The pocket notebook trend isn’t recent. Leave it to The Art of Manliness to find references to real men keeping pocket notebooks like the ones shown in the photo above since the early 20th century. Real men take notes, proudly, and the suggestions for uses for these notebooks are as valid today as they were 100 years ago: keeping a list of future to-do’s, names of potential contacts or recent introductions, and all those other valuable tidbits of information that can help you be more organized, successful or productive.

Also recommended is to keep a hard lead pencil with your notebook and not a pen or soft lead pencil which can risk being smudged or blurred entirely by moisture, be it rain or overturned canoe.

(via The Art of Manliness and Field Notes)