The New York Times did something rather neat in their last weekend paper of the year. They reproduced in miniature some of the front pages with the biggest stories of the year. I was excited to see that these mini front pages were just the right size to fit in a notebook!
I carefully cut them all out and taped them into my 2018 Nolty diary, in the weeks that correspond to their dates. Taping them at the spine allowed me to still flip past them to see whatever I had written on the pages underneath. (Some weeks had two newspapers to tape in, so I overlapped them.) The newspaper pages are slightly larger than the Nolty pages, but they still fit within the cover overhang.
I love how this turned my diary into a record of some of the year’s big events (even if a lot of those events were rather depressing). I do sometimes write about current events in my journal, but I don’t tend to log them in the Nolty diary– this makes me feel like maybe I should start! It will be interesting to look back at it someday. I hope the Times does this every year, but if they don’t, I may have to see if I can find a way to print out certain front pages in this size…
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 members believe it’s 1969 – 1970 but to me, it seems like more the 1980s…the Spring Logos seem different.  It’s a Roaring Spring 3 Subject, Model 10041
Jeff’s Roaring Spring 3-subject notebook
I agree that this looks like a notebook from the 1980s. The type style just looks more ’80s to me, but let’s try to back that up with context. I’ve featured various Roaring Spring notebooks on this site that can be tied to specific timeframes. Below are facsimiles of Roaring Spring notebooks the artist Lee Lozano used in the late 1960s with a different logo:
Lee Lozano Roaring Spring notebook facsimilies
I have similar ones in my own collection that I used in the late 1970s and early 1980s:
1970s-1980s Roaring Spring notebooks from my collection
Those examples are pocket size notebooks, and it’s possible that they didn’t update their logo across their entire product line at the same time. But in this post, a Roaring Spring notebook very much like Jeff’s seems to have been used in the early 1990s:
Roaring Spring notebook used in tobacco lawsuit in the early 1990s
And here is another one of my own notebooks that was bought and used in the mid-1980s, showing the more contemporary-looking Spring logo on a pocket size notebook:
1980s Pocket Roaring Spring notebook from my collection
I think it is safe to say that Jeff is correct and his notebook dates from at least the early to mid-1980s, and definitely not the 1960s or 1970s. Readers, let us know if you have any other supporting evidence!
Here’s something actually kind of interesting for a change! The late, great Moleskinerie website has been dormant since 2016, but its Japanese counterpart, Moleskinerie.jp, is still quite active. I noticed this recent article about new products being introduced at a Moleskine pop-up shop at Shibuya Loft.
One idea I think would be a slam dunk is a chunkier, double-thickness Moleskine. It might not be as pocketable, but it would look great, and feel great, and serve a useful purpose for people who go through notebooks fast. It would be cool if they did it with multiple ribbons, as the City notebooks have.
(I’m sure I’m not the only one who had this idea!) Although I don’t think I’ve seen any official announcement of these expanded notebooks from Moleskine, they are showing that they’ll be available in February 2019 on Amazon, in plain, ruled, square and dotted formats, in both hard and soft covers, but unfortunately only in the large size. They have two ribbon markers.
Moleskine Classic Notebook Medium Size
They also added a medium size to the classic notebook line, the 180 × 115 mm format used in the Voyageur notebook, which I think is a nice size (see my review of the Moleskine Voyageur). This format has also been used in their Two-Go notebooks. These notebooks are also showing up on Amazon with February 2019 availability. They seem to be in hardcover only, in black, red and blue, with options for plain, ruled, squared and dotted paper. A sketchbook option in this size would be cool.
Moleskine Art Collection Bullet Notebook
And then I guess they realized they’d better jump on the BuJo bandwagon, so they are offering a Bullet Notebook, which seems to have numbered dot-grid pages with heavier 120GSM paper (which is unlikely to be truly fountain pen friendly), as well as some index pages. I’m not sure why this is any more bullet-journal-y than any other notebook, really. Maybe they should have just called it “Moleskine Leuchtturm-ish Notebook!” I couldn’t find this product on Amazon or in Moleskine’s latest catalog, so I wonder if it was created just for the Japanese market, or perhaps isn’t coming to the US until the Fall of 2019.
Other New Moleskine Products for Spring 2019
While looking through the Spring 2019 catalog, I noticed a few other items of interest, hidden amongst the plethora of limited editions and other sundry items. The portrait format Watercolor Notebook line (as opposed to the landscape format Watercolor Albums) now includes a pocket size. A4 and A3 portrait format watercolor notebooks are also new this spring.
Then there is a whole new product called the “Sketch Pad,” launched in 5 sizes. The catalog didn’t have any photos, and at first I wasn’t quite sure how it was different from the Sketch Album, but on Amazon, you can see more images. It seems to have a flexible front cover you can fold back, but a rigid back cover, and all the pages are detachable (it looks like a glued binding, rather than a perforated edge). The paper is 120 GSM.
