How Did the Pioneers Make Their Notebooks?
During pioneer times, (prior to the 1840s) paper in the United States was made out of recycled rags, was expensive and limited in production. Paper notebooks or journals were not considered disposable, but were reserved for use by professional writers and business people for important writings that needed to be preserved. For shorter term writing, such as a child's school work, a slate writing tablet was used instead of a notebook.
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George Washington's Notebooks
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One example of a pioneer's notebook was George Washington who maintained meticulous records of all the work done on his farm at Mount Vernon. These reports contained weather information and the work done on the farm during the week and the number of people required to do that work. These records were then bound into "volumes" or notebooks.
Leather Bound Notebooks
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For writing that needed to be permanently recorded, such as a a journal, diary or expense record, leather journals were often used. In addition to George Washington, Van Gogh, Hemingway and Picasso are reported to have used this type of journal. The cover was made of soft leather and the blank paper was cut or hand torn and stacked into signatures
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Signatures
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Blank leather bound books were used as journals or notebooks. A signature is several pieces of paper, folded in half and stitched to the binding through the fold. A series of signatures were stacked inside the cover resulting in a leather bound book with blank unlined pages that could then be used as a notebook, accounts book, journal or diary.
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