Robert Indiana kept a series of illustrated journals during the late 1950s and 1960s, in which he discusses the development of his work as well as his daily life on Coenties Slip.

This journal page covers August 14–15, 1961. In his entry for August 14, Indiana records giving the outer rim of letters on The Calumet a second coat of paint. He notes that the weather had turned "very much late summer-ish," and that J. (his partner, fashion designer John Kloss) had gone to the beach. He also writes that his friend John Dunn wanted to come to New York to "hawk his drawings."

The second entry on this page is for August 15, which Indiana refers to "Carmen's Day," as it was the date of his mother Carmen's birthday. He records that his friend Norman (Fischer) was back from Europe, and had brought gifts for Kloss, and that he worked on the "Slip Painting" (The Slips). He writes that he gave the painting's blue rims a boost to cobalt, "thereby darkening and sharpening them considerably," and that "one more coat should do them." He also notes that he finally finished mounting the construction with "3 [circles] noir, first gluing [the] base, then bolting it: successful."