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 page for September 12, 1962, Indiana records that he spent the day making his "poster [painting]" (Stable). He includes a sketch of the work, a 50 x 40-inch oil on canvas, and notes "[this] [was] no more than done, before I realized [that] it [would] not due [sic] for my purposes, my placement fall'g short of standard."

Indiana also records that Jim Dine, Marisol, and Chryssa were included in the article "Take-over Generation" in Life Magazine, September 14, 1962, and that he and his partner, fashion designer John Kloss, had dinner with James Rosenquist at Sloppy Louie's. Kloss and Indiana stopped by Rosenquist's after dinner and saw three new paintings, including the portrait of collectors Robert and Ethel Scull. Indiana writes that architect Phillip Johnson, who had planned to visit Rosenquist's studio, finally showed up, but with several Englishmen, and that the results were inconclusive.