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In 1903, Joe Malcolm and Bertha Osler married in Fort Morgan, Colorado. Bertha had been born in Iowa in 1881 and grew up in Nebraska. Also in 1903, Joe and Bertha moved to Louisville. At first, Joe worked as a barber and had a barber shop at Front and Walnut, and their residence was on Lincoln. By 1916, his shop was on Main Street. The Louisville directories for the following years, 1917 and 1918, are the first directories that list him as having an insurance business. He worked out of his house on Lincoln. In 1918, their son, Joseph W. Malcolm, Jr., was born. In an interview for the May 31, 1957 Louisville Times, Joe Malcolm looked back at his early years in Louisville. He stated that he would hunt ducks in the area where Louisville Middle School now stands. He also said, "I can remember when the Baptist church [at 701 Grant] set out in the prairie." He remembered when Front Street had seven saloons, a skating rink, a blacksmith shop, a butcher shop, and two boarding houses. In 1919, Joe Malcolm purchased the house at 600 Pine. Directories indicate that from about 1920 until about 1955, his insurance business was located in his home. Louisville residents still recall going to the house at 600 Pine for their insurance needs, at a time when not many people in Louisville sold insurance. In the 1950s, the Malcolm Insurance Agency expanded and became located at 831 Main, then 608 Main. The Malcolm Insurance Agency continued, under the direction of others, into the 1980s. The following image is an advertisement for Joe Malcolm's insurance business as it appears on the Rex Theatre stage curtain from circa 1927-28 that is currently on exhibit at the Louisville Historical Museum: Joe Malcolm was president of the Louisville School Board for twenty-one years and was active in other organizations as well, including the Louisville Lions Club and the Order of the Easter Star.