I recently finished watching the final season of Hacks. Though the premise of the show didn’t interest me when I first heard about it, once I finally started watching, I was completely hooked– so funny and smart, with great characters, stellar performances, and a satisfying emotional arc. And of course I am writing about it here because notebooks make an appearance!

I think notebooks showed up quite often throughout the 5 seasons of the show– the two main characters are a standup comedian and her much younger writing partner, so there are many moments where one or both of them are jotting down ideas for jokes. But I don’t remember any specific instances, so I’ll focus here on the final season.

There is one scene where Deborah Vance (played by Jean Smart) and several other characters are observing potential employees and they are all taking notes. I couldn’t see any distinguishing features of these notebooks, and they could be anything: Moleskine, Leuchtturm, or various other luxury notebook brands. In this scene, Deborah (at far left) is using what seems to be a larger black notebook that I don’t think we see her using elsewhere. 2nd from left, Marcus’s notebook could be a large Moleskine. 3rd from left, Josefina’s notebook is a blue softcover with no elastic closure– but when I zoomed in, it almost looked like a blue exterior had been glued (or digitally overlaid) onto a black notebook, so maybe the production designers wanted it to match her dress. At the far right, Damian’s notebook is in his lap so you can’t see much of it.

But I was particularly interested in another one of Deborah Vance’s notebooks, which appears in several scenes. Deborah is extremely wealthy and likes luxury brands, so it makes sense that she’d use a high-end notebook. From the screenshots below, I was able to confirm that she’s using a Montblanc notebook. You can see a small logo at the bottom center of the front cover, and the brand name at the lower back cover is legible. (She also seems to be using a fancy pen, but I’ll let others who are more qualified do the identification there!)

I would guess that she is using the Montblanc “Small Notebook in Sartorial Leather,” as that comes in red and looks very similar. (The Montblanc website is a little weird when you switch between colors on a product, so it may just be called “Notebook Small, Brick Red Leather, Red, Lined Pages.”) It could also be the small notebook in Saffiano leather, which also comes in red, and has pages that are unlined and blank except for the Montblanc logo at the bottom of each page.

The exterior product images for both listings look identical. Even in other colors, the leather texture looks the same, so I’m not sure if there’s actually a difference between the “Sartorial” and “Saffiano” leathers– maybe it’s just a name change. Both of the notebook listings show dimensions of 90 x 140mm, which has me thinking I want to try one! Last time I checked, Montblanc only sold lined notebooks in other sizes, so I was never particularly interested in the brand til now. At $65, this Montblanc notebook is rather pricey, but for a character who’s driving a new Rolls Royce every year, it almost seems kind of basic. Companies like Hermès, Louis Vuitton or Aspinal sell notebooks that are even more expensive and luxurious. But who knows, maybe it was a product placement deal that went to the highest bidder!

I wouldn’t want to spoil anything for people who haven’t watched the final episode of Hacks, but I will just say that Deborah Vance’s notebook ends up playing a pivotal role in an important decision. It’s a beautiful moment and it made me love the show even more.

Fun & Weird, Links, Moleskine, new products

Cute Moleskine Notebook Charms

June 2, 2026 Nifty Notebook Leave a comment

I totally missed it when Moleskine announced these little notebook charms back in November 2025. Apparently they started as part of a collaboration with the K-pop group BlackPink, which I guess was successful as they’re already sold out. It’s pretty gimmicky and I never put charms on anything, but I can’t help finding these tiny little Moleskines a bit adorable. Not only do they have real pages you can write on, they have the “in case of loss” page and even an expanding pocket in the back! The actual dimensions aren’t specified, but from the image showing a comparison to other Moleskine sizes, I’d estimate it’s about 1 3/4 x 2 3/4″.

