Twin Peaks Cast and Crew Softball Jersey for ABC Television Employee League

Twin Peaks Blog has provided well-researched, factual and interesting stories since Feb. 2018. This was an important aspect of creating this site as I wanted to document and archive all aspects of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s wonderful and strange show, Twin Peaks. Occasionally, I find items without much history and will share them in hopes the collective fan community can solve the mystery together. One such item popped up on Ebay on June 18, 2025. It’s a softball jersey created for “Twin Peaks” cast and crew team that played in the ABC Television employee league.

EBAY AUCTION FOR VERY RARE TWIN PEAKS ABC SOFTBALL JERSEY 

While searching ebay in the middle of the night for rare Twin Peaks-related items, I discovered an auction item I’ve never seen from seller brandon.bedner. The auction title read, “Very Rare Twin Peaks ABC Softball Jersey Cast and Crew David Lynch.” The opening bid price was $299.00 with shipping fees of $20.00.

The seller provided the following description of this item: “Extremely rare twin peaks softball Jersey for cast and crew leagues for ABC in the 90s. Has some repairs, holes, stains. See pictures. Never seen another one. Measures 22.5×28. Shipped with usps priority mail.”

I agree. I’ve also never seen another one for sale at auction (and I’ve been following this stuff for decades). Let’s take a closer look to decode some details about the jersey’s origin.

WHO IS DELONG SPORTSWEAR?

The jersey was manufactured by DeLONG Sportswear, a company supplying the sporting goods market founded in Grinnell, Iowa in 1964. According to an article in “The Des Moines Register” on Sept. 22, 1985, the original company could trace “its roots to 1856 when a New England leather tanner founded a glove manufacturing company” in the town.”

Since the 1960s, the company offered a “seven-day service” promise meaning someone could place an order and seven days later it would be delivered. By the mid-1980s, the company had about 1,000 employees based at manufacturing plants throughout the United States including the towns of Gilman and Grinnell, Iowa; Bradford, Ohio; Dayton and Lynchburg, Tennessee; Crowell and Quanah, Texas; Harmony, Maine; and San Marcos, California. They also had a woolen mill in Jefferson, Oregon.

In fall 1985, they acquired Spanjian Sportswear from San Marcos, California which made DeLONG the country’s largest privately owned manufacturer and marketer of athletic sportswear.

Decades later, the company abruptly closed shop on April 20, 2009 with no notice to employees. In October 2009, Daden Group Inc., based in Coralville, Iowa, purchased certain assets from Delong Sportswear which ceased operations in April 2009. The company also leased DeLong’s corporate office and materials distribution center in Grinnell, Iowa.

Months later in 2010, Rock Creek Athletics, based in Grinnell, Iowa, acquired the varsity award jacket business assets from Daden Group, also based in Grinnell, Iowa, including the DeLong brand,

Today, the company exists online but it’s not the original one opened in the 1960s. It’s unclear who owns the company today as I’ve been unable to find records. Their online store appears to have launched around 2013 according to website copyrights. I’m guessing it’s like the recent closing of Joann which Michael’s purchased the name brands created by the company.

 TWIN PEAKS CAST AND CREW SOFTBALL JERSEY FOR ABC TELEVISION EMPLOYEE LEAGUE

The front of the cast and crew softball jersey contains logos for the ABC Television Network and Twin Peaks. This jersey was not sold but rather given to players, mostly likely folks who worked on the show, that joined the employee softball league.

This is a similar ABC Television Network logo that was used around 1990 when the show aired.

The Twin Peaks logo appears to match one found in first season advertisements created by the network.

In particular, it was seen in this advertisement from the April 7-13, 1990 issue of “TV Guide”. So it most likely was provided by the network for use on the jersey (despite not having official copyright marks).

The back of the jersey contains the name “Big Ed’s Gas Farm” along with the number “90.” The nod to Big Ed could be the team’s name (similar to how businesses adopt little league softball and baseball teams). The date most likely refers to the year 1990 which is date the show first aired.

One could assume based on the Twin Peaks logo on the front, the jersey was made after April 7, 1990 and could have been introduced for a summertime league. Knowing DeLONG Sportswear had a seven-day guarantee, it wouldn’t have taken much time to place and receive the order. Most likely, there were less than 20 jerseys made.

But this is where I appeal to anyone who worked on the show or was a part of this team. If you have any additional information, please share in the comments below.

Here’s to hoping that the Paramount Shop or some other company makes an officially licensed recreation of this jersey. It’s fantastic!