Poll & Question: Topic: Moleskine Pocket Notebooks
mobile.leonard
Recently I've been reading about changes such as lower quality
coverings on the hardbound covers, etc. However I have not personally
experienced this, most probably because the last time I made a
purchase of Moleskine notebooks, I bought, what is for me a years
worth. Going forward it's about time to restock and these issues are
of concern to me.
I would like to invite you to address this topic, and share your
experiences,
Thanks,
Leonard
Speedmaster
I've been using Moleskine journals of various sorts for several years
without any trouble. A month ago I had some trouble with the binding
on a large ruled journal. I emailed customer support and they kindly
shipped a replacement to me in the U.S. from Italy. I'm very happy w/
the product and the support.
Chris
http://amateureconblog.blogspot.com/
tanya
Ukraine. And it looks and feels very different. The pages are whiter
than in previous moleskines, and there actually are more of them! (246
instead of 240). This is really weird, I'm thinking - is this the way
moleskines are everywhere, or is it just a problem with Ukraine (fake
moleskines)? I'm in Kiev, Ukraine, and it's my first moleskine
purchased here. I'm really glad now that I didn't buy my 2008 daily
planner here.
Tanya
On Oct 19, 9:10 pm, Speedmaster <meisenz...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello Leonard,
>
> I've been using Moleskine journals of various sorts for several years
> without any trouble. A month ago I had some trouble with the binding
> on a large ruled journal. I emailed customer support and they kindly
> shipped a replacement to me in the U.S. from Italy. I'm very happy w/
> the product and the support.
>
> Chrishttp://amateureconblog.blogspot.com/
Evan Edwards
On Saturday 20 October 2007, tanya wrote:
> This is really weird, I'm thinking - is this the way
> moleskines are everywhere, or is it just a problem with Ukraine (fake
> moleskines)?
It has been a year or so since this was addressed in the list, so here
goes:
There is no such thing as a fake moleskine. There are, however, fake
Moleskines. Note the capitalization. There is a type of notebook, of which
there are many manufacturers, named "moleskine". These are hardcover
volumes, ususally fairly small, bound in a waterpoof oilskin[1], usually with
a pocket on the inside cover. It is a type of notebook, just as a
composition book or reporters notebook or spiral bound notebook are all types
of notebooks.
Now, many countries in Europe allow somebody to claim a generic word as a
trademark if nobody else is using it. This occurred in recent years with the
word "moleskine" being claimed by Modo e Modo. Other makers of the book had
been dropping off, so they claimed the word as a trademark and started making
moleskine notebooks under the Moleskine trademark (once again, not the
capitals). This was only semi-confusing, as their Moleskine line were also
moleskines. They grew popular, and so other people started making them again
(just as had been the case a few decades before when they were popular
earlier). Since the trademark was only legally held in some countries, some
companies now (perfectly ethically and legally) call their product
moleskines, but most just call them something else (Target calls theirs
simply "journals") or just brand them with their own name (Staples brand, for
instance).
Okay, can't have things that simple, so the company Modo e Modo renamed
themselves Moleskine srl, a company named after the product.
To further make things quite annoying, Moleskine srl (the company) started
releasing notebooks that were not moleskines, but were under the Moleskine
brand[2]. Reporter notebooks, softcover notebooks without closures (first
the volants and then the cahiers, whose name literally just
means "notebook"). These are Moleskine brand, non-moleskine notebooks.
So, to answer your question, if it looks like a moleskine, it is a
moleskine. The word refers to a general type of notebook. It is only a
Moleskine brand moleskine if it is made by Moleskine srl (the company), who
owns Moleskine (the trademark). But moleskine is a generic term for a
specific type of notebook... and many of the Moleskine brand Moleskines are
not moleskines. On the other hand, many moleskines are not made by Moleskine
srl, so they are not Moleskine brand Moleskines, but *are* perfectly
legitimate moleskines.
And if you really want to dive into the confusion, all this occurred long
after even Chatwin was using them. So every moleskine made by any
manufacturer can claim the "moleskine legacy" and be the same kind of
notebook that Hemmingway, Picasso, and Matisse used. The famed authors and
artists were using moleskine notebooks, not Moleskine brand moleskines[3].
1 - Just to add to the confusion, oilskin has been customarily made of vinyl
impregnated cloth for many many years now. It was always simply cloth
treated with something that made it waterproof; locals used to use whatever
was handy over the last 2,000 years that I know the history of it, so it
wasn't always oil, even in antiquity. Outside of reenactment groups and
sources, modern oilskin is pretty much only vinyl.
2 - For nitpickers, yes, they did that before the name change as well. It's
just difficult to insert the name change anywhere else without making this
horribly confusing post even more difficult to read.
3 - Except Neil Gaiman. He was likely using a Moleskine brand moleskine.
--
Evan "JabberWokky" Edwards
http://www.cheshirehall.org/
615.517.6900
tanya
> Moleskines. Note the capitalization.
Wow, I wasn't aware of the existence of moleskines (as opposed to
Moleskines (by Moleskine)). And I really meant Moleskines. Which is,
what I believe, the store means as well.
http://www.babuin.ua/moleskines.php
I know that'd be impossible to read by non-Russian speaker. But yet,
they do sell Modo e Modo Moleskine notebooks, "original". But, I
think, fake Moleskines. Or the quality in general changed, or I got an
unlucky Moleskine with extra pages...
Thanks for such a detailed information on Moleskines and moleskines.
It's useful to know.
Tanya