Twin Peaks Prop – Betty Briggs’ Stoneware Polygon Condiment Set

Following the news that Charlotte Stewart will be joining the Twin Peaks Conversation with the Stars on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025 at the Uptown Theatre in Napa, California, I revisited her memorable scene as Betty Briggs in Part 9 from Twin Peaks: The Return. On a whim, I decided to search for the brown and beige condiment set found on her kitchen table. It didn’t take me long to find a match – home goods first introduced in the mid-1985 by Action Industries, Inc.

BETTY BRIGGS’ STONEWARE POLYGON CONDIMENT SET IN TWIN PEAKS PART 9

In a brief but memorable scene from Part 9 of Twin Peaks: The Return, Betty Briggs (Charlotte Stewart) is visited by her son Bobby, Sheriff Frank Truman and Deputy Hawk. When the scene opens, she is typing away on her Macbook while enjoying a cup of coffee. A brown and beige condiment set is found on her kitchen table.

Using a cropped image from this scene, I quickly found a match via a Google Image search. An eBay seller had the five-piece set available complete with the Lazy Susan display. On screen, you can see the “O” on the front of the olive oil container.

Surprisingly, the seller had the original box for the Stoneware Polygon Condiment set, which helped identify both the manufacturer and date when this item was produced.

The box contained both English and French translations. This means the may have been sold in places with a high French-speaking population, such as Quebec, Canada.

Here is an image with the salt and pepper shakers and the olive oil and vinegar containers placed next to the Lazy Susan.

Usually, items have maker marks or production stamps placed along the bottom which helps with identification. There was only a sticker indicating items were made in Taiwan.

The bottom of the Lazy Susan also contained the “Made in Taiwan” sticker.

Thankfully, the box contained all the information I needed to write this story. The set was made in 1985 by Action Industries, Inc. once located in Cheswick, Pennsylvania. For a prop hunter like me, this information is priceless.

WHO IS ACTION INDUSTRIES, INC IN CHESWICK, PA?

In 1917, Louis Berez and his brother-in-law, Louis Fineburg founded a paper products and general merchandise wholesaler called F&B Woodenware. Berez’s son Ernest joined the family business in 1949 after graduating from Harvard Business School.

By the 1950s, the company had developed a chain of franchised hardware stores that eventually grew to more than 60 stores in the Tri-state area. In 1956, they renamed the company to Associated Hardware Supply.

In the early 1960s, the company introduced promotions at discount stores to help drive foot traffic and sale. The Dollar-Ama, Dollar Power and Dollar Daze promos included bins filled with mostly imported giftware, kitchen items, and other inexpensive household goods, such as storage containers or laundry baskets.

The company renamed itself again in 1968 to Action Industries which better reflected its growing focus on retail promotions. They went public in 1969, and sold or shut down its hardware and home improvement stores in the 1980s.

You could find Action promotions for big retail chains, such as J.C. Penney, F.W. Woolworth and Sears, Walmart and others. I found an advertisement from K-Mart in May 1986 which contained Briggs’ Stoneware Condiment Set which was regularly priced at $13.99 but marked down to $4.50.

Ernest Berez became the company’s President in the 1970s when Bob Buchwach retired. He was then named CEO in 1982 and chairman in 1987 following the retirement of his other brother-in-law Amos Comay. By the mid-1980s, Action employed more than 1,000 people, with about 500 in the Pittsburgh area alone.

Berez retired in 1990 as the company’s action was in decline. Retailers like Walmart or Woolworth realized they could do their own promotions internally. They didn’t need to pay an outside company to create and run them in store.

Action’s “operational” assets, customer lists and trademarks were sold in September 1996 to Mazel Co., a private company in Solon just outside of Cleveland, Ohio. Today, they are one of the largest closeout wholesalers in the United States.

Berez, Jr. passed at the age of 74 on April 16, 2000 due to complications related to Alzheimer’s disease, according to his Pittsburgh Post Gazette obituary by Patricia Sabatini on Apr. 22, 2000

APPEARANCES IN TWIN PEAKS

The first glimpse of this five-piece stoneware set is found in a publicity image for Part 9 of Charlotte Stewart as Betty Briggs. The photo was taken by Patrick Wymore on location at a private home near Fall City, Washington.

The set is clearly seen as Betty speaks with the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department officers, including her son Bobby.

After she presents the long silver tube to Truman, you can catch a glimpse of the set just behind the law enforcement team.

As they perk up for Betty’s offer of coffee, the set is spotted on the kitchen table.

Action Industries, Inc. is no more, it’s merchandising model is long forgotten. Yet it’s promotional items which graced homes throughout America in the 1980s lives on in a brief scene from Twin Peaks.