The only other thing that jumped out at me isn’t new for Spring 2019, but it must be fairly recent– the “Denim Collection” now just has plain denim covered notebooks in two shades of blue.
Not sure how I missed this, but they look perfectly nice, unlike this earlier iteration:
I guess I was so traumatized by those stupid slogans that I’d since averted my eyes to anything that said “Moleskine” and “Denim!”
It’s always interesting to see what Moleskine is up to: even though I am unlikely to buy these new Moleskine products, I am always hoping that they’ll address their quality issues and maybe bring me back to the fold. You can look at the Spring 2019 Moleskine catalog yourself at this link on the Chronicle Books website. Let me know what you think: hot or not?
I’ve been following this week’s addict on Instagram for a while, where she shows off an awe-inspiring collection of planners and notebook covers (as well as leather bags and accessories from cult Japanese brand The Superior Labor [drool]). Carla fills her notebooks and planners with lots of creativity, planning and documenting her days with fun calligraphy, stickers, collaged photos and more. One of the notebooks she seems to use the most is a Stalogy 365 notebook. You can follow her at Carla’s Creative Life.
A curious item from the online archive of the Psychiatric Services Collection of Museums Victoria in Australia:
Hand-written student nurse’s notebook written during nursing training at a mental health hospital, Mayday Hills, Beechworth, Victoria, Australia, circa 1955.
I wish there were more images of these travel sketchbooks in the Cape Gazette’s profile of a local artist in Lewes, Delaware:
As Victor Letonoff flips through the pages of a small sketchbook, watercolor paintings remind him of his travels to Paris. As a page turns, a French street gives way to the Golden Gate Bridge, only to be replaced by another scene showcasing the distinct architecture of Key West.
Rather than document his travels through photography, the 82-year-old Letonoff takes time to sketch or paint his experiences, rarely leaving the house without his paint brushes, pencils and paper.
This is an interesting alternative to the Bullet Journal method. Torey Van Dot lays out each day’s tasks divided into categories and then slotted into time blocks on a schedule. As she writes in the linked post, a graph paper notebook made this layout workable.
Who knew graph paper could make such a difference?
I found this week’s addict on Instagram (@arimako58), where this lovely stack of notebooks was shared:
Mostly refillable binders and some chunky journals in covers… I also spy what I think is a Filofax refillable notebook, similar to this one.
Source: Ari. (@arimako58) • Instagram photos and videos
I bought this cute little notebook at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. There is no branding on it, so I’m just calling it a “rainbow edge notebook.” I liked the way the museum logo was quite subtle on the cover, and the slim size and eye-catching rainbow-colored page edges seemed quite unique. That was several months ago, and in the meantime I’ve seen other versions of this same notebook in other museum stores, with their logos stamped on the front. It seems to be a generic promotional item that anyone can order and personalize via Alibaba and other sources. But is it a good notebooks? Let’s take a look.
What’s on the Outside
Back cover
As noted above, the outside of the rainbow edge notebook is quite cute. The cover is a soft smooth vinyl. (It has a similar feel to the material used on the Rhodia Webbie and the PSN Notebook I reviewed several years ago, but it feels even softer since there are no hard boards underneath.) I like the feel of it but it does show scuffs a bit more than it would if it had a texture. The museum logo is stamped or perhaps laser-etched on the front and “China” stamped in small letters on the back cover. It is nicely slim and flexible so it’s very pocketable. The cover overhang is pretty minimal. The signatures are squarely aligned. Best of all, it has the fun colored bands all along the page edges– I call it a “rainbow edge” but it’s not just a straightforward rainbow, as the colors appear slightly out of sequence, in bands of varying widths, which to me is much more attractive. Overall, the exterior of the notebook is very appealing, even if it doesn’t feel like a super high-end product.
Comparison to a pocket size Moleskine notebook
What’s on the Inside
The interior of the rainbow edge notebook is totally plain– nothing on the endpapers, no lines, no dot grid, no ribbon marker, no back pocket, no nothing. Just plain creamy sheets of paper, which feel relatively smooth and lightweight. Lined journals are so ubiquitous, I am always happy to find notebooks that are plain and minimal inside.
Pen Tests
Alas, here is where it all comes crashing down. Fountain pens are feathery from the get-go, and lots of inks bleed through. Badly. Show-through is about average. No paper weight is specified, but it seems similar to Moleskine paper, though the surface is a little bit less smooth. If you use pencil or fine point gel ink or ballpoint pen, the paper will perform adequately, but it is definitely not fountain pen friendly.
Conclusion/Where to Buy
The best things about this notebook are that it looks cute and only cost $6.95. It makes a fun little museum souvenir and will serve very well as a lightweight jotter to toss in a bag or pocket. But fountain pen users should definitely stay away. You can look for this notebook in museum stores, or try Amazon for some similar rainbow edged journals.
Notebooks, journals, sketchbooks, diaries: in search of the perfect page…
