This is one of those situations where I wish I had a time machine to transport me back to March 23, 1991. I would attend an auction held for St. John’s Prep School in Collegeville, Minnesota which had several Twin Peaks items donated by 1967 graduate Bob Engles. Recently, I found one of those items from the early 1990s auction being sold on eBay – an autographed Twin Peaks wrestling uniform with 17 actors’ autographs.
ST. JOHN’S PREP SCHOOL IN COLLEGEVILLE MINNESOTA
Founded in 1857, St. John’s Prep is a Catholic co-educational, day and boarding college preparatory school located in Collegeville, Minnesota. It is part of the Diocese of Saint Cloud and is administered by the Benedictine monks of Saint John’s Abbey.
Twin Peaks writer and co-producer Robert “Bob” Engles graduated from the prep school in 1967. He wrote several episodes during and co-wrote the 1992 film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, with David Lynch.
ST. JOHN’S PREP AUCTION ON MARCH 23, 1991
A few months ago, I discovered that an auction was held for the school on March 23, 1991 which contained several Twin Peaks items donated by Engles. These items included “t-shirts, a Twin Peaks High School wrestling uniform covered with 17 autographs from the show’s cast and an original script from the third episode of the second season.” The signature piece for this auction was Special Agent Dale Cooper’s “bloody and bullet-ridden shirt” worn at the end of episode 1.007.
The items were delivered by Bob’s brother Steve on Monday, March 18.
“I was just amazed we got it. We thought we might get some autographed photos, but here we got this shirt,” said Michael Johnson, then director of development for the school. “You can see the bullet holes. It’s torn and everything.”
The auction took place at St. Albert’s Parish in Albertville, Minnesota.
AUCTION ITEMS FOR ST. JOHN’S PREP ON MARCH 23, 1991
While recently searching for unique items on eBay, I came across this “Twin Peaks Cast Signed Autograph Real Prop Wrestling Singlet.” It was being sold by autograph collector Theodoratos104 for $3,500 U.S. (or best offer). I reached out to the seller to find out how he acquired the uniform.
He purchased it from a different seller a few years ago but that person didn’t know much of its history. I did notice the uniform contains 17 autographs from Twin Peaks cast members which was mentioned in the newspaper report.
Those actors included: Kyle MacLachlan (Dale Cooper), Frank Silva (Killer BOB), Piper Laurie (Catherine Martell), Grace Zabriske (Sarah Palmer), Dana Ashbrook (Bobby Briggs), Richard Beymer (Ben Horne), Ray Wise (Leland Palmer), Michael Ontkean (Sheriff Harry S. Truman), Mädchen Amick (Shelly Johnson), Kenneth Welsh (Windom Earle), Russ Tamblyn (Dr. Lawrence Jacoby), Charlotte Stewart (Betty Briggs), Don S. Davis (Major Briggs), Heather Graham (Annie), Jack Nance (Pete Martell) and Catherine Coulson (The Log Lady). Warren Frost may have also signed it as “Doc” Hayward.
Coulson’s autograph, included a sketch of two arms holding a log which was found on a calling card she created. Graham and Ontkean’s autographs are a rare delight to see.
The wrestling uniform was manufactured by Southland Athletic Manufacturing Company based in Terrell, Texas. They This was most like a blank to which the costuming team added the “TP” for “Twin Peaks” to the front. The company began manufacturing uniforms in 1946 in Forney, Texas but moved to Terrell shortly thereafter. According to a Facebook post I found, they closed permanently in 2014.
The uniform appears to match one worn by Nadine Butler Hurley (Wendy Robie) as seen in episode 2.021 during a slide show about her wrestling tournament.
We see other wrestling uniforms on Twin Peaks High School students in episode 2.012 yet they are wearing pants in the scene.
The St. John’s Prep auction contained an autographed script from episode 2.003 (episode 10 from Twin Peaks’ second season) written by Engles. The scripts above are not the same ones from the 1991 auction but they are currently available via eBay from seller liz490-1.
As an aside, the current auction contains three scripts (one complete and two partials):
- Seventh draft script for episode #2.003
- Second Draft all blue missing pages 23, 31, 34, 36, 37, 38 & 41
- Fifth Draft missing pages 1, 4, 5, 12, 13, 16, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 34-39, 41 & 42. Contains some multiple colored pages of the same numbered page.)
They come from the Twin Peaks Archive Collection and would be a dream to own. It’s difficult to say what script was offered in the St. John’s Prep auction in 1991.
The third signature auction item was Agent Cooper’s shirt when he was shot in room 315 at The Great Northern Hotel.
RESULTS FROM THE ST. JOHN’S PREP AUCTION ON MARCH 23, 1991
The Associated Press ran a story containing results from the auction.
Agent Cooper’s shirt was sold for $400 to Barb and Steve Mulawka of St. Cloud, Minnesota.
“We didn’t plan on buying it,” said Barb Mulawka, 37, to the Associated Press. The couple didn’t place a bid until the shirt was at $375. “I guess we didn’t see it as all that outrageous for that … So we just said, ‘What the heck.’ You only live once.”
The original Twin Peaks episode #2.003 script fetched $200 while the autographed uniform was sold to a Michigan collector of sports memorabilia for $250.
I wonder if the Mulawka’s still have the shirt in their possession today.
Thank you to Theodoratos104 for answering some of my questions for this article and my fellow Twin Peaks Blog and prop collector Vinnie Guidera for additional insight about this item. Happy Bidding!
