In Twin Peaks episode 2.018, Donna Hayward receives a postcard from James Hurley who left Twin Peaks for Mexico with a stop in San Francisco, California. This brief scene combines several things I love on TwinPeaksBlog.com – prop identification, locations and behind-the-scenes details.
DONNA HAYWARD SORTING THE MAIL
The scene begins with Donna sorting the daily mail.
The first letter may be an Air Mail envelope, easily identifiable from the red, blue and white border. Yet it could also be some sort of junk mail.
Next up is a folded flyer from the Twin Peaks Chamber of Commerce for the Miss Twin Peaks Contest.
The flyer appears to be similar to one also seen in episode 2.018 at the Double R Diner.
I have a replica of the Miss Twin Peaks flyer that is different than the broadcast version. Seems like a future article waiting to happen. Check out an in-depth look at this particular flyer in this All in the Details article.
LETTER FOR JEFF MOORE
Donna then finds a postcard from San Francisco. Before we get to that prop, take a look at the envelope behind it.
The letter from the Sierra Club is addressed to Jeff Moore. I found a similar envelope on page 46 of Richard Beamish’s book “Getting the Word Out in the Fight to Save the Earth.”
Jeffrey Moore was the Property Master for the second season of Twin Peaks.
A Great Northern Hotel employee portrayed by Charles Sheeham (credited as “Charles Sheehan”) wears a “Jeff Moore” name tag in episode 2.019. This is the scene when Agent Dale Cooper and John Justice Wheeler share a drink by the fireplace.
Twin Peaks Archive posted a two-part interview with Mr. Moore by Brad Dukes a few years ago. It’s a fascinating read when you have the time – Part 1 and Part 2.
Jeff also spoke at the 2013 Twin Peaks Fan Festival in the United Kingdom.
On February 25, 2023, he spoke with fellow author Vinnie Guidera at The Real Twin Peaks event.
STUDIO CITY ADDRESS
The address listed on the envelope is 12115 Hoffman Street, Studio City, CA 91604. According to an internet search, the Southern California home was built in 1940. It’s possible that Jeff was living at this house during the time Twin Peaks was in production. It’s certainly a creative way to add himself to a scene.
Here are images from Google Maps of the home.
JAMES HURLEY’S SAN FRANCISCO POSTCARD
The postcard immediately grabs Donna’s attention.
TWIN PEAKS EPISODE 2.018 SCRIPT
Robert Engles and Harley Peyton wrote the script between January 9 and January 24, 1991. While there were several revisions, it appears this scene may have been part of the original draft.
It mentions a postcard with the words “San Francisco” across an image of the Golden Gate Bridge. It’s difficult to say if they had a particular postcard in mind but Jeff Moore found one with “San Francisco” and multiple scenes from the city by the bay.
After Donna sits on the stairs and turns the card over, we hear James’ voice reading the lines he penned. They appear to match the scripted version.
Dear Donna,
You were right, l had to go. Everything feels different when you’re on the road. lt feels better. San Francisco’s really cool. Next stop, Mexico. l’ll be back with a million stories. l promise.
l love you,
James
We also see the Hayward’s home is located at 552 Oak Street, Twin Peaks, Washington 55219.
The mail service (or James) must be pretty quick as James and Donna had their picnic before he left town on Tuesday, March 21, 1989. The postcard, according to the show’s timeline, arrived on Thursday, March 23. It takes about 17 hours to get to San Francisco from the location of Twin Peaks (“five miles south of the boarder, and 12 miles west of the state line”).
FINDING A REPLICA SAN FRANCISCO POSTCARD PROP
To find this replica postcard, I cropped the post card image from the scene and performed a Google Image search. I didn’t have much luck at first finding a match.
I turned to eBay next where I found a similar card but not the exact match (it took scrolling through more than 25 pages of images to find it).
You’ll notice that the marks on the back appear similar, but text and marks are either missing or are in the wrong spot. Additionally, some cards do not have a scalloped edge.
After a few weeks, I returned to the search. Sometimes I wait for more items to appear on the internet before I can find or identify props. This time, a Google Image search found a match on SeaTheLights.com. The postcard’s back appeared to match.
The card was manufactured by Smith Novelty Co. in San Francisco, California (notice the “SN” logo in the bottom left corner). According to their website, the company began in the early 1900s as Smith News Company. Postcards and paperback books were added to their business in the 1940s.
“In 1955, Ken Glaser, Sr. and James Smith bought the latter portion of the business. The direction of the company changed to focus on the rapidly growing tourist market in San Francisco and California. They diversified into the souvenir and gift market which led to the start of a new division, Smith Novelty Company.”
The company is still in existence today and even creates a variety of Seattle souvenirs.
The postcard doesn’t contain actual photographs, rather, it contains images printed by a photochrome process. If you look at it under a magnifying glass, you’ll notice a dot pattern that is characteristic of printed cards. Most likely this card was printed post 1960 as it measures 4-inches by 6-inches.
My card was postmarked in 1977. I erased all of the text on the back so you can print your own card by clicking on the card images above.
APPEARENCE IN TWIN PEAKS
While speaking with Doctor Hayward, we see Donna holding the card in her hand.
We see the card one final time as Donna accepts a bouquet of roses for her mom.