More details at Moleskine Mini Notebook Charm

Logical Prime, My Collection, Nakabayashi, Notebook Reviews, Places to Buy Notebooks

Logical Prime A6 Slim 2.5mm Grid Notebook

May 26, 2026 Nifty Notebook Leave a comment

I first encountered Nakabayashi’s Logical Prime notebooks at Nota Bene in Montreal, where I decided to buy some sizes that I don’t typically use just because they seemed nice and I wanted to review them (see here). I didn’t realize Logical Prime made any notebooks in my favorite size, but I later stumbled across an interesting one on Amazon, and was very excited!

logical prime a6 slim grid notebook exterior

If I remember correctly, I found this Logical Prime Grid notebook because I was looking for the Stalogy “A6 Slim” size notebooks, and these popped up among the results. While Stalogy’s A6 Slim measures about 3.5 x 6″, the Logical Prime A6 Slim is 3.5 x 5.5″ so it was perfect for me!

logical prime a6 slim grid notebook exterior vs moleskine — Logical Prime A6 Slim vs. Pocket Moleskine

This Logical Prime notebook actually reminds me most of the Zequenz notebooks I reviewed many years ago. It’s got the rounded spine and glued binding that allows the same 360 degree opening.

The notebook is nicely packaged– like a few other Japanese notebooks I’ve seen, it comes in a clear plastic slipcover that protects the exterior and keeps the branding materials attached while also allowing you to open the notebook and test its binding and see the paper. The slipcover is very very thin plastic, not much heavier than shrinkwrap, so I don’t think it would last too long with regular use, but it might be worth a try as longer-term protection, or could be saved to use from time to time if you sometimes carry a notebook in messy conditions.

The soft cover is a faux leather textured material, with grey endpapers inside. Aside from the front cover, there is no branding inside except for a small area on the inside back cover.

logical prime a6 slim grid notebook interior

logical prime a6 slim grid notebook interior branding

The notebook does truly open flat, except when you’re at the very beginning and end, where there is extra glue to hold everything together. When you force it open all the way, it does leave a bend in the cover, and the notebook will stay slightly open– but when it’s lying flat on a desk, it still closes completely rather than springing open.

logical prime a6 slim grid notebook 2.5mm grid paper

logical prime a6 slim grid notebook opens flat

logical prime a6 slim grid notebook opens flat except at ends

I love how the grid lines appear on the page edges– so precise!

logical prime a6 slim grid notebook edges

The paper is a very small 2.5mm grid, similar to the Kleid notebook I reviewed. Aesthetically, it’s pleasing, and easy on the eyes, even though the paper is a brighter white than Moleskine’s creamy ivory paper. But depending on your natural writing style/size, the grid may or may not be ideal. I find it a little too small– my handwriting is naturally quite small, but even when I am printing very neatly, I find it too cramped to use every line, and awkward to use every other line– I’m not sure why it’s awkward, as I use a 5mm grid in a squared Moleskine all the time. But if I’m writing more quickly and not worrying about staying in the lines too much, the grid is faint enough not to be distracting. And it’s fun for doodling. I think I could get used to this paper if I was using it on a regular basis.

logical prime a6 slim grid notebook paper vs. moleskine — Logical Prime 2.5mm grid vs. Pocket Moleskine 5mm grid

Most importantly, it is smooth and really feels great with a fine point gel ink pen. The paper weight is not specified, but show-through is about average. Most of my fountain pens worked very well with this paper, but the first one I tried, a Pilot Custom Heritage 912 with an FA nib, was kind of a mess! That pen does write very wetly, so I guess that explains why it bled and feathered so much. But oddly, it didn’t bleed or feather when I actually gave the nib a little pressure to flex it and get line variation. On the whole I would say this paper is fountain pen friendly, but there may be some exceptions. It’s interesting that they say “Paper Material is made in Japan and production in Vietnam.” The page count isn’t shown on the notebook itself, but the Amazon listing says it’s 120 sheets, or 240 pages.

