Announcing the Organ Grinder Documentary Project

[Bob_PDX]

Mark Reed demonstrates his reproducing grand piano.

This piano was originally installed at the Portland Publix Theatre (later the Paramount theatre, now the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall) in Portland, Oregon.

The piano was manufactured by Wm. Knabe & Co. and used an Ampico "Re-Enacting" (reproducing) mechanism, which not only recorded the notes of a performance, but the dynamics of the keypresses as well.

It originally sat in the mezzanine or "bridge" over the lobby area, above a fountain, and it would play for patrons as they entered the theatre.

It was later moved to a neighboring hotel and eventually fell into disrepair, losing its mechanism, its finish degraded by scratches and cigarette burns.

In 1975, the then-owners of the Paramount auctioned off many of the theatre's vintage treasures, including this piano. Mark won the bid, and has restored the instrument to working condition.

At the same auction, a representative of the Organ Grinder restaurant purchased the Paramount's Wurlitzer pipe organ, which became the basis of the 2nd Organ Grinder in Denver, Colorado.

Mark maintained the Wurlitzer at the Portland Organ Grinder location for many years, and also had a career restoring mechanical instruments including as street organs, band organs, and carousel organs.

We interviewed Mark as part of the Organ Grinder Documentary Project in September, 2024. Mark continues to tinker with musical instruments at home on his farm in Oregon.

Song: "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" by John Kellette, 1918

[Bob_PDX]

Would you like a tropical rainforest with your pizza?

On Saturday, we interviewed Stan Cadwallader. Stan lives on Maui, along the famous, twisty and mountainous Hana Highway, on a ranch that he and his husband, the late, beloved actor and singer Jim Nabors, purchased in the 1970s.

Nestled in the hills of northeastern Maui, the climate is subtropical-rain forest or subtropical-wet forest, depending on where you stand! At the center of the ranch, you can face one direction and have panoramic views of the Pacific ocean, and turn around and be humbled by tall tree-lined peaks that disappear into the mist.



There are multiple connections between Stan, Jim, and the people behind the creation of the Organ Grinder. Stan spoke to us about his experiences, and his and Jim’s friendship with the co-founders. In the restaurants’ heyday, Stan visited the Denver Organ Grinder as well as Earthquake Ethel’s Roadhouse in Beaverton, Oregon.

There’s also a fun story about Jim and the Portland Organ Grinder, but you’ll just have to wait for the movie to hear about that one!


A 130-or-more-year-old Ficus Microcarpa (also known as Chinese Banyan tree) with a beehive that’s been active for many years on Stan and Jim’s ranch.

Stan surprised us with a Jurassic Park-style tour of the acreage, tooling around in a 4WD open-air Polaris, deftly driven through the dense foliage, by the ranch’s can-do-anything caretaker Josh, who had an encyclopedic knowledge of plant species, and also happened to be a terrific chef.

(At this point you may be wondering if this production has gone a bit off the deep end, lavishly spending our backers’ money! Not so – all of this was made possible by a generous friend I’ve known since high school, who contributed her frequent flyer miles, and used her connections in Maui to get us a place to stay at a private home, and we made the perilous journey up the mountain highway with dozens of one-lane-bridges in a borrowed car. I am so grateful for the opportunity to have recorded this interview, which ties together a lot of loose ends in the Organ Grinder story. – Bob R.)

If you would like to help production continue with some more down-to-earth planned trips, including getting to Denver to cover the story there, please consider backing our Indiegogo campaign, or directly by purchasing our newly-released Organ Grinder album CD collection.

From:
https://www.pipedreamsfilm.com/blog/...th-your-pizza/

[MartinMeier]

Old photos of Denver Organ Grinder organ after it left the restaurant, at the Pikes Peak Paradise B & B about 1992

[Bob_PDX]

Those are terrific!

[MartinMeier]

Denver Organ Grinder brochure with stop list.

[Bob_PDX]

In the years since the publication of those brochures, Dennis has made some corrections and updates, and I've received input from a few other people. We believe we have the most up-to-date specification posted online now, but please take a look and see if you have any comments or corrections:

https://www.pipedreamsfilm.com/blog/wiki/organgrinder/