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 8, 1961, Indiana records getting twelve new stretchers, "close [to] 80 for the lot, split with Jim [Rosenquist], $80 more, and delivered by a wild looking person." He writes that Rosenquist was unhappy about them belng delivered, as it cost $6, but he was glad they were, and they divided the stretchers promptly. Indiana notes that they were sizes he had used before but also included four square ones for diamond paintings. Indiana painted his first diamond-shaped works in 1962.