Twin Peaks coffee

Published June 10, 2023 Updated June 10, 2023

‘Twin Peaks coffee’ playing cards produced by Cultzilla, United Kingdom, 2018.

2018 United Kingdom Cultzilla Television

Produced by Cultzilla in 2018, this pack is definitely not devoted to coffee, but rather to the cult series “Twin Peaks", the American mystery drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered in 1990, and ran for two seasons until 1991. The show returned in 2017 for a third season. A feature film followed in 1992. See the box

The symbolism or references on these cards will not be immediately understood by anyone unfamiliar with the series, though perhaps the quote from special agent Dale Cooper: “This is - excuse me - a damn fine cup of coffee”, may be familiar and is referred to on the back of the cards. Also on the reverse is the phrase "Blacker than midnight on a moonless night" – another of agent Cooper’s references to coffee. Other references (e.g. Radio KPJK or Ghostwood Development) will be more obscure. There are two modified Goodall jokers included in the pack.

‘Twin Peaks coffee’ playing cards produced by Cultzilla, United Kingdom, 2018 ‘Twin Peaks coffee’ playing cards produced by Cultzilla, United Kingdom, 2018 ‘Twin Peaks coffee’ playing cards produced by Cultzilla, United Kingdom, 2018

Above: ‘Twin Peaks coffee’ playing cards produced by Cultzilla, United Kingdom, 2018.

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By Peter Burnett

Member since July 27, 2022

I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.

Russian Playing Cards

Following my retirement from the Bodleian Library in Dec. 2007 I took up a new role as Head of Library Development at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to support library development in low-income countries. This work necessitated regular training visits to many sub-Saharan African countries and also further afield, to Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh – all of which provided rich opportunities to further expand my playing card collection.

Since 2019 I’ve been working part-time in the Bodleian Library where I’ve been cataloguing the bequest of the late Donald Welsh, founder of the English Playing Card Society.

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