The Long and Tall of It

Many limited editions in this series explore notable chapters in the history of American printing, publishing, and design—and this release dives deep into one of the most unusual. In 1943, the U.S. government partnered with the American publishing industry to produce what became known as the Armed Services Editions. Over the course of World War II, more than 120 million books across 1,200+ titles were printed and distributed to overseas troops.

These books were instantly recognizable thanks to their unconventional horizontal format and bold, primary-colored covers—details that directly inspired the Winter 2025 “1943” Edition. This release features three unique “Two-Way” Memo Books designed to echo the look and function of the original Armed Services Editions.

While maintaining the familiar 5.5" × 3.5" Memo Book size, the “1943” Edition introduces a short-edge binding with two staples instead of the traditional long-edge three-staple layout. This design allows the notebook to function both horizontally and vertically, with a horizontal cover on one side and a vertical cover on the other. Whether flipped open from the top for quick note-taking or spread wide for panoramic sketches, this versatile format adapts to the task at hand.

Each 3-Pack includes notebooks in bright red, yellow, and blue. Covers are printed on sturdy Westrock Tango 12pt coated-one-side cover stock, while the interior pages use 60# Domtar Cougar “Natural” paper, paired with an “Aged Newsprint” 3/16" graph grid—previously featured in a popular sold-out winter release.

Specifications

• Proudly printed by the good people of The Graphic Arts Studio, LLC, Barrington, Ill.
• Cover: West Rock Tango 12pt C1S “White,” with a thick, brute force, 4-color application of “1943 Magazine Press Primaries” soy-based Superior inks.
• Innards: Domtar Cougar 60#T “Natural,” with a 1-color application of “Aged Newsprint” soy-based Superior ink.
• Cover and innards printed on a Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 102S six-color printing press.
• Bound with a Muller Martini 6-pocket saddle stitcher with cover feeder/scorer, with appreciation to Samuel Slocum, George W. McGill, and William J. Brown, the “Founding Fathers of the Staple.”
• Corners precisely rounded to a 3/8" (9.5mm) radius with a Challenge DCM double round-corner machine.
• Graph grid: 3/16" × 3/16" (4.7mm × 4.7mm).
• Memo book dimensions are 5-1/2" × 3-1/2" (140mm × 89mm).
• FIELD NOTES uses only the Futura typeface family (Paul Renner, 1927), in collaboration with Monotype.
• All FIELD NOTES memo books are printed and manufactured in the U.S.A.
• Limited Edition of 25,000 3-Packs.
• UPC: 850032279437