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Mascots at the Organ Grinder restaurant in Portland, Oregon, dressed in red-white-and-blue garb for the 1976 United States Bicentennial celebration.
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(Post updated 2025-07-13 with technical info.) In this newly-acquired footage from the 1970s, organist Jonas Nordwall performs a full set at the Organ Grinder restaurant in Portland, Oregon. This compilation is from vintage video tapes which were recently provided to the documentary project. Sometime around 1977, representatives from Sony visited the Organ Grinder to test…
Photo of Vicki Bock (colloquially known as the Organ Grinder’s “Monkey Lady”) with two good friends. Sign up for our email newsletter and receive updates about the project. First name Last name Email
On Sundays at lunchtime, organist Paul Quarino would perform gospel tunes to appeal to the “after church” crowd, before the regular secular/pop program began later in the afternoon. This recording is from January 30, 1996, five days before the Portland Organ Grinder closed. Tuning Note:A sudden cold snap (part of a series of unusual weather…
This is a fun coincidence that happened recently. It’s not specifically Organ Grinder related, but it ties in nicely with the theme, and it wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t embarked on this documentary project. Back in September, when I interviewed Mark Reed, he made several comments regarding a book called “The Best Remaining Seats…
The Organ Grinder restaurants in Portland and Denver were special places to spend your birthday back in the 70’s, 80’s, and into the 90’s. Now, you can send an Organ Grinder birthday greeting to anyone by sharing this video’s YouTube link. The clip used here was recorded at the Portland location in 1996, shortly before…
Employees and friends describe the generosity of Organ Grinder co-founder Paul Forchuk, while laughing about the difficulties receiving that generosity would sometimes entail. Featuring: Vicki Buck, Stan Cadwallader, and Jonas Nordwall, with photos of Russ Cornelison and Jim Nabors. Music: “The Entertainer” by Scott Joplin, performed by David Lee at Organ Grinder Portland. Sign up…
