Twin Peaks Set Decoration – National Federation of Independent Business Plaque at the Double R Diner

While researching the Washington State Restaurant Association decal found on the door of the Double R Diner in Twin Peaks, I discovered another item that crossed over from the Real Twin Peaks of Snoqualmie Valley into David Lynch and Mark Frost’s fictional town. The interior of the Mar-T Cafe in North Bend, Washington (known today as Twede’s Cafe) was used as the film location of the Double R Diner in the pilot, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and Twin Peaks: The Return. Look carefully and you’ll see a small rectangular plaque hanging next to the front door which was used to indicate membership in the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS PLAQUE AT THE DOUBLE R DINER IN TWIN PEAKS

Early in the Twin Peaks pilot, we get a look at the front door inside the Double R Diner. A small rectangular plaque is displayed just above the jukebox. The Double R Diner scenes were shot at the Mar-T Cafe on February 21, 1989 during the first day of location filming in Snoqualmie Valley, Washington.

More than two and a half years later in mid-September 1991, David Lynch returned to the Mar-T Cafe to film scenes for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. While most of the action at the Double R Diner in the film takes place outside the restaurant, several deleted scenes with Big Ed and Nadine Hurley were filmed inside. You’ll see the plaque displayed on the wall near the front door.

The plaque only appears in these scenes as the series interior was shot on sets constructed in Van Nuys, California. When Lynch and crew returned to North Bend in September 2015 to film scenes for the show’s third season, the plaque was long gone.

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS PLAQUE

The 7.5-inch wide plaque was created for members of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), a “non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of free enterprise.” The 501c6 group was founded in 1943 by C. Wilson Harder with headquarters in San Mateo, California. His vision, according to their website was to “give small and independent business a voice in government decision-making through advocacy.”

By 1969, the NFIB had established Leadership Councils in states and the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. They saw these councils as a way to get members involved with advocacy for small business needs.

Under leadership of  John Sloan in 1983, the NFIB installed a business structure with a sales manager, finance, and administration directed by the Chief Financial Officer and expanded the organization’s presence through a public policy operation in Washington, D.C.

They also established the NFIB Member Services Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of NFIB, to offer “benefit programs to assist members in reducing operating costs. Programs include: workers’ compensation insurance, commercial and personal health insurance, credit card processing, operational supplies, and discounts on commonly used business products and services.”

The organization relocated to Nashville, Tennessee in 1992 when Jack Faris became President following John Sloan’s death. The NFIB then redefined itself and how they could “affect policy at a state and federal levels through political and grassroots activism, and lobbying lawmakers in an integrated manner.”

They maintain they are a non-partisan organization, yet I invite you to look at their historical record. Today, the NFIB is strongly pro-Conservative and maintains a pro-Republican agenda. Notably, the organization was the lead plaintiff opposing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act health care reform legislation in 2012.

It’s unclear when the Mar-T Cafe joined or left the NFIB. Interior photos of the front door are not abundant. My gut says they left either when NFIB leadership changed in 1992 or when Pat Cokewell sold the cafe to Kyle Twede in June 1997.

The plaque I acquired was made by PlaqueCraft of Villa Park, Illinois. It’s difficult to say if the plaque seen at the diner was made by the same company as the original one has been lost to time.

While researching this article, it appears great minds think alike. Fellow Twin Peaks fan and replica prop collector, Jason Mattson, posted about his place on Facebook in June 2021. The version he found has a small wooden border around the plaque.

See this an other props and set decoration items on our dedicated page.