So it’s 1975 or 1976 and good Americans are celebrating their Bicentennial, right? A high time. 200 years young. And the family farm is going strong, with tough times on the horizon in those ’80s.

Here’s a little snippet from the back of this memo book to get that agrarian blood pumping:

“Leap ahead into America’s future.

Her Flag still flys (sic) high and proud. There are many more Americans. Typically, they are hard at work enjoying their homes and families. They have plenty of wholesome top-quality food. They remain free.

But what incites them to accept the call of a future America’s demand for food and fiber?

It is in their Creed: “I believe in the future of farming, with a faith born not of words, but of deeds — achievements  of agriculturists…I believe that rural America can and will hold true to the best traditions of our national life…”

And it is their Heritage. Men who molded America came from farms and plantations — farmer statesman of the past like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. They understood the challenge of change. They fought for their beliefs. They took risks. Their flaming spirit served as a high standard which generations of Americans have endeavored to emulate.

Future Farmers today are inspired by these same heroes of our Nation and her agriculture. The vigor of their youth drives them onward. FFA members are A FUTURE FOR AMERICA!”

There you go, people. The entire Field Notes enterprise would like to take this opportunity to tip our hat to the American farmer. Thank you.

(left) Kastranec (with 112 marigold photos and counting on flickr!), and (right) Scott K.

(left) Flatspot FSPT, and (right) bia.hvid

(left) kylesteed, and (right) hippycritical, just to name a few. Thanks, keep ‘em growing, and keep the photos coming!

We link up lots of photos of our products here, in our Twitter stream, and on Flickr too. We love to see our memo books out in their natural habitat. Like this warm, lovely pair of shots from Anika K. Enjoy them nice and big. Thanks Anika, and keep them coming folks.

Man, we’ve been on a real Minnesota kick with our ongoing memo book archive offerings. They just always did it right, way up there in that Upper Midwest.

And today, that’s we’ve got for ya. So many great memo books out of the middle lands.

Man, we love grain elevators. There’s just not much more to say about it than that.

I just drove across the prairie and there’s just something soothing about looking out over the expanses to see these towering castles dotting the landscape. One after another, all the way out west across that Midwest.

From the earth to the tower, to the rail car down on the rail, then to you.

Here’s a great Flickr set that shares the same sentiment called “I Love Grain Elevators.”

Man, that is some wicked type in that little yellow triangle!

“Farwell Ozmun Kirk and Co, St. Paul”

Sure, bit of a mouthful but check out how they got that stuff to “point” at their list of wholesale hardware items?!

All of this, on the cover of a long-forgotten memo book, luckily dug up by little ol’ me somewhere in my loose travels. I can’t remember if I got it out of a widow’s junk drawer or antique shop or maybe even from some shark-toothed “picker” off an online auction service called “eBay.” The exact place and time escapes me, but that ain’t what’s important. It is rescued and spared from the landfill, burn pile or local pulp recycler.

Here it is, for the ages, to think about when you use your Field Notes brand memo books. All these old books we find factor into how we curate Field Notes for you, and for the world, always thinkin’ about the masterful ways of the past.

For each Field Note book I simply scanned (…) each double spread (…) Then I made a new notebook in Evernote and dropped them in.

Here’s the killer thing though. Evernote indexes handwritten notes and makes the text searchable. It’s not perfect but it now means that my Field Notes archive is now searchable. It also means that they’re always with me; on my iPhone, the web or on my desktop.

Evernote made their own custom-branded FIELD NOTES way back in October 2008, we’ve always known that Evernotes and FIELD NOTES were a match made in heaven.

Here’s an incredible specimen I dug up in recent travels around the nation. All the way from Rutland, Vermont.

I have a good buddy who grew up in Rutland by the name of Pat Bridges. He’s the longtime Editor of Snowboarder magazine, and he’s come a long, long way since his surly days on the mean streets of Rutland. Hell of a writer. Funny as hell. Wittier than you. Every time I think about Pat and his Rutland upbringing, I think about his story about his youthful, near-death experience with “Rocky Mountains Spotted Fever.” But that’s a whole ‘nother story.

Pat Bridges. Rutland. Old memo books. Good stuff on a Friday, people.