Twin Peaks – North Bend, WA Postcard By Smith-Western Co. – CT-3610

One of my favorite postcards in my collection features an aerial view of the town of North Bend, Washington with Mount Si looming in the distance and the words “Twin Peaks” printed along the bottom front. I love this card as it was something I purchased at the Alpine Blossom and Gift Shoppe during my first visit to Snoqualmie Valley in August 1996 for the Twin Peaks Fan Festival. For years, I had it hanging on my college dorm room wall as a reminder of my visit to the Real Twin Peaks. Smith-Western Co. produced the card, no doubt to capitalize on the Twin Peaks frenzy sweeping the nation after the show debuted in April 1990.

TWIN PEAKS – NORTH BEND, WA POSTCARD BY SMITH WESTERN CO. – CT-3610 | FRONT

The front of the Twin Peaks – North Bend, WA postcard contains a stunning view of Mount Si that rises 4,167 feet above the small town of North Bend, Washington. A stylized logo for “Twin Peaks” is printed along the bottom. With their jagged, pointed edges, I always thought the letters were designed to resemble saw blades from a sawmill.

This aerial photo of North Bend is similar to one used on the Smith-Western Co. card with the catalog number CT-1997. The “Twin Peaks” card appears to be slightly cropped compared to this image. Since the catalog number on the card with the green boarder is lower than the “Twin Peaks” design, I’m assuming Smith-Western just recycled the same image so they could rush the card to market.

The Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum states this postcard was produced sometime between 1975 to 1978. Zooming in on the “Twin Peaks” postcard, I spot the North Bend Motel. on the far left side of the image. I stayed there during my first visit in 1996 and at the time, they still had an Alpine-themed mural painted on the side of their main office.  According to the “North Bend Historic Commercial District Sign Design Guidelines” from July 2002, the town was decorated in an Alpine-motif in order to attract travelers who may have bypassed it due to the opening of Interstate 90.

“During the 1960s and 70s, as the Interstate 90 freeway bypass was designed and constmcted, historic signage in downtown North Bend was changed and/or removed as business ownership changed and downtown commercial viability was challenged. During this latter era, an alpine theme was introduced to help revitalize the streetscape and attract customers and visitors and older signs not fitting into the new theme were eliminated. By the mid-1990s, nearly all historic signs had either been removed and/or replaced by modem sign types.”

It looks like that mural may be present on the side of the North Bend Motel in the postcard.

So Smith-Western Co. used an image from the 1970s to rush production on a “Twin Peaks”-themed card for the thousands of tourists who were visiting the Real Twin Peaks in the early 1990s. Decades later, a larger printed version of the “Twin Peaks-North Bend” card would be displayed in a Twin Peaks-themed exhibit at the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum during the Real Twin Peaks 2024 event.

The card was found on the floor in front of a display case filled with Twin Peaks memorabilia. I imagine someone scanned the postcard and then printed it for the exhibit.

I turned to Google Earth to get a similar view of the town. You can spot some of the changes such as the larger community north of the baseball field.

Taking a closer look, you can see some buildings from the postcard as they appear today.

TWIN PEAKS – NORTH BEND, WA POSTCARD BY SMITH WESTERN CO. – CT-3610 | BACK

The back of the postcard contains the following inscription:

NORTH BEND, WASHINGTON
Gateway to the Cascades

Mt. Si is a local attraction, best known for its hiking, hunting, fishing and camping. Photo by © Kyle Smith

The card was printed in the U.S.A. and distributed by Smith-Western Co., P.O. Box 1573, Tacoma, Washington 98401. The catalog number is CT-3610.

I vividly remember picking up this postcard at the Alpine Blossom and Gift Shoppe in North Bend which was the best place to find Twin Peaks souvenirs in the 1990s.

WHO IS KYLE SMITH OF SMITH-WESTERN, CO. OF TACOMA, WASHINGTON?

Kyle Smith (1917-2014) settled in Tacoma, Washington following World War II and founded his postcard and tourist merchandise company in 1947. From the trunk of his car, he began by selling postcards adorned with images of towns and landmarks found in the Washington and Oregon.

“I went into every town. I went into the main business, usually a drugstore,’ Smith told C.R. Roberts in an article from The News Tribune on Apr. 29, 2007. “I’d just go in and ask ’em what would they like in the way of postcards. I’d ask for a tour. By then, the guy was a friend!”

The postcard business grew to include decals for car windows, luggage or bicycles; collectible plates and spoons and more.

At one point, early on, Kyle approached the National Bank of Washington for a $25,000 loan he told Roberts. The banker asked what the collateral might be.

“Postcards,’ Kyle said. “You gotta be kidding,” replied the banker. During the first full year, the company had gross sales of $14,000. By 2007, Smith said, “We ship more than that per day. When I started out, people didn’t know how to spell ‘tourist!”

Kyle, Sr. and Kyle, Jr. – or Skip to friends and associates, took many of the images found on their postcards for decades. In an article by Susan Gordon for The News Tribune on Aug. 24, 1987, she shared how Skip flew the small aircraft while his dad took photos.

“Focusing on some of the state’s most popular sights, the company’s vice president mans the controls of a Cessna 206, a single-engine, six-seat airplane, while the president sticks an old-fashioned Speed Graphic camera out the window and snaps away,” wrote Gordon.

But the late 1980s, the Smiths only took about 10 percent of the images found on postcards they distributed. They bought most of the photographs – like Gary Greene’s photo of Snoqualmie Falls – that appeared on the approximately 1,000 different postcards in distribution.

By 2000, Skip was running the business after spending “nearly three decades learning the finer points of merchandising, design, manufacturing, sales, finance, human resources and all the other skills necessary to succeed.”

The company is still in business today as the “nation’s premiere supplier for the tourist and attraction industry.” Sadly Kyle, Sr. passed on Mar. 3, 2014 at the age of 96, just three weeks short of his 97th birthday. Kyle “Skip” Smith continues serving as President / CEO of the company.

See more high-resolution postcard images from the Real Twin Peaks on my Flickr account.