The Accidental Diarist: A History of the Daily Planner in America
The Accidental Diarist: A History of the Daily Planner in America
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Abstract
In this era of tweets and blogs, it is easy to assume that the self-obsessive recording of daily minutiae is a recent phenomenon. But Americans have been navel-gazing since nearly the beginning of the republic. The daily planner—variously called the daily diary, commercial diary, and portable account book—first emerged in colonial times as a means of telling time, tracking finances, locating the nearest inn, and even planning for the coming winter. They were carried by everyone from George Washington to the soldiers who fought in the Civil War. And by the twentieth century, this document had become ubiquitous in the American home as a way of recording a great deal more than simple accounts. This history of the daily act of self-reckoning explores just how vital these unassuming and easily overlooked stationery staples are to those who use them. From their origins in almanacs and blank books through the nineteenth century and on to the enduring legacy of written introspection, the author has penned a biography of an almost ubiquitous document that has borne witness to American lives in all of their complexity and mundanity.
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Front Matter
- Introduction
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One
The Almanac as Daily Diary
Molly McCarthy
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Two
The Birth of a Daily Planner
Molly McCarthy
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Three
The Profits of an Abbreviated Self
Molly McCarthy
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Four
Making a Diary Standard
Molly McCarthy
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Five
The Daily Planner Meets the Adman
Molly McCarthy
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Epilogue
Molly McCarthy
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End Matter
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