Support the Project: Our Crowdfunding Shop is Now Open!
As of August 30th, we’ve raised $32,684 — 29.0% of our crowdfunding goal.
Perks: CDs, Posters, Postcards & More in the Crowdfunding Shop.
Make a Direct Contribution – Proceeds fund the production.
An sad and insurmountable problem for documentary producers is that, before a certain time, there was no home video – Only still photos, or if you’re very lucky, 8mm home movies.
Wait, what? There’s FILM? Somebody shot professional 16mm film of the Organ Grinder in the 1970s? Why didn’t you say so!
You can help support the project by purchasing from the Crowdfunding Shop.
This childhood drawing was provided by an Organ Grinder fan who spent hours creating elaborate scenes of their dream pipe organ. This instrument has everything – note the inclusion of not one, but two pianos! Sign up for our email newsletter and receive updates about the project. First name Last name Email
Early in the planning stages for the first Organ Grinder, the founders used an architecture firm which specialized in restaurants and hotels. The design was very conventional – a rectangular building, with the entrance and kitchen at the front, and the organ at the back. No towering windows showing off the pipes to the street,…
On April 8, Toby Washburn stopped by Carma Labs in Franklin, Wisconsin to demonstrate the unusual pipe organ constructed in the warehouse. As part of our Midwest Tour, The Organ Grinder Documentary project visited Carma Labs (which you may recognize as the manufacturers of Carmex lip balm) to explore the wild and over-the-top things people…
It sure looks like the Organ Grinder, doesn’t it? But it’s not! While visiting Shawn Kenney as part of our Midwest Tour, Shawn provided a notebook filled with photos and documents of “Pipe Organ and Pizza”-themed establishments. There were over 100 restaurants with pipe organs created throughout the 1960’s-1980’s, most of them independently owned and…
Well, hello, little fella! Thanks to a tip from our Facebook group member, Jason Pittman (who also took the photo), we know that the original Organ Grinder sign’s monkey (which is likely about 8-10ft tall – not a little fella) still exists! We are not disclosing the exact location at this time, as we are…
A whimsical, musical re-creation of a 30-year-old poster from the Organ Grinder restaurant. (Details about the poster at the end of the video.) Presented in 5.1 Channel Surround on Supported Devices. Audio Warning: Turn your volume down at the end of the video! As of 2024 when this was uploaded, YouTube plays 5.1 content at…
