Support the Project: Our Crowdfunding Shop is Now Open!
As of May 4th, we’ve raised $49,309 — 38.2% of our crowdfunding goal.
Perks: CDs, Posters, Postcards & More in the Crowdfunding Shop.
Make a Direct Contribution – Proceeds fund the production.
Mascots at the Organ Grinder restaurant in Portland, Oregon, dressed in red-white-and-blue garb for the 1976 United States Bicentennial celebration.
You can help support the project by purchasing from the Crowdfunding Shop.
When the Paramount Theatre in Portland, Oregon closed, before eventually becoming the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, many items were auctioned off, including furnishings, lighting fixtures, props, and the mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ that had originally been installed in the theatre for its grand opening on March 8, 1928. A representative of the company that owned…
On January 30, 1996, five days before the Portland Organ Grinder closed, three performers entertained the audience: Paul Quarino, Donna Parker, and Jonas Nordwall. Although not a scheduled event, it represents a “Farewell Concert”, as it was the last time these three performers would play together at the Organ Grinder. Three different fans independently recorded…
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…
There is a connection between the Organ Grinder restaurants and the legendary Earthquake Ethel’s Roadhouse nightclub in Beaverton. Several of the same people were involved, and Ethel’s will have a chapter in the documentary. And here, we are happy to present to you, an original painting of the mythical Ethel herself, loaned to the production…
In 1970, a group of filmmakers captured the final days of the Oriental Theatre, a movie palace in Portland, Oregon. With dramatizations of the glory days of cinema, this documentary captures the wonder that this grand building inspired in patrons, as well as portraying its tragic demolition. The Oriental Theatre’s Wurlitzer pipe organ was preserved…
Today, I met with a charming person who a lot of people might remember from the Organ Grinder’s heyday. This person was in possession of a trove of documents and memorabilia, including multiple scrapbooks kept by Paul Forchuk, one of the Organ Grinder’s co-founders. These scrapbooks were previously thought to be lost. (Obviously, the person…
