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.

In his journal entry for December 22, 1961, Indiana writes that he wasn't feeling well, but still went out to cash his "major check," which needed confirmation from the David Anderson Gallery. The check was for Moon and The American Dream, I, which had been purchased by the Museum of Modern Art. He notes going to Serendipity again for more shopping, getting plates for J. (his partner, fashion designer John Kloss), as well as a copy of Irving Penn's book Moments Preserved. Indiana then went to Norman Fisher and John Ardoin's apartment to pick up the small photographs that Ardoin had taken of The American Dream, I. He also records going over to dinner at Stephen Durkee's, arriving just as he was finishing up a paining, "blotting it to very good effect with newspaper."