You may remember Michael Bierut’s stack of composition books that he’s used for many years– one of my favorite notebook stories ever. Now, Aron Fay, a colleague of Bierut’s at Pentagram, has a Kickstarter project going for an upscale, redesigned version of the composition book, using higher end materials and construction. While part of me […]
Most of my notebooks are ones that I’ve bought new and filled with my own notes and sketches. But I also occasionally succumb to my weakness for collecting other people’s used notebooks when I see them at flea markets or on eBay. Here’s a few that I’ve picked up along the way. This Rice-Stix notebook […]
A very cool story about someone finding his grandmother’s old diaries… and what lovely diaries they were, with colorful patterned covers and red edges… “My parents recently found five journals in one of those listless cardboard boxes that leaves an attic only when somebody dies or the house is sold. (Don’t worry, everyone survived the […]
Here’s a really cool item I snagged on eBay: This is an early version of the Federal Supply Service notebooks I’ve reviewed here. I don’t know when they changed the information on the back, but from googling the Government Printing Office and the Federal Supply Service, my theory is that the US government used to […]
I am lucky to have grown up in an era when learning cursive was mandatory. In first grade, I was in an open classroom where we were combined with second graders for some activities, but the older half of the class went off on their own to learn cursive. I have a very vivid memory […]
These beautiful notebooks have covers made of vintage papers from around the world– things like old exercise books or bookbinding papers. Each is sold in a limited edition– sometimes a few hundred notebooks, sometimes less. You can read more about them and order the notebooks at Notes Limited’s website. “Notes Limited is a worldwide vintage […]
Here’s a notebook that sent me into a wave of nostalgia: the Note Pad Folio from Sideshow Press. The pressboard cover reminds me so much of various notebooks I had as a kid into my college years. I had a blue report cover made of this material, with a spring-action clip inside. I also had […]
If you’re ever in the mood to splurge on something special, this might be a great way to do it: At $180.00, this is definitely a luxury item, but it’s gorgeous! Made by the Gilded Leaf Bindery in Tennessee, who specialize in hand bookbinding and book restoration. More details on eBay: Leather Pocket Diary Green […]
This is extremely cool: a catalog from 1911, featuring all manner of notebooks and other stationery. The only thing that could be cooler would be if you could find some forgotten warehouse that still had all these products in stock! Flip through the whole catalog at Catalogue of stationery : section no. 1, blank […]
Remember that cinematic masterpiece Plan 9 From Outer Space? The director Ed Wood’s notebooks are being auctioned, along with other papers and personal items and the suitcases and trunks they were stored in. Act fast, bidding is only open through March 18, 2015! Read more at Ed Wood Personal Items Hit the Auction Block | […]
