Hap’s Diner in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me may not have offered specials but they did have an early version of a streaming music service. Instead of a jukebox like the one found near the entrance to the Double R Diner in Twin Peaks, there was a silver Art Deco machine behind the counter known as the Shyvers Multiphone that has a unique connection to Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.
SHYVERS MULTIPHONE AT HAP’S DINER
After Special Agents Desmond and Stanley finish their work at the Deer Meadow Sheriff’s Department morgue, they visit Hap’s Diner to get some food. While there, they encounter Irene, a less-than-friendly waitress who worked with the late Teresa Banks. Throughout the scene, Irene remains behind the counter, smoking her cigarette while standing near an Art Deco-styled contraption.
After watching this scene for more than three decades, I have wondered about the silver machine sitting on the countertop next to the salty lady. I assumed it was some kind of juke box, like ones you may find on the table tops in diner booths. As it turns out, this machine was a forerunner to music-on-demand services found today.
In 1939, Ken Shyvers introduced the Shyvers Multiphone to restaurants, bars and diners in Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia, Washington. These co-operated machines were connected to phone lines where female deejays located in nondescript buildings in Seattle, Tacoma, Bremerton and Spokane would field calls from patrons to play the music.
Seattle inventor Shyvers had over 60 patents in his name with his most popular device being the pinball machine. Yet his multiphone was such a unique device long before things like Apple Music, SiriusXM or Spotify even existed. He didn’t invent the concept of using phone lines to transmit or broadcast programming.
In 1881, the “Theatrophone” was introduce in Paris, France. This device was set up in hotels, cafés, clubs and theatres across Paris, France” and could broadcast and transmit sounds to 48 listeners at a time through various telephone lines running through the sewer systems.” It continued operating until 1932, while Shyvers’ machines would run until 1959.
According to a Kitsap Sun article by Christian Vosler on August 21, 2021, here is how the system would work:
“A patron sitting at a bar, restaurant or cafe would put a nickel into the multiphone, connecting it to a station where the staff of all-female disc jockeys would ask for a song number. The women would find the record among the station’s large collection and play it on the turntable associated with that specific location.”
Unlike jukeboxes which could hold between 24-48 songs, these Multiphones could have more than 170 choices. No music was stored inside as everything was connected via a phone line to the Central Music area. The cylinder spun to reveal a playlist which could be easily updated as new tunes were made available.
More than 8,000 units were manufactured but only about 1,500 survived. During its heyday, there were about 120 locations throughout the state of Washington.
Historian and Mulitphone collector John Bennett wrote an entire 156-page book about Shyvers machine which can be found on Jukeboxcity.biz. Bennett shared the photo above of two female deejays working at the Bremerton station.
The women used stage names or “mic names” to avoid being identified. They were instructed not to chat over the lines with patrons, particularly sailors on leave in the town of Bremerton.
A former multiphone deejay named Darlene Casteel, who used the stage name “Jerry,” shared a story with the Kitsap Sun about the night President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed on April 12, 1945.
She guessed that patrons in Bremerton’s restaurants and bars hadn’t heard the news of his passing so she flipped on the talk switches and announced that the president had died over the multiphones. Then she played the Star Spangled Banner.
“Mr. Shyvers was a little bit upset that I had gone ahead and done that, but he did finally tell me that it was probably a pretty good idea,” Casteel said.
There are multiple versions of this unit manufactured between 1939-1959. Earlier units required $.05 cents per play, with later models requiring $.10. It’s difficult to tell the exact model number used in the film, yet this one pictured above appears similar, especially with the red accents.
In the film, we see the side without the lock and key that would have opened the coin bank.
WHAT SONGS WERE ON THE SHYVERS MULTIPHONE AT HAP’S DINER?
Taking a closer look at this shot from the film, I think I can determine what songs were included in the Hap’s Multiphone machine.
There were multiple colors of song labels including green, yellow or red. The one in Hap’s appears to be red (though there is a slight color filter cast on the entire film). I found, however, a similar label in black and white. In the film you can see the start of the treble clef on the left side of the frame. This appears to match the label above. If you compare the spacing of the words on the panel without the treble clef, they appear to match the spacing on the label above.
The first song is Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line” which was released on May 1, 1956. This would place the label at some point after 1956 which falls in line with the time period of other set decorating found throughout the feature film.
APPEARANCES OF SHYVERS MULTIPHONE IN TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME
The Shyvers Multiphone is only seen in the Hap’s Diner scene. The first appearance is this wide angle shot of the FBI Agents taking a seat at the counter after speaking with Jack in the back room.
The machine will continue to appear slightly out of focus as Irene speaks with the Special Agents about Teresa Banks.
The fact that Shyvers’ machine appears at Hap’s makes a wonderful connection to the Real Twin Peaks of Washington state. It’s also a second nod to this talented inventor as three pinball machines appear in Twin Peaks – one on the porch of the Johnson house and two inside the Roadhouse.
Shyvers passed in the 1970s and his sons inherited his estate. The Multiphone may be lost to history like the location where Hap’s was filmed in Fall City, Washington. But its beautiful Art Deco shape lives on every time Irene tells Agents Desmond and Stanley about the specials they don’t have.
