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.

This journal page covers January 30–31, 1961. In his first entry, for January 30, Indiana notes that Goldberg (Mrs. Edwin L. Goldberg) was at the Scarsdale Studio workshop (for which she was the chairwoman), and that there was a photographer there. He also records watching "He Who Gets Slapped," an episode of Play of the Week, and watching an early 1930s Gary Cooper film.

The second entry on the page, for January 31, includes a sketch of a detail of The American Sweetheart, with a note recording the addition of stars to the work, and a sketch of The Sweet Mystery,