Field Notes 1943 Edition 3-Pack

Many of Field Notes’ limited editions dig into fascinating corners of American printing, publishing, and design history — and this one goes deep, then sideways.

Their Winter 2025 “1943” Edition takes inspiration from the Armed Services Editions, a remarkable WWII-era collaboration between the U.S. government and American publishers. Beginning in 1943, more than 120 million books across 1,200+ titles were printed and shipped overseas to troops. These books were produced in an unusual horizontal format with bold, primary-color covers — and that distinctive look is what sparked this release.

The result is a 3-Pack of “Two-Way” Memo Books, designed to echo the original Armed Services Editions while doing something entirely new. Though they’re the familiar Field Notes 5.5" x 3.5" size, these are the first memo books bound on the short edge instead of the long one. During prototyping, Field Notes realized that short-edge binding works just as well — maybe better — for vertical use too. So each book gives you two covers and two orientations: horizontal on one side, vertical on the other.

Flip it open from the top for interviews and quick notes, or spread it wide for panoramic sketches and layouts. However you work, the 1943 “Two-Way” Edition adapts to it.

Each 3-Pack includes one notebook in bright red, yellow, and blue, with sturdy coated covers and interior pages printed on warm, natural stock featuring an “aged newsprint” 3/16" graph grid. It’s a smart, tactile nod to wartime ingenuity — filtered through Field Notes’ obsession with print quality and design.

(Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon is also available separately as part of the broader 1943 release.)

Proudly printed by The Graphic Arts Studio, LLC (Barrington, IL)

Cover stock: WestRock Tango 12pt C1S “White”

Cover inks: Soy-based Superior inks in “1943 Magazine Press Primaries”

Interior paper: Domtar Cougar 60#T “Natural”

Interior ink: Soy-based Superior ink in “Aged Newsprint”

Printed on a Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 102S six-color press

Saddle-stitched with short-edge binding

Rounded corners (3/8" radius)

Graph grid: 3/16" × 3/16" (4.7mm × 4.7mm)

Memo book size: 5.5" × 3.5" (140mm × 89mm)

Printed and manufactured in the U.S.A.

Limited Edition of 25,000 3-Packs

UPC: 850032279437