Max Minden & Company, Ltd.: Egg Importers, Hull, England

This is what I remember about my grandfather, Ernest, mentioning selling eggs: His friend Kurt Delbanco told me (about the year 2000) that Kurt himself had started his working career selling pig bristles and related products -- pig bristles were valued for artists' brushes, and Kurt followed that path to become an artist himself. Ernest, on the other hand, started out selling eggs; Kurt smiled at the conjunction of the two agricultural products.

I didn't realize until recently that the likely reason for Ernest Minden (Generation 1) selling eggs as a young man was that this was the family business. Ernest's father was Max Minden (Generation A), and Max owned an egg importing company in Hull, England, called Max Minden & Company, Ltd.

This week I was excited to find three images that relate to the company. First, shown above, is a photo of a company truck! I am trying to obtain the original photo.

Second and third, below, are mentions of the company: one from 1917 in an Iowa publication called The Egg Reporter and clearly referring to the risks of the war for egg importing; and the other, dated 1905, from a Canadian government department. This pair suggests that Max Minden & Co. was importing eggs from both Canada and the United States.

Finally, I can't access the images for these, but the Hill History Centre has a number of documents that include mention of Max Minden & Company in the survey of damages from the Second World War. If you are visiting Hull, please do go look! One of them has the following information:

Forms for the notification of war damage under section 10 of the War Damage Act, 1941. War Damage Commission Form C.

Reference No:

C TCY/2/1/2/770

Dates:

12 Dec 1940

Description:

Position of Property Damaged: Alfred Gelder Street, Max Mindens
Type of Property Damaged: Warehouse
Date of Damage: 12 Dec 1940
Cause of Damage: Incendiary Bombs

Format:

Archive Item

Extent:

1 item

Access Conditions:

Access will be granted to any accredited reader

Repository:

Hull University Archives

Collection:

Town Clerk's Records relating to World War II