Nicholas Sparks is well aware that The Notebook is a tearjerker. First a novel published in 1996, then the 2004 film that catapulted Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams to movie-star status, the lifelong love story he penned made its debut on Broadway this month as a musical.

And, as Entertainment Weekly reports, “if you find yourself crying your eyes out during the show, the merch team has you covered – selling a souvenir box of tissues