my cheat sheet… Lassie That’s John. That’s John? Lassie Mm-hmm. Okay and what about Joyce? Lassie Joyce worked at the bridal boutique. She still works - - she’s seventy. Okay. Lassie And… And Warren? Lassie Warren works for his own son in - - insurance brokerage out in California. He works for his son. How many grandkids do you have? Lassie I have, well, John got married again so all - - all I have – I have seven and one on the way. Okay. Lassie And I have, let’s see, there’s great-grandchildren are …you know, the grand… this is a great-grandchild. There’s six great-children and one on the way as of today. Okay Lassie Mm-hmm. And let’s see, and then how many grandchildren? Warren Let’s see… Lassie Well, I’ve always called them all my grandchildren because they were so little and … Sure. Lassie And they - - they were two, four, six… and this one on the way; that would be seven great-grandchildren. I’m talking about grandchildren. We keep jumping. Yet we’ve three kids and then your three children had how many… Lassie John has three, Joyce has one and Warren had three. Okay, so that seven. That’s why we’re getting mixed up because it’s seven… Lassie Mm-hmm, seven, seven, seven… Grand-children and then seven great-grandchildren. Lassie Mm-hmm. Okay. Lassie Mm-hmm. And now you know, we’ve talked about you wanting to write a book about… Lassie I do! Some of these things. Why do you think - - I mean, why was this whole- - it was almost like an empire; what was this Maddox such a big deal? I mean, that’s your kind of family legacy. Lassie Yeah. Why do you think it’s so important? And that it was important in the South Park, which is why I got the chance to meet you. Lassie Well, because it’s history. It’s so old, the whole idea. A lot of people don’t know what an icebox is. Mm-hmm. Lassie Because it has so much - - oh, it’s so - - it was so good. It was run well and was honest… I mean, ‘til my brother came along (laughter). And my father was very well-respected and loved. What impact do you think it had, since I’m coming from Park County and we’re the ones kind of starting this history project, what impact did it have up there, to life up there? Lassie Well, I just can’t remember when it didn’t have a good impact, you know. I knew the - the woman that Bailey knows, the people that own the store there, she’s the one who did the last run on the railroad. And that was a video. Lassie Mm-hmm - - no, that’s ?Picksford? Well, yeah, what d - - you know, and she and I were good friends. We were about the same age, so it’s always been part of my life. Was the economic impact - - I mean, did that make a big impact money-wise on Bailey… Lassie I don’t think… Or Shawnee? Lassie I don’t think - - I don’t know those things. They were all good friends, but I don’t whether the money had anything to do with it or the… I was just thinking you must have brought business up there. Lassie I think so. The people, your workers, must have shopped or gone to town or … Lassie Oh, yeah. You know, when I first went up there, there was only the - - there was a garage up there, one of them… This was in Shawnee? Lassie No, it was between - - it was before you got to - to Bailey and then there was a Will O’ The Wisp Café. Mm-hmm. Lassie And that’s all there was up there until - - we took the old road that wound around through the mountains and that was beautiful and but there’s - there wasn’t any businesses up there like that. You went from Bailey to well, Glen Isle. Mm-hmm. Lassie That was beautiful. Did you visit there? Lassie Oh, yes, I was… What was that like? Lassie It was beautiful! They had a - - the railroad had a fishing train that went up there twice a week, I think. The men that wanted to stay at Glen Isle and fish the Platte River and I knew all the people in there. Did you ever stay there? Lassie Uh-huh. Stayed there several times and with my children we did too, but that was after I - after I married Warren we went up there, too. Mm-hmm Lassie But I was not a - - I don’t think I was ever a kid …and that’s the way in - - that’s the way it was. I had - - I took care of myself and a lot you know and I had to - - to iron my own clothes and I’ve got an iron out here that Mama used to put on top of the stove… Yeah. Lassie And I remember when the first electric iron came in and I was - - well, we had a - - we had a kind of an enterprise. We were - - we were ?_____________? Edition of - - or ?Frog Hollow? whatever you want to call it - - the rest of them were Italian farmers. Were things pretty racially mixed? Lassie Yeah! Nobody thought anything of it and a lot of them used the railroads you know, they had to pack fruit and vegetables and all those gardens. Sure. Lassie They were mostly all Italian. Mm-hmm. They must have been very dependent on you if they were growing the vegetables. Lassie Yeah. Your ice must have been a pretty big deal. Lassie And lots of times they gave us our - their manure and we’d give them our ice. (laughter) That’s fair. Lassie It was - - they were all very nice to each other. My father was highly respected. I know one day a man, one of the ice me came in and said – maybe I told you this – “Mr. Maddox, I don’t think you like me anymore.” And he said, “Well, I like you,” he said, “but this ice cream is no love affair.” (laughter) That’s business. Lassie And that’s the way he handled everybody, you know and he was not a - - he was - - see, the people that my mother worked for finally became her contemporaries and his, too. All those people. Would you have any idea at the peak of the company, when it was probably was in its heyday and maybe what it would have been worth? Lassie Oh, well most of those people sold equipment for the miners and I think the Boettchers and the Humphries and oh, just so many of those people, it was - - that’s what I want to get that The Builders of Denver for. They were all in that Builders of Denver. That was some kind of a book? Lassie No, that was in the Rock - in the Denver Post ?