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. 

Indiana's journal entry for April 26, 1961, includes a sketch of the herm Bar. The artist records that he added a base to the sculpture, which had previously been used as Duncan's Column's capital.

Indiana frequently documents his meals in his journal entries, and here he mentions having a cheese sandwich and coke for lunch on the roof with his cat Particci, and a dinner of roast beef and fresh corn with J. (his partner, fashion designer John Kloss). He also describes the neighborhood greenery, recording "Now the sycamores have traced themselves in new leaf, giving competition [to] the ginkgo, and adding [to the] general laciness of Jeannete [sic]."