Odeon organ and kunzle cakes


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When I was very small, around  6 or 7, I was taken by a friend of my mother's for afternoon tea and kunzle cakes downstairs at the Odeon. The waitresses would have been decked out in black with white frilly aprons. But it's the tea pots I remember and the kunzle cakes - the tea pots were in mottled beaten ware, very typical of the 1950s period which you never see now. Anyone remember anything similar. And the organ in the centre of the room being played for afternoon tea?

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What a lovely memory Carole,I'm someone will be along in a bit with all the info you need

 

Rog

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First Pictures in Town i took a girl too was the Odeon..........3/6 for a balcony seat,so that was 7/2 before we got sat down,she had no chance of a Kunzle cake or owt else................so it was back to the Vernon in Basford after that at 1/6 and a bag of Chips after.......lol.

 

Edit.........sorry 2x 3/6 = 7 bob i think

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  • 3 months later...

I'd be interested to know what happened to the organ.  I never heard it.  It was no longer used by the time of my Odeon visits, but my mother used to talk about it.  It may have been removed long before the building was demolished.

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#10.  Yes I was there in the early 60s saw The Sound of Music, there.  

 

I think  my mom said the console used to rise up on the stage with a lift built into the stage.  I'm assuming it would have been a pipe organ back then.  I don't know where the pipes would have been.  Presumably behind the screen.

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That's made me laugh, Loppy! I also saw the Sound of Music at the Odeon. it was one of those films my older sister took a shine to and she saw it round about 20 times! In those days, she often used to take me to the cinema and I remember going to the Odeon to see not only that film but also Mary Poppins and several others that came out around the same time. Unlike me, my sister has a problem with time keeping and has never been known to be anywhere on time in her entire life. This meant that when we went to the Odeon Cinema, we invariably turned up half way through the film, so we saw the second half first and then remained in the cinema to see the first half when it was shown a second time. I don't think you can do that nowadays although it is many years since I went to the cinema.

 

That is probably why it's difficult for me to remember these films in the in the correct sequence but somehow we could never seem to get there on time for the start of the film.

 

Not long after the Sound of Music came out, my sister bought the vocal score from Clement pianos on Derby Road and I then had to put up with playing the accompaniment so that she could sing '16 going on 17' which used to drive me round the bend! Oddly enough, I was looking through an old blanket chest that I use to store music scores only the other day and I found the Rodgers and Hammerstein score - minus its front cover. Well, it had been used rather a lot!

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Thanks TBI. That was a decent organ according to its specs.  I wish I could have heard it.

 

#12.  We saw the Sound of Music in 63/64 not quite sure, but the Odeon was still one big screen and auditorium at that time.  Also saw Mary poppins there.  One of the guys on the Organ forum said that he first developed a love for the pipe organ when he heard the one in the wedding scene.  Played the organ ever since so I guess that movie did some good.

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Thanks for your replies to my questions. I went with my mum and dad to see the Todd A O screening of South Pacific at the Odeon. My mum loved the film. I do not remember the organ then. Probably too young to be taking that much notice. "The cinematreasures" link is very interesting.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I also went with my mum and dad to see South Pacific. I was really looking forward to seeing the organ rise up from below the stage but the lift broke and it only came halfway up. It was still played that night but I was very disappointed as you could not really see the console.

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  • 1 year later...

I want to know why we don't see kunzle cakes any more.

They were little individually wrapped cakes . A chocolate cup filled with sponge and topped with  all sorts of yummy things . Beautifully adorned on top with flowers or pieces of equally tasty bits. 

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A company I worked for had its annual dinner and dance in a room underneath the Odeon for several years around 1970. There was an organ there on a stage at the side but it wasn't the same one as used in the cinema. The music for the dance was provided by a small dance band (who shared the stage with the organ). The 'do's' themselves were quite good but no Kunzle cakes though.

 

I remember that The Sound of Music was shown at the Odeon for a very long period and there was a report in the NEP about an old lady who used to watch the film every afternoon such that the cinema management allowed her in for free for as long as the film was there. Her reason for going with such enthusiasm was that she wanted to see the time when it had a happy ending. (I never saw the film so I assume it had a sad end).

 

Regarding Kunzle cakes - I never liked them. I remember our local shop first getting them in (to great fanfares as the cakes were quite rare in those days). Anyway, I badgered my mother to get some. I took one bite and that was it. To me, the chocolate was dreadful - it was soft and sort of 'chewy' and had an odd taste. Nothing like the chocolate I was used to. So, that was the end of my experience with Kunzle. All was not lost - my dad liked them.

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I think the old lady at The Odeon was probably waiting until she got free ice cream too lol

BTW our corner shop on Russell Rd/Leslie Avenue run by Mr & Mrs  Smith in the early 60s sold Kunzel cakes which my mum used to buy. I liked the chocolate outer but I found the filling rather rich. They were individually wrapped in cellophane IIRC.

 

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