_________? year. Okay. That was like an article in the ?________? part of the newspaper you talked about. Lassie Mm-hmm and it’s - - hopefully I’ll find it. If I don’t, I want to do… I bet you could research, I bet we could find it. Lassie How do you do that? I could go down and it would take me days to go down to the … Oh, they’ll help. We could probably look it up, up on the computer. Lassie Oh! We could probably try to find it that way. Lassie Me, I wouldn’t! But you would. Is there anything that you want to add to the story today that stands out? It sound like your family’s had some tough times but … Lassie Well, I went through the Depression and only knew it by a name and my father gave away baskets and baskets of food with turkey being the first at Thanksgiving and he gave away - - and we kids , me and my niece and nephew and friend, put them all together and I don’t know how he got the names; maybe from the ice men, I don’t know, but and then he used to take me with him to the barber shop and he, you know, he was getting kind of - -well, he was up there in late - - and the barber used to say to him, “You know she’s not your child!” (laughter) Kind of kidding all the time. He was very well-liked, he was a very, very fine man. And how did he pass away, what happened? Lassie He had a heart- - well, he went to the bank, the National City Bank of Denver and he found out the girl had taken all the money. Oh, no, he found out. Lassie And he had a heart attack. Oh dear. Lassie Right on the spot and his mortuary - - what do you call that column? The obituary in the paper? Lassie Yeah, it said that he was riding in the car, but he wasn’t. He was riding in the car with Miss Rogey, but he wasn’t. He was in the bank and you knew someone in the bank that told you that? Lassie Oh yeah, they called us right away and then I knew all those bankers, all of them. It was, when it was the West Side State Bank, we were all good friends and he was - he was - he lost a lot of money when we were in the wind of ?_____? the year I was born; that’s when he sold it to the Colorado Ice. He got it back, that’s when he had his nervous breakdown. They called them nervous breakdowns, but… So he sold the company and he bought it back. Lassie Mm-hmm. He had enough money, I mean, he saved it up to get it back? Lassie Yeah, yes, he’d saved enough to get it back. Okay, so looking back, you have - - you have murder and greed and all these different things! What would you tell kids today, looking back on all that you’ve had huge ups and downs. It’s a lot of good and bad things. Lassie I’d tell them, stand on their own two feet. Make it, you know, cause and effect and not just want everything. They used to say, “What are you going to be when you grow up?” They don’t say that anymore and follow your - follow your feelings you know, follow your brain! Your brain is the most important of all you know, find out who you are! Mm-hmm. Now you taught all this very traditional etiquette. What would you tell the girls today. Lassie I’d… What do you think about how things are now. Lassie I’d tell them their horrible. Their not ladies anymore. Why would you say that? Lassie Because they’re not! What defines a lady? Lassie Well, they’re all …this on dope and expecting the best. Being a lady you know, used to open doors for you and I mean, be – be what you are; a women that isn’t dealing in business is ok, but don’t let yourself down. Don’t be a roughneck and you know, if you’re working in a coal mine, wear an organdy dress! (laughter). Warren Be feminine. Be feminine. Lassie Yeah, be feminine and men used to go out of the room and they’d start cuss - - when women used to go out of the room they’d make - - then they’d start cussing. Where all this cursing and be strong, be - - my mother was very strong, but she wasn’t… She can be feminine. Lassie She was very feminine. Very. She was very popular and she’s - - and they got along – they didn’t fight over the business part of anything or, I don’t remember they fight – fought – I never - - I don’t know anything about their private lives you know, that way but they at least let each do what they wanted to do and… Warren I think you should mention something your mother and how she (inaudible). Lassie Oh, yeah. My mother had all … Warren’s remembering a story; what happened? Lassie Well, I didn’t’ know about this! But one day, she invited all the teachers down to our… Warren Out to lunch. Lassie Lunch. Down for lunch and they said they never – they wouldn’t be any more than an hour and school closed down! They just stayed there. They had such a nice time. Warren They (inaudible) rest of the afternoon had such a good time. That’s the way they could do things in those days. Lassie Yeah. My sister, my oldest sister, was president of the PTA and she wouldn’t even recognize me when I was in school, being her sister. And my niece, Henrietta, if you ever saw a gang crowded around her, you’d know she was in a fight. Oh my. Lassie Every time. How did you turn out so differently? Lassie Because I - I used my head. I did what I wanted to do and I didn’t - I didn’t bother with all that. Okay, you get a couple of more sentences. Anything you want to add? She’s losing her voice (laughter). Lassie Well I used to get - - I was good at - what do you call indoor? I was good at ball. They called it indoor, but we went outside and I won a bronze medal in Indian clubs. We only had a gymnastics teacher about once a month. Okay. I’m going to cut you off for today because you’re losing your voice… Lassie I know! And I don’t to wear you out and I want to make sure you let me chat with you again, so I want to thank you for… Lassie What effort! For everything! End of tape. |
