Sometime last year, I started seeing a lot of mentions of Walmart’s Pen + Gear notebooks on Instagram. It seemed a little odd to me that people would be getting all excited about a very basic spiral notebook, but supposedly they were fountain pen friendly! So the next time I was at a Walmart, of … Continue reading Notebook Review: Pen + Gear Memo Book and Journal
While writing my recent posts about my collection of wirebound notebooks (see Part 1 and Part 2), I was looking for more information about the JoRedCo notebook brand. I have two in my collection, but hadn’t really heard much about the brand, other than a commenter having mentioned finding old stock for sale. Google provided … Continue reading JoRedCo Notebooks
Here is a very cute eBay find: a 3 x 5″ Collegiate notebook that I would guess is maybe from the 1940s-1950s or maybe earlier given that the price is only 10 cents. Cool cover design and excellent brown pressboard cover. For sale on eBay as of this writing for $9.99 or best offer. After … Continue reading Vintage Collegiate Notebook
Some of my earliest notebook obsessions were spiral and wire-o binding notebooks. Back when I was a kid, other kinds of notebook were not as easy to find, or were prohibitively expensive for a kid to buy with her allowance. Nowadays, I rarely find myself using a wire bound notebook, but I thought I’d take … Continue reading Spiral and Wire-O Notebooks from My Collection, Part 1
I recently read The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and was struck by this passage in the biographical note about the author, Muriel Spark: I had not heard of James Thin, but sadly, when I looked them up, it turns out that this long-standing bookseller, stationer and publisher no longer exists, and their Edinburgh shop … Continue reading Muriel Spark’s Notebooks
A cool collection of notebooks from the Overlook Trail in Sonoma, CA. Make the trek to the top of the Overlook Trail and you are treated to a terrific view and the chance to take a minute to write down whatever’s on your mind.“My feet hurt.â€â€œI didn’t trip once.â€And “I’m proud of myself,†are all … Continue reading Overlook Trail hikers notebooks
I found this photo on my computer– I saved it over 3 years ago and never got around to writing about it! A notebook belonging to the artist Robert Rauschenberg: I managed to track down the source– I had photographed a page in the New York Times Magazine, from this article: Robert Rauschenberg’s Endless Combinations. … Continue reading Robert Rauschenberg’s Notebook
A notebook belonging to artist Larry Rivers illustrates an essay by Nicholas Martin about Rivers’ 1961 painting “Parts of the Face: French Vocabulary Lesson.” Rivers responded to the prospect of making paintings for a living by skipping town to Paris in 1950 for ‘a half year of deliberating whether I should continue a life devoted … Continue reading Larry Rivers’ Notebook
Here’s an interesting question from a reader named Jeff: I have a Roaring Spring notebook that was used as a journal by a family member, the contents are very precious to us but there’s some confusion as to the year(s) that the contents refer to! (The writer only used Month/Day annotations, no year.) Some family … Continue reading Roaring Spring Notebook from the 1980s?
A sweet notebook story for Christmas! Happy holidays to all! Every year around the end of November, my family starts decorating for Christmas. There are trees (yes treeS) and lights, ornaments and Santa figurines, but my favorite thing is a little orange spiral notebook. Let me explain… When my parents were married, almost 36 years … Continue reading The Christmas Notebook Tradition