logical prime a6 slim grid notebook pen tests fountain pen friendly

logical prime a6 slim grid notebook pen tests fountain pen friendly back of page

I bought the Logical Prime Grid notebook several months ago and the dark green color I picked no longer seems to be available. But Amazon has several other cute colors. Their listing is from Amazon Japan and the price includes free shipping. The $22-ish price I’m seeing at this writing is more than I’d really want to pay on a regular basis, but it’s also not an unusual level for a good quality Japanese notebook these days. The Stalogy Editors Series 365 Days A6 Slim notebook is $25 on JetPens, but that’s 368 pages. A similarly sized Zequenz notebook is about $21 on Amazon. As I wrote about a couple of years ago, notebook prices just aren’t what they used to be, and tariffs (and wars) have since made it worse! A pocket size Moleskine sketchbook or watercolor notebook is now $25 on Moleskine’s website and even the pocket size classic hardcover and softcover with the regular paper are $22 and $21 respectively (though they go for much less on Amazon). I’m glad I stocked up when the quality was better! (I still can’t believe I got some for 50 cents…)

But aside from my anachronistic notions about pricing, I really do like this notebook. I kind of wish they had just left the cover blank rather than printing the brand info and the big word “Grid” on it. But that’s a minor quibble. The paper is a pleasure to write on, and the shape feels great in the hand. I’ve been thinking about using a softcover notebook again once in a while, and may decide to give this Logical Prime Grid notebook a whirl!

antique, Diary, My Collection, Other People's Notebooks, record-keeping

WW1 Soldier-Sailor’s Diary

April 7, 2026 Nifty Notebook 2 Comments

Here’s another interesting antique notebook from my collection.

I love the concept of a diary mixed with a foreign language dictionary. This would have been intended for a soldier who was being sent to fight in France during World War 1, so in a lightweight, compact package, the soldier (or other service member) could both record their experiences and have a handy aid in local communications.

It measures about 3-3/4″ wide by 5-3/8″ high by about 5/8″ thick, and is very nicely made, especially considering it would potentially be living in a coat pocket in a muddy battlefield trench. The edges are gilded and the endpapers have a delicate floral pattern.

The contents are copyrighted 1917. There are a few pages of frontmatter, then the undated diary section taking up about half of the book, then the French dictionary, and at the end, some pages for addresses and “memorandums.”

soldier sailor diary dictionary cover page

solider sailor diary identification page

Looking at the identification page at the beginning, I at first assumed that this would indeed have been the property of a soldier or a sailor, as the field for rank says “buck private,” but when I looked more closely, I saw the name Marie Schultz. I wondered if I was misreading the name, but the height and weight seemed low for a male. I then did some googling on the “Organization: B.H.- M.D.” and “Branch of Service: A.N.C.” notes, and realized that this diary’s owner was indeed a woman: she was in the Army Nurse Corps, and B.H. stood for Base Hospital.

In September 1918 when Marie Schultz enlisted, the ANC did not assign women to military ranks– they were considered civilian contractors. Perhaps Marie Schultz called herself a “buck private” as a sort of joke about the lack of respect that was generally accorded to nurses in the military. (In 1920, the Army Reorganization Act granted “relative rank” to nurses, acknowledging that their responsibilities were equivalent to that of certain officers, even if they still didn’t have all the rights and privileges of those male officers.)

In any case, Marie Schultz wouldn’t have been an ANC nurse for very long– the war ended less than two months after she enlisted, so she may never even have made it to France. The Base Hospitals were located there, but maybe the M.D. indicates she was stationed in Maryland. She could have continued to serve as a military nurse, but she didn’t record much in the diary. The only entry is on Thursday, January 16, 1919, where she writes “Moved from Grayson to Barn. Cold as ice. Homesick as the dickens. Candy from Anne.”

The diary notes that she is from Frontenac, Kansas and enlisted in Pittsburg, Kansas. I couldn’t find a Grayson in Kansas, but there is one in Missouri, about 150 miles north of Frontenac. As for Barn, I’m not sure if that is short for something, but I couldn’t find anything likely other than perhaps Barnstable, MA. But the homesickness suggests it wasn’t nearby.

It’s too bad Marie didn’t write more– as the publisher’s note at the beginning says, “No possession can surpass or even equal a well-kept diary.” This one was at least very well preserved. I’ve got another World War 1 diary, but having one that was belonged to a female nurse seems even more special, somehow. I hope Marie Schultz was able to get over her homesickness. Even if she didn’t make it to France, enlisting as a wartime nurse was an incredibly brave thing to do.

