Have you started your HL notebook yet?

Okay, so I'm prone to obsessive/compulsive behavior, but my latest project has been good clean fun.

I was in an Office Depot several weeks ago and found a delightful item in their letterhead/stationery rack.

This was an inexpensive package of stationery with a photograph of the Mukilteo Light printed on it in a subdued and unobtrusive manner. This makes for an interesting background for whatever you may wish to print on it using your computer and printer.

Printed in the romantic and evocative pastel pinks and purples found at twilight, this stationery makes nice dividers for different sections of my Harbour Lights notebook.

The notebook itself is a three ring binder with a clear view cover and spine. This allows you to insert your printed stationery there for labeling.

I've used this stationery and plastic page protectors to make up dividers for these sections of my notebook:

1. Harbour Lights 1998 Catalog.
2. Harbour Lights 1999 Catalog.
3. Harbour Lights Brochures.
4. Harbour Lights Products.
5. Harbour Lights Collectors Society.
6. Registration List/List of all HL Pieces.
7. Harbour Lights Pieces. (Here I've printed the name of the particular light in large, bold letters across the top of the stationery and have used a SMALL amount of rubber cement to tack the history card of that HL piece to the stationery. This is then inserted in a plastic page protector. This gives you a method for displaying and referencing the history while keeping the cards in good condition and allowing easy removal should that ever become necessary.
8. Seahorses
9. Anchor Bay

And so on.

By creating this notebook and keeping it on the shelf next to my display cabinet, I have a "one-stop shopping" source for answering my own questions, looking up a different piece in the catalog, recording the serial numbers and other information pertinent to my latest HL acquistion, and having all of this on associated stationery makes the whole much more eye appealing.

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Bob Steinbrunn
Nautical Research Guild

Bob,

From all I am seeing of you on the Forum, I wondered how you could still be a newbie. But in checking your profile, I found that you are now a "Wacko". Congratulations!!!!

Hi Bob,
Thanks for the ideas on the HL notebook. I've never quite known what to do with the information card that comes with each lighthouse. You're idea is a nice way to access the information easily.

I got a 4X6 photo album (you know the one that has 2 pictures & a space to make notes on each page) & put the history cards of each lighthouse. Alphabetically according to state (of course). I keep that in cabnet with lighthouses. The notebook (with catalog dealer list etc) I am able to carry with me when I go out of town. That way I have all info while I travel. I want the history available to guest who are curious about the lighthouses, but the notebook would overwhelm them. But then none of my friends are "into" lighthouses.

If the post is real long does it count as 2??

Great Idea Bob!

I started one of these after my second acquisition. I have a photo of each light, along with the display card, and on the back, where it was purchased, from whom, and the price I paid.

It's worked great for me so far. I take it with me on all vacations, and I even have room next to each photo of the HL to put a photo of the real Light to compare. Ok, It's alittle anal, but collectors are all alittle A/R, right? (please say yes!)

Tony

Tony

Yes!

Jim

Yes.

-A/Rt

Yes
George

Definitely! (One post closer to Wackodom.)

Donna

That is such a neat idea. I have been doing a lighthouse book with the Creative Memories. They use the acid free paper so it protects the pictures I take of lighthouses. But I like your ideas of how to keep all the HL organized. I know my friends think I am crazy but my love for lighthouses is unreal. I try to find as much information about the lights I see as I can. Keep the ideas coming.
Wacko in training

Amber

Bob,
I sure do like your idea. Dont't know why I haven't thought of doing some such thing. Now I just have to figure out exactly how I want to organize it.

Here's the album I put together a couple of years ago for photos of the HL model and Certificates of Authenticity. It's a photo album for 4x6" photos.

You MUST take a certificate with you when shopping for this kind of album. Very few photo albums have wide enough slots for the Certificate.

The one that I found was a 'Pioneer' brand. I bought at MOTO FOTO.



Because the certificates and photos are of different thicknesses, alternate them left and right.

Oh, and be sure to put the Certificates in order of the HL model number not in alphabetical order!! Leave room for 102, 108 and 111, etc. so you can have the excitement of slipping in the CofA for each of these when your ship comes in.

This album has 52 pages holding 208 photos/certificates so you'll need more than one if you have an extensive collection.

[This message has been edited by JChidester (edited 09-25-99).]

Another suggestion for a storage medium comes from the sports card collecting hobby. There are several manufacturers producing acid free plastic pages for the card collecting industry that come with all kinds of pocket sizes. Generally they're 8.5 X 11 with 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12 and 16 pockets per page. The two pocket version are great for the HL certificates and postcard size objects. I've picked up a few of the old lighthouse cigarette cards from the U.S. and from England and they fit nicely into the six pocket pages. I've even put some of the Mark Sherman prints into the single pocket pages. The best part is that you can combine any of these into one binder of whatever thickness you like.

My wife thought I was obsessed when I started my note book. There are some great ideas here that I will use to make improvements. I especially like the sports card collectors pocket pages. Great Idea. Thanks Gary