Twin Peaks Hanging Door Sign for Video Stores in 1993

When Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me arrived on home video on January 6, 1993, New Line Cinema provided video stores with advertising materials designed to appeal to fans of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s wonderful and strange show and hopefully drive sales or rentals. One such item was a cardboard sign with the “Welcome to Twin Peaks” sign that could be hung on the front door of rentals shops.

TWIN PEAKS HANGING DOOR SIGN

Growing up in Columbus, Ohio during the 1980s and 1990s, I recall renting VHS cassettes from local video rental stores like Blockbuster, Rent-A-Flick and Phar-Mor.  Sadly, I don’t recall ever seeing this Twin Peaks Hanging Door sign from New Line Home Video and Columbia Tristar Home Video.

The cardboard sign measured 11.5-inches wide by 10-inches tall and included a elastic string that could be used to hang the sign.

I probably paid too much for this item via an online auction but I thought it was unique advertising material from a time I fell in loved with Twin Peaks. The auction included this slip of paper which described how to display the hanging door sign.

SIMPLY TAKE THIS HANGING BARB AND ATTACH AS SHOW BELOW.

HANG THIS SIGN ON YOUR STORE ENTRANCE, AT THE CHECK OUT COUNTER, ON THE END OF AN AISLE, ANYWHERE A TWIN PEAKS FAN MIGHT SEE IT. THIS VERSATILE PIECE CAN CREATE ADDED RENTAL ACTIVITY, WHEN PLACED IN HIGH TRAFFIC AREAS.

Maybe Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole was dictating the instructions when New Line Cinema created this piece.

The words “Counter Card” are cut off which means that there could be more to this paper.

Looking back at advertisements like this one for Salzer’s Video, it’s wild to think there was a time when video cassettes were considered commonplace in homes and retail shops across the world. As a Twin Peaks fan from the early 1990s, I never thought I’d see high-resolution transfers of my favorite television show and David Lynch film. While I love the high-quality of today, I do long for the simplicity of renting VHS tapes from my local video store.