Cavallini, Diary, Journal, Moleskine, My Collection, Personal, Sketchbook

Unfinished Notebooks

March 10, 2026 Nifty Notebook 5 Comments

Back in December 2008, I wrote a post called Finishing a Notebook. At the time, this still felt rather significant as an accomplishment. My notebook usage before the early 2000s was often very fickle– I’d start one, decide I wanted to try something else, then maybe go back to something I’d tried before, then move on to yet another option… almost all of my notebooks were unfinished. Some were barely even started!

I went through a box of notebooks I used in the 1980s and 1990s and found various examples. Some of the worst culprits were written in for only a few pages at the beginning. Some were started from both front and back and still have a lot of blank pages in between. Some were almost all used, but for some reason, I just had to move on before those last few pages!

box of journals and notebooks from the 1980s and 1990s — Various 1980s and 1990s notebooks, mostly unbranded, but a few are by Cavallini. The box also holds a lot of archived Filofax inserts.

I find it very difficult to get rid of old notebooks (except for ones I used only for work notes), so I still have all these unfinished notebooks in my collection. Sometimes I wonder if I should just rip the used pages out and get rid of the rest of the notebook just to save space, but even with notebooks I didn’t like that much, I can’t seem to bring myself to do it.

I suppose my Filofaxes started to help break me of this problem. For a while, I was just moving sheets in and out of a few different Filofax organizers, so there wasn’t this sense of abandoning unfilled pages. I did switch from one Filofax to another but I used them for longer periods, and often continued to use the older ones too. But during that time, I also had a few different journals and sketchbooks where I stuck to my same habits of leaving lots of empty pages before trying something else.

It wasn’t until I started using Moleskine notebooks that I finally got into the habit of using all the pages of a notebook before starting a new one. My first few Moleskines were sketchbooks that I used intermittently, and even those had a couple of unused pages at the end. For at least one of them, I think it was because I was about to set off on a big trip and I wanted a fresh new notebook to bring with me. Also, those first couple of Moleskines felt rather precious, somehow– I liked them so much, I sort of didn’t want to waste them, and I did most of my journaling in other larger notebooks. But then suddenly the Moleskine brand seemed to be very widely available. I vaguely remember browsing a rack of them and seeing that first squared softcover Moleskine, and thinking it would be interesting to try one. That notebook somehow freed me to feel like I could just scribble any old thing in it and fill it completely.

From then on, my journaling and jotting and sketching moved completely into Moleskines and similar Moleskine alternatives, and I’ve filled every notebook I’ve used, pretty much. If I haven’t, it was a rare instance of devoting a notebook to a single purpose which ended before the notebook did. Or else it was a notebook that I still use intermittently and intend to finish. Why did my notebook completion habits suddenly change so much?

One big reason was that I entered a phase where life just got more interesting, and I had more to journal about. I went through changes in jobs and relationships, met new people and traveled more.

Another change was that I wasn’t as worried about privacy as I had been in earlier years. I lived alone and could write all I wanted without fear that someone would read it.

But most of all, I loved the form of the Moleskines– they were the perfect size and I loved the paper. With unlined, squared, and the heavier sketchbook paper available, I could use the same notebook for writing and drawing if I felt like it.

And importantly, the ready availability of Moleskines and other brands in the same format made me enjoy filling them and seeing a growing stack of uniform journals. The more consistently I filled them, the more satisfying it was, and that kept me locked into the habit. There were a few notebooks I didn’t end up enjoying quite as much as others, but by the time they came along, I felt like I had to just write larger, space things out, and use up pages with doodling or loose scribbles just to get the notebook over with faster. I was committed to finishing each notebook rather than abandoning it. And here they are!

I wish I’d been able to establish this habit earlier in life. But I can’t entirely regret all my early unfinished notebooks. Most of them didn’t cost much, and there’s a nice variety to them. If I’d only ever bought one type of notebook and used each one all the way through, I’d have a much smaller and less interesting collection to share with you all now!

My Collection, Organization

House Totes for Notebooks and Pens

February 24, 2026 Nifty Notebook 5 Comments

Over the last couple of years, it’s gotten to the point where I’m carrying quite a few notebooks around the house with me. Even if I’m not using every single one of these notebooks constantly, I know I might want to, so I like to keep them close at hand. And then I want to keep a bunch of pens handy… and my phone… plus my reading glasses… and a chapstick… and some other stuff… til I realized I couldn’t just be juggling all these things every time I moved from one room to another. I needed a bag. And it turns out folks on the internet have already come up with a name for such a thing: the house tote, also known as a house purse.

But before I realized there was a word for it, I spotted a solution for my little problem, and it was already sitting right in my utility closet.

duluth partachute parachute bag house tote

This little bag was a free extra that came with a Duluth Trading Company tool bag that my partner bought for carrying pottery supplies. I knew these little bags were used by contractors to hold nails and screws or other small bits, but I had to do a little research to figure out that they are called “parachute bags.” (Duluth calls theirs a “part-achute bag.”)

This one is made with a squarish shape and it actually worked surprisingly well as a tote for my notebooks, pens, phone and glasses, because it’s quite small and the inner divided compartments keep everything upright, visible, and accessible. I could even keep my chapstick handy in the outside pocket.

The shape of the inner compartments wasn’t 100% ideal for my purposes, but it basically worked. The only thing that was a little annoying was carrying it around by the single central loop handle– it’s made for hanging on a belt, so it doesn’t feel quite natural to just grab with your hand. I wasn’t terribly bothered by it, but my partner thought it looked really awkward, and decided to give me a much nicer bag as a Christmas present: the Soolla Studio Bag.

Now this is a really great art supply bag. It is so sturdily constructed and has pockets and slots galore. I stuck all my pens in the outside slots and loved how easy it was to access them. There was plenty of room inside for all my goodies, plus I started adding whatever magazines and books I was currently reading. The bag very comfortably held a hardcover book, a paperback book, a magazine or two, all my notebooks, phone, glasses, and chapstick… and I could have stuck a water bottle and a bunch of other stuff in there too.

And therein lay the problem: it was a little TOO spacious. Despite all the pockets, none of them was quite the right fit to keep my notebooks standing up like they did in the Duluth bag, so I had to fish around for them in the bottom of the large central area. Having my pens and glasses in the outer pockets made the sides of the bag flop over if the main compartment wasn’t full– the Soolla bag is made of a wonderfully soft material that feels very durable, but isn’t meant to have a stiff structure except for the bottom. And all the slots and pockets were just a wee bit too deep for my chapstick so I kept forgetting which one it was in. It’s a really nice bag, but it’s meant to be stuffed with art supplies. It just wasn’t right for my house tote needs. (I’ll definitely be re-purposing it for something else.)

I was poking around various websites, looking at other totes and parachute bags. Most of the totes looked too big. Parachute bags are great for markers and pens, but most of them seem to have smaller compartments than the Duluth version. And because they are round, they aren’t ideal for notebooks even if the pockets are big enough. I even started noodling around with some ideas for designing my own perfect house tote, but couldn’t imagine where I’d be able to get such a thing made.

house purse house tote ideas for carrying notebooks

Then I went to L. L. Bean and saw the Mini size Boat and Tote bag.

ll bean mini boat and tote bag house purse house tote

I’ve used their larger size totebags for years– they are so light and durable, they’re great for many purposes. I’d never used a small one, but I realized that this tiny size was exactly what I needed as a house tote. It measures about 7″ x 10″ x 6″. The canvas is stiff enough not to flop over. And though it lacks any pockets or compartments, my stuff stays pretty well organized inside without getting lost. The one problem was the chapstick and pens, and I considered buying some sort of purse organizer to give me more compartments, but I realized that I could take a pen case I already owned and use that to hold some pens and my glasses, and its little inner pocket made a perfectly accessible spot for my chapstick. The handles on the L. L. Bean bag are short enough that if I stick a hardcover book in there, it gets a little crowded. A full-size water bottle might also get a little cramped, but my micro size Hydroflask fits just fine. Overall, I’m quite happy with this solution.

ll bean mini tote bag full of notebooks pens and books

small tote bag house purse house tote full of notebooks and books

I found a few similar options that look like they might be worth a try. Most classic canvas tote bags don’t come as small as L. L. Bean’s “mini,” such as Land’s End’s small size, which measures 13.5″W x 5.5″D x 9″H, but otherwise it’s quite close:

This Tuobo bag from Amazon looks like a good size, and it has some compartments, as well as the option to carry it with a shoulder strap:

The IwIeIaIrI (where do they come up with these names???) small tote bag looks similar:

Now that I’ve started using a house tote, I’m not sure I’ll ever stop! I may even add some more supplies to it, like small scissors and one of my favorite glue sticks, and maybe some index cards and extra bookmarks. Aside from having an easy way to carry all my notebooks and pens, it’s just nice to feel like I have all my little necessities within arm’s reach at all times.

Diary, Journal, Personal, record-keeping

Keeping a Notebook vs. Keeping a Diary

February 19, 2026 Nifty Notebook 7 Comments

I shared this article on Instagram recently, but wanted to write more about it here.

Don’t Keep a Diary. Embrace the Fragments of Real Life Instead.

The author Daniel Poppick talks about how diaries are often kept in a way that can sound a bit stilted or self-conscious:

I’ve never consistently kept a diary. On the rare occasions I’ve tried, the voice that emerges is that of a “different” person — a clunky, wooden avatar, by turns stifled and overly performative.

Poppick found that keeping a less structured notebook worked better for him:

Over time, a shift in approach loosened me up: Rather than keeping a diary, I started keeping notebooks. Where a diary constructs narrative, character and voice, a notebook is inherently fragmented, allowing for unexpected glimmers of serendipitous juxtaposition and lyric voltage. It is at once a less restricted form and one that renders perception more precisely. It has always been more generative for my writing, more comfortable, more surprising.

For me, the ideal approach is something in between– I love finding cryptic phrases and jotting in my notebooks, things that I might have overheard or observed somewhere, or that came to me in a dream. Poppick sees these random notebook entries as sometimes telling us a truer story about our lives at that moment than if we’d tried to narrate it in a diary entry. While I agree that they can be amusing and inspiring, sometimes they are just mysterious. They might trigger a memory, but in themselves, they don’t tell the full story. And when I re-read my notebooks, I want the full story!

For most of my life, I haven’t really kept a proper diary, and in retrospect, I wish I had. I would love to have more of a record of what I thought about major events in my childhood and teenage years– or at least have a record of being an oblivious, self-involved kid who didn’t think much about those things.

For the past 20 or so years, I’ve made more of an effort to at least jot a few words about historic events, even if it’s a bit delayed. After 9/11, I wrote a sentence or two about feeling unsettled and shaken up, but otherwise, I was more focused on other matters. I jotted a few snapshot memories of the aftermath, but I never recorded what happened that day. A few years later, I had more of a habit of dated diary/journal entries, and I remember realizing that I really should record my 9/11 memories before they faded, and I belatedly wrote down all the details I could remember of my experience in NYC that day. Other big events like the blackout in August 2003 went completely unmentioned– I remember quite a few things about that day but others are blurry, so I wish I had made an effort to record the details at the time. By 2008, I was in a more regular diary habit and wrote a few lines about the financial crisis and Obama being elected. But most of my writing was still about my own thoughts, feelings and activities.

When I re-read my diary entries, I don’t feel like that voice isn’t me. I’m not always happy with what I was doing and thinking, but my diaristic brain-dump voice seems to be pretty consistent over the years– I never tried to make it artful writing. (I did do some creative writing, but I kept it totally separate.) And maybe that’s what’s at the root of Poppick’s discontent with his diaries– if you are using your diary as part of a practice of creative writing, you’re more likely to be trying out styles and voices and trying to craft something literary. Maybe that makes it a less authentic representation of your actual life. For me, a combination of random notebook entries and diary/journal-style entries has worked well to capture who I was, what I did, and at least a little bit of what was happening in the world around me, even if these writings have no value as literature.

I’d love to hear from others about the voice and style of their diary-keeping vs. notebook-keeping. Please chime in with a comment!

antique, Fun & Weird, Links, Other People's Notebooks, record-keeping, Scientific, The Spiral, Westab

This Notebook Contains a Secret Formula

January 29, 2026 Nifty Notebook 2 Comments

the spiral stenographers notebook westab

Be prepared to work hard for years, sign lots of non-disclosure agreements, and secure a key to a secret bank vault if you want to join the select few get to see this notebook, which contains… an ancient alchemical recipe? A spell for a witch’s brew? Instructions for making an elixir of eternal youth? No, something even more powerful: the original formula for WD-40!

wall street journal article about wd-40 formula

There’s a club in San Diego that’s perhaps more exclusive than Soho House and harder to get into than some of the most elite colleges in the country.

It requires a special key, nondisclosure agreements, passage through a bank vault and, typically, an executive title. The drinks don’t flow, members don’t rub elbows with notable people and chefs aren’t filling plates with tasty bites. The only perk is knowing the secrets of the world’s most famous lubricant. And yet, for those in the know, there’s no greater privilege.

“Actually getting in there, it was like getting into Fort Knox, quite frankly,” said Steve Brass, a recent inductee.

Brass is chief executive at WD–40, the more than 70-year-old company behind the red, blue and yellow cans used for everything from loosening bolts to coaxing a boa constrictor out of a car engine compartment and removing gum from turtle shells. He was admitted around 18 months ago to the small society of people who have seen the product’s secret formula—a feat that came more than three decades after joining the company.

‘It was pretty strict security,’ says Brass.

The handwritten formula is kept in a lockbox at an undisclosed Bank of America location in San Diego. It’s only left a bank vault three times in the past 30 years.

There was the time then-top executive Garry Ridge rode into Times Square on the back of a horse wearing a suit of armor with the formula in hand to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary at Nasdaq. An armored vehicle moved it—or rather moved Ridge, who was handcuffed to a metal briefcase holding the formula—from one bank vault to another in 2018. And most recently, in the summer of 2024, Brass and finance chief Sara Hyzer got a peek while signing paperwork at the bank.

That viewing involved a couple weeks’ notice, several nondisclosure agreements and securing a key held only by the company’s top lawyer. All for a few minutes with a notebook holding the 40th attempt at a formula—and the 39 failed attempts to get it right.

The notebook itself is a “The Spiral” Sight Saver Stenographer’s Notebook, which was probably made in the 1950s. (WD-40 was introduced in 1953, so that timing seems about right.) I see these “The Spiral” brand notebooks on EBay pretty often, but despite having a large collection of spiral notebooks, I’ve never owned one from that brand. They were made by a company called Westab, which was acquired by Mead in the 1960s. Westab, based in Missouri, was formerly called the Western Tablet Company. They were also known for the Big Chief tablet, used by many schoolchildren until around 2001. I grew up on the East coast at a time when stationery was produced by regional companies, so The Spiral and Big Chief notebooks probably weren’t sold in my area.

I love that the company has kept the original notebook all these years, rather than just copying the formulas over to some other format. It’s great when corporations value their history and preserve the fascinating artifacts that are part of it.

Read the full article at the Wall Street Journal (if you can get around the paywall): The Secret Society of People Who Know the Formula for WD-40

Jil Largean, My Collection, Notebook Reviews, Places to Buy Notebooks

Jil Largean Notebook Review

January 27, 2026 Nifty Notebook Leave a comment

I should have reviewed this notebook ages ago. I bought it back in March 2025, and 10 months is not the longest I’ve gone before reviewing something, but unfortunately, it was long enough for this product to have sold out. But since there may still be items from this brand circulating on eBay or other resellers, let’s take a look anyway!

I think I spotted a mention of Jil Largean on Instagram, from someone who noted that they were available via AliExpress. I checked it out and the extremely low price raised my eyebrows, but I thought, “what the heck,” and ordered one. That first one I ordered is actually not the one I’m reviewing in this post. I had ordered a black notebook, but when it arrived, the leather had a powerful chemical odor, and the rings were a little gappy. I was able to return it, and decided to try again with a red one.

