“That’s not true. The menus are very presentable.” – Vivian Smythe (a.k.a. M.T. Wentz) from Episode 2009 in Twin Peaks
I love a good challenge. @TwinPeaksArchive gave me a heads up that the Showtime Store released a new poster that appeared to be an image from Double R Diner Menu used in Seasons 1-3 of Twin Peaks. Brother Jer asked if I could find the original image which may have been based on a vintage postcard. Less than 24 hours later, I identified both the front and back images used on the menu. As it turns out, neither image is from Washington State.
Brother Jer’s Twin Peaks Props website first posted images of the Double R Diner menu a few years ago (Menu #1 and Menu #2). He notes, “It is said only 8 menu’s were made for the Double RR set. The inside is blank.”
Thankfully the MacMillan website for the “Secret History of Twin Peaks” posted a high-res image of the menu (which is most likely from Season 3 on Showtime). This was critical step for identifying the original image source.
This is the poster from the Showtime Store that Brother Jer shared with me. It’s easy to see the poster image and the menu image are a match. I performed a Google image search using the menu cover from MacMillan and I found a match on Flickr.
THE FRONT IMAGE
Flickr member Striderv scanned this image of a vintage postcard from the Asulkan Valley, Glacier National Park in British Columbia, Canada.
I then search eBay.com using “Asulkan Valley Vintage Postcard” and found another match. Clearly the menu image has been recolored yet the location appears to be the same (it’s now on my list of places to visit one day).
I found this postcard of The Asulkan Valley which included a stunning black and white photo of the spot.
Here is a cropped image from that postcard.
The back of the postcard contains “J. Howard A. Chapman, Victoria, B.C.” with the number 1679. According to MemoryBC, “J. Howard Chapman arrived in Victoria from England in 1890. Initially, he worked as a travelling salesman, but between 1895 and 1912, he travelled and took photographs throughout B.C. From 1912 to 1936, he concentrated his photographic work on the people, places and events of Vancouver and Victoria.”
THE BACK IMAGE
The back image was slightly more difficult to find. Bruce Philips, long time Twin Peaks collector, posted a scanned image from the back of the menu.
He is selling this image in a wood frame.
I eventually found a similar image on Etsy.com of Trick Falls near Two Medicine Chalets at Glacier National Park in Montana. It’s also known as Running Eagle Falls.
I purchased the postcard image above. It may been taken in 1910 by Kiser Photo Company in Portland, ORE-GON! This image has been used on various postcards and was most likely cropped and recolored for the menu prop.
The back of the postcard states it was published by The Boughton-Robbins Co. from Spokane, Washington. The postcard number is R-59517.
One more image of a Trick Falls postcard I found on eBay.com. Now that I’ve identified the images from the menus, let’s see how they appear in the series.
THE MENUS OF TWIN PEAKS
There are actually four different menus used in Twin Peaks. The first is seen in the Pilot Episode which is most likely an actual menu from the Mar-T Cafe in North Bend.
We get a better look at the menu in this Publicity Photos from the Pilot Episode courtesy of The Mauve Zone.
MENU FRONT FROM SEASONS 1-2
Here are the episodes which show the menu front from Twin Peaks Seasons 1-3.
SEASON 3 – MENU FRONT
The first appearance of the menu in Season 3 is found in Part 6.
TWIN PEAKS PUBLICITY SHOT – MENU FRONT
You can barely see the front of the menu in these Publicity Shots from Twin Peaks.
BACK OF MENU FROM SEASONS 1-2
The back of the menu is only seen in Seasons 1-2. For Season 3, they only show the front. The first appearance of the menu is found in Episode 1002 when Audrey Horne sits down at the counter in the Double R Diner.
RR-2-GO MENU
In Twin Peaks Season 3, the Double R Diner had a RR-2-GO Menu which is briefly seen in Part 6 and Part 11.
Here is a closer look at that menu.
You can briefly the menu again in Part 11.
Click here if you’d like to learn about the Double R Diner specials.
