Throughout Twin Peaks’ second season, a coffee cup with a blue eagle design appears in various places around the Double R Diner. This was produced by New York-based Syracuse China, who you may remember from a previous article as the maker of the airbrushed dinnerware used at the Blue Pine Lodge.
DETAILS OF SYRACUSE CHINA LIBERTY DESIGN CUP
This piece is a Winthrop-shaped flat cup featuring their Liberty design. Some similar cups have “1776” printed below the eagle graphic, and the matching saucers say “Liberty” within the trim design.
Due to the company’s complex history of changes to their name and back stamp (some of which were not implemented at the same time), it can be difficult to determine a year of production for Syracuse pieces.
The stamp on my replica reads “22-A.” According to a helpful guide published by the Restaurant Ware Collectors Network, this code indicates that my replica was made in early 1993, meaning that this design was still in production when Twin Peaks was filmed. Out of curiosity, I used the same table to decode a few other online listings with this design and found some dating back to the 1970s. This prop could’ve been decades old or brand new.
APPEARANCES IN TWIN PEAKS
Though we don’t get a clear look at the cup until later in the season, I revisited earlier episodes with the eagle graphic in mind and found that it first appears as a blur in the background as Major Briggs exits the diner in episode 2.001.
It moves to a tray of clean dishes near the kitchen window in episode 2.004. It is peeking out from behind the HF Coors Chefsware mugs as Norma reaches for a ticket.
In episode 2.016, we get our clearest view yet as the cup is stored beneath the milkshake machine.
It stays put for a few episodes. We spend a good amount of time at this end of the counter as Annie and Shelly work with the Liberty cup in view.
Its final appearance comes in episode 2.020 as director Stephen Gyllenhaal shifts the mood, ominously pulling back on Cooper’s tender moment with Annie. The Syracuse mug is on the counter with the eagle graphic in full view.
As Cooper leans in for a kiss, a stack of dishes crash to the ground. A close shot of the wreckage shows our Liberty mug on top.
This is the shot I used to identify the prop.
Since the mug on the counter was a good distance from Cooper and Annie, I didn’t think it was meant to be the same mug that spilled. However, since we don’t actually see the dishes crash and there are never two eagle mugs onscreen together, was unsure if one prop was used in two places for this scene.
“BEHIND THE SCENES OF TWIN PEAKS AND COP ROCK” ON ABC TELEVISION
