John's Vademecum - public:miscellany:stationery

Commonplace Book

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 09:55:07 +0000

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Commonplace Book

My real paper commonplace book

A selection pages from my Orange Vade Mecum

Further Information

Diaries

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 11:27:54 +0000

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Diaries

What is a diary as a rule?

A document useful to the person who keeps it.

Dull to the contemporary who reads it…

…and invaluable to the student, centuries afterwards, who treasures it.

Walter Scott

I keep a diary

I like to store memories on paper, for later. Mundane daily life or exciting events.

Diary

My motivation?

Everything can be interesting when viewed later, from the future, even my own humdrum life.

I'm inspired by Mass-Observation, the diaries of Alan Bennet, the writings of Simon Garfield, the passionate call-to arms in Irving Finkel's video (see below).

Indexing

I recently (December 2023) decided that I need a way of finding old entries/events/facts etc. and I'm starting an Index…. more later…

Alan Bennet

Writing Home
Keeping on Keeping on
House Arrest

Simon Garfield

Wartime Mass-Observation diary collections
The diary of Jean Lucey Pratt A Notable Woman. She was one of the Mass Observation diarists in the Wartime collections above (anonymised as “Maggie Joy Blunt”), but she also kept a separate diary covering her whole life, starting in 1925 aged 15 until she died in 1986.

The Great Diary Project

The wonderful Irving Finkel mini lecture on You Tube Rescuing unwanted diaries! gives a feel of why I think capturing everyday life, in ordinary peoples' diaries, is important.

The result of Irving's discovery of the importance of diaries is the Great Diary Project

https://youtu.be/rhi9xKGGWX8

The American Diary Project

There is a similar project in the USA The American Diary Project.

Anne Lister

Now well known after the BBC dramatization as “Gentleman Jack” - Anne Lister lived in the 18th Century, was a land-owning woman (unusual) and most famously, gay.

Her diaries were written partly in a “secret” code, to hide the more personal aspects.

They were researched and sections published in 2 volumes by Helena Whitbread.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Lister

I've read the first volume, and it's a fascinating insight into life in the 1820s - leaving aside the sexual aspects - just the practicalities of life, the leeches and quack medical treatments. The amount of walking needed to get anywhere, the poor diets (even for the wealthy). The physical discomfort tolerated (even by the wealthy).

John Gadd

I recently discovered John Gadd and his diary.

He seems to have kept a very similar style of journal to mine - writing daily in one book storing EVERYTHING, writing, photos, tickets, labels…. and a record of his day, his thoughts and only touching on “world news” if it particularly meant something to him.

He called it his “Omnium Gatherum”.

He died aged 90 on 2020, after keeping his diary consistently since 1947, really settling on its eventual format in the early 1970s. His diary was a memory-aid, as is mine, but of course it also captures lots of other things, mundane at the time but over a lifetime the mundane becomes the historical, and illustrate how life changes.

I'd love to see the books and look through the pages, and see how he indexed everything to make it searchable and to find anything within a few minutes.

My Diaries

Book of choice: Leuchtturm1917 A5 Hardback DotGrid
Pen(s) of choice : Lamy Safari EF nib, TWSBI Eco and Pigma Micron 02
Fountain Pen Inks of choice : Diamine Eau de Nil & Platinum Carbon Black
Watercolours of choice : Windsor & Newton Cotman Sketcher Pocket set with the China White swapped for some Payne's Grey instead.
Shop of Choice : Cult Pens

Some pics:

More Pics

Bloods

Notebooks

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 09:55:07 +0000

←Stationery

Notebooks

Pocket Notebooks

Larger Notebooks

— John Pumford-Green 31/07/24 13:12 BST

Further Information

Pencils

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 09:55:07 +0000

←Stationery

Pencils

Wooden

Blackwing

602 Pearl

Matte

Volume 16.2

Volume 55

Volume XIX

Tombow

Mono 100

8900

Mitsubishi

9852

Hi-Uni

Musgrave

Tennessee Red

Mechanical

Pentel

P200 Series

Staedtler

Lead Holders

— John Pumford-Green 31/07/24 13:11 BST

Further Information

Pens

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 08:19:57 +0000

←Stationery

Pens

Fountain Pens

Others

— John Pumford-Green 31/07/24 13:12 BST

Further Information

Postcrossings

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 09:55:07 +0000

←Stationery

Postcrossings

Sending and receiving postcards all around the wold

Signing up

23 Feb 2025

I've made an account on the Postcrossings website
I'm looking forward to sending my first postcards

Sent

Date	ID	To	Posted	Registered
24/02/25	GB-1840745	Chachis	25/02/25	06/03/25
26/02/25	GB-1841398	Julia1976	26/02/25	07/03/25

Received

Date	ID	From	Country

— John Pumford-Green 23/02/25 18:44 GMT

Further Information

postcrossings

Stationery

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 09:55:07 +0000

←Miscellany

Stationery

Typewriters, pencils, notebooks, fountain pens etc

Practical uses

Daily diary writing
Commonplace books
Postcrossings
Type Pals

Further Information

stationery

Page Updated : 30/12/25 09:55 GMT

Type Pals

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 09:55:07 +0000

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Type Pals

A Typewriting Pen Pal system

Signing up

23 February 2025

I've now got an account at https://www.typepals.com/
- My Profile

Sent

Date	To	Country	Format
26/02/25	Maciek Szymański	Poland	Letter
26/02/25	Kyle Kilcrease	USA	Letter
28/02/25	Nicki Bartlett	USA	Letter
01/03/25	Matthew Martin	UK	Letter

Received

Date	From	Country	Format
13/03/25	Matthew Martin	UK	Letter
13/03/25	Werner Jetz	Canada	Postcard

— John Pumford-Green 23/02/25 18:50 GMT

Further Information

typepals

Typewriters

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Dec 2025 09:55:07 +0000

←Stationery

Typewriters

I'm just starting ( 23/02/25 16:45 GMT ) to add info about my typewriters
I have been sadly neglecting these machines for a couple of years and now I'm getting them back into more regular use
- I've ordered a couple of new ribbons since they haven't been changed for many years
More information and photos will follow….

John's Vademecum - public:miscellany:stationery

Commonplace Book

Commonplace Book

A selection pages from my Orange Vade Mecum

Further Information

Diaries

Diaries

I keep a diary

Indexing

Alan Bennet

Simon Garfield

The Great Diary Project

The American Diary Project

Anne Lister

John Gadd

My Diaries

Some pics:

More Pics

Further Reading

On Indexing

General

Notebooks

Notebooks

Pocket Notebooks

Larger Notebooks

Further Information

Pencils

Pencils

Wooden

Blackwing

602

Pearl

Matte

Volume 16.2

Volume 55

Volume XIX

Tombow

Mono 100

8900

Mitsubishi

9852

Hi-Uni

Musgrave

Tennessee Red

Mechanical

Pentel

P200 Series

Staedtler

Lead Holders

Further Information

Pens

Pens

Fountain Pens

Others

Further Information

Postcrossings

Postcrossings

Signing up

Sent

Received

Further Information

Stationery

Stationery

Contents

Practical uses

Further Information

Type Pals

Type Pals

Signing up

Sent

Received

Further Information

Typewriters

Typewriters

Currently owned and used

Photos

Further Information