Tales of the Table · Tales of the Table
Tjarnarcafé / Tjarnarbúð (Oddfellowhúsið) (1943–1979) – Lost Tables
The Oddfellow House by Tjörnin, an early functionalist building by Þorleifur Eyjólfsson, opened in 1932 with a restaurant and dance floor on the ground floor. In 1943 the airline Loftleiðir took over the space as Tjarnarcafé, where the bands of Bjarni Böðvarsson and Gunnar Ormslev and the KK Sextet
The Oddfellow House by Tjörnin, an early functionalist building by Þorleifur Eyjólfsson, opened in 1932 with a restaurant and dance floor on the ground floor. In 1943 the airline Loftleiðir took over the space as Tjarnarcafé, where the bands of Bjarni Böðvarsson and Gunnar Ormslev and the KK Sextet played, and where Elly Vilhjálms was discovered at a KK singing audition in 1953. Ragnar Jónsson and his son Jón took over in 1964 and renamed it Tjarnarbúð, at first mostly for banquets and Jazz Club of Reykjavík nights. From 1968 it ran as an open nightclub with bands such as Eik, Icecross and Pelican, until open dances stopped in 1977 and the venue closed for good in summer 1979, with HLH flokkurinn probably the last band on stage.
The Oddfellow order still owns and uses the building
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