I love all the little surprises found throughout Twin Peaks. With each viewing, I find some new detail to explore and share with fellow fans. In episode 1.007, director Lesli Linka Glatter made an uncredited cameo as the One-Eyed Jacks Seamstress tending to Audrey Horne. While taking a closer look at this scene, I identified several costume props to add to the ever-growing catalog of props and set decorating on Twin Peaks Blog.
UNCREDITED ONE-EYED JACKS SEAMSTRESS
During fifth week of the 2013 Twin Peaks Series Retrospective at the University of Southern California, director Lesli Linka Glatter revealed she played the hunch-backed seamstress tending to Audrey Horne at One-Eyed Jacks in the Mark Frost-directed episode 1.007.
“I was the hunchback in One-Eyed Jacks and they didn’t recognize me,” explained Glatter, “I had a hair net and a hunch and a very big mole with hair sticking out and bright pink lipstick that was way over my mouth.”
Lesli had directed episode 1.005 during the first season. She would direct three additional episodes in the second season – episode 2.003, episode 2.006 and episode 2.016.
In a post on October 11, 2016 via the Facebook group “Twin Peaks: Between Two Worlds“, long-time Twin Peaks fan Christian Hartleben shared the character was Lesli’s idea.
“It was Lesli’s idea, a Snow White reference: The Wicked Queen in disguise as an elderly, stooped-over servant,” wrote Hartleben. “Her cameo is reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock’s practice of putting himself on screen as an extra in most of his films. TVtropes identifies this as a Creator Cameo. In the following episode, Mark Frost appeared as Cyril Pons on Shelly Johnson’s television, reporting from the smoking remains of the Packard Mill. Of course, David Lynch himself appeared as our favorite FBI Regional Bureau Chief GORDON COLE.”
Interestingly, the script for episode 1.007 written by Mark Frost doesn’t mention the seamstress. The script pages containing the scene were revised on December 4, 1989 (indicated with pink pages).
Scene 61 is omitted, while scene 62 takes place in Audrey’s room
INT. AUDREY’S ROOM – NIGHT
The bell goes off. A pleasant, musical sound. Panicked, Audrey turns. Looks at herself in the mirror. SOUND of a door opening. She turns …
I suppose scene 61 could have contained a more on-screen action with the seamstress. Unless the original draft written on November 25, 1989 turns up, we may never know.
COSTUME PROPS FOR ONE-EYED JACKS SEAMSTRESS
The scene opens with a close-up shot of the seamstress attaching an oversized Queen of Diamonds playing card. My quest to find an exact match of the oversized card is on going as I quickly discovered there are lots of different face card styles in the world.
In 2015, a Reddit user posted this comparison of playing cards, none of which matched the card the seamstress is attaching.
The closest design I’ve found is a playing card set produced in Hong Kong and sold at Universal Studios Hollywood. But these cards aren’t oversized unlike the card being attached to Audrey. Most likely, the jumbo sized card (perhaps 5-inches by 7-inches) was produced in Hong Kong.
Look closely and you’ll see a pin cushion shaped like a tomato attached to the seamstress’ arm. Most likely, this pin cushion was created by the Dritz Corporation who still manufactures similar pin cushions today.
According to The Miami News on March 13, 1959, the Dritz Corporation was run by father and son duo John and Arthur Dritz. John started peddling sewing materials and gimmicks to homes across the United States around 1902. Arthur was one of five sons who invented electric home scissors. The company also created two hand needle threaders, a seam ripper and even a tape measure holder which sent the tape out flat while the tape measure roll is on its side.
The tomato-shaped pin cushion also had a small dangling strawberry which you can see bounce around in the episode as the seamstress cuts thread using orange handled scissors. The pin cushion is attached around the seamstress’ wrist most likely using Dritz non-roll elastic tape.
The earliest advertisement I found on Newspapers.com for a “tomato pin cushion” comes from 1948 but it’s unclear they were manufactured by Dritz. Decades later, an advertisement for notions at Fred Meyer included a “Dritz Tomato Pin Cushio with Emery Strawberry,” the latter element being used to sharpen sewing needles.
Granted, the pin cushion may also be something manufactured by Talon American which appears to have arrived in the marketplace around 1982. This is the challenge with identifying some props in the series. Without definitive identifying marks or with similar products being offered, one has to make a educated guess about the specific item. My gut says the pin cushion was probably a Dritz brand only because they are still in business today and likely had most of the marketshare.
Turning from the pin cushion, I also found the playing card tucked inside the seamstress’ hairnet.
It’s a miniature Joker playing card which was most likely made in Hong Kong. I’ve also found miniature cards made in China but the card text on screen appears to extend beyond the Joker’s base. Ebay searches have revealed several of these miniature playing card sets, sold either with the traditional blue or red backers or as souvenirs from places like Yellowstone National Park or Knott’s Berry Farm in California.
The card measures approximately about 3.7 by 5.8cm or 1.5 by 2.3-inches. No specific details as to who manufactured the card.
AUDREY HORNE IN TWIN PEAKS EPISODE 1.007
For Audrey’s One Eyed Jacks corset outfit, Twin Peaks costumer Sara Markowitz used lingerie from Playmates on Hollywood Boulevard according to the Los Angeles Time interview from May 9, 1990.
“But she did do costumes once: wonderful, risque corsets, garter belts and stockings for women of the local brothel. The corsets, from Playmates, were appliquéd with playing card symbols and fully lined to get past the censor.”
Playmates of Hollywood, once located at 6438 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles California, was housed in the Attie Building. Built in 1931, the shop sold lingerie and, later, platform shoes.
The Art Deco building exterior has an iconic 20-feet-by-30-foot mural titled “You Are a Star” by New Mexico artist Thomas Suriya. He was living with Michael Attie, the son of the previous building owners who eventually took over the family business. Attie commissioned the Suriya’s mural in 1983 about a year before the Los Angeles Summer Games of 1984. More recently, you could see the mural in La La Land.
Sadly, Playmates of Hollywood closed shop on March 23, 2018. You can, however, find them on Instagram – @PlaymatesOfHollywood.
In addition to Audrey’s oversized Queen of Diamonds card attached to the corset’s front, there were ten smaller Queen of Diamond cards attached above her breasts – five on each side.
It’s nice that the crew kept the Queen of Diamonds as Audrey’s card when Windom Earle was “playing cards” in episode 2.018.
Upon hearing a knock at the door, the seamstress completes her work and says to Audrey, “Good luck, honey.” She then quickly departs the room out a side door as Ben Horne enters Audrey’s room.
This is a nice addition to the found costume props, and like most articles on this website, will continue to be updated when new discoveries are made.