The red Jil Largean notebook did not have the chemical odor, happily! Once taking it out of the protective bag and box, I was quite happy with the red color– it’s a nice shade, bright but not too bright. I also like the smooth leather texture better than the pebbled texture that the black one had, which felt a bit cheap somehow.

The notebook measures approximately 100 mm x 137 mm x 17mm– pretty close to the size of the Filofax Lockwood Pocket Slim. It’s a bit shorter and wider and thicker than my MeePlus notebook, as shown below.

Inside, there are some handy pockets, potentially enough to turn it into a wallet depending on your personal preferences. There’s one small card pocket on the left, with a full height pocket behind it, and on the right, another full height pocket and a small rounded secretarial pocket. Also of note are the sewn-in ring protectors– a nice touch that I’ve otherwise only seen on higher-end organizers. The rings are 11mm, not made by Krause but they seem well-aligned and nicely snappy. The quality of the construction and materials actually seems quite good on this notebook, despite the issues I had with the previous one.

jil largean notebook 6 ring interior pockets

The Jil Largean notebook came with two packs of lined insert pages. I tested a few pens and founded that finer fountain pen nibs with certain inks worked quite well. Wetter fountain pens did have bleed-through and some feathering. Fine point gel pens worked great. But the insert paper isn’t really the point here, as the notebook has a standard 6-ring spacing that will work with your choice of inserts from Filofax, Plotter, or whoever.

jil largean notebook 6 ring insert paper

I paid just under $32 for this Jil Largean notebook, including shipping. For the quality of this notebook, that seems shockingly low. However, about a month after I bought it was when the tariffs on China were increased dramatically. If I’d bought another one then, the cost would probably have doubled. I suspect that the tariffs may have killed off Jil Largean’s business, as they only have a few products left on AliExpress now. They are currently listing a smaller A8 size, 5-ring notebook for $38.19. Shipping is free, and the small print says import charges are included.

jil largean notebook ali express tariffs

Back in April 2025 I saved a photo of a listing where that same item was only $24.96, but the small print notes that additional charges to cover the tariffs were estimated to be $44.43.

I am not advocating for cheap Chinese imports when there are viable domestic alternatives, but sometimes there aren’t any! I’ve seen plenty of made-in-the-USA leather travelers notebooks at prices higher than this, but those aren’t really comparable in terms of the complexity of the construction. I’m sure a US-made notebook with the Jillargean specs would cost at least 3 times as much if anyone was selling such a thing. But I think all the comparable leather ring binder notebooks I’ve seen are also made in Asia, despite big-name brands and prices that are often much higher. There may be other issues about labor and environmental practices that it’s hard to take into account without more transparency, but other than that, it was nice to see Jil Largean offering a decent quality Filofax alternative at a very accessible price while it lasted.

creativity, Links, Other People's Notebooks, Paper King, Pen-Tab

Tom Verlaine’s Notebooks

January 22, 2026 Nifty Notebook Leave a comment

Another recent NY Times spotting:

Tom Verlaine Was a Mystery. His Archives Reveal More of His Story.

For months last year, the artistic legacy of Tom Verlaine, the influential but enigmatic frontman of the punk-era band Television, rested in 35 tightly packed cardboard boxes lined against a wall in a run-down studio apartment in Manhattan.

Now, three years after Verlaine’s death at 73, the contents of those boxes — reams of lyric sheets, notebooks, photographs, literary experiments and audio reels chocked with unheard tracks — have been acquired by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, where they will join the archives of fellow New York giants like Arturo Toscanini, John Cage and Lou Reed, and will be open to the public for scholarly research or browsing by curious fans.

I spy an Eastern Tablet Paper King composition book (small Paper King spiral notebooks were my favorites when I was a kid), and a small Pen-Tab spiral notebook (with yellow and black tape covering most of the spiral), similar to the one I wrote about here: Wire-O and Spiral Notebooks from My Collection, Part 1. (That post also features some Paper King notebooks.)

I’d love to see more of the contents of those 35 boxes, but unfortunately the article didn’t have many more photos. I can’t really identify myself as a “fan” of Tom Verlaine or Television, but I’d be one of the “curious” who would love to browse the archives at the NYPL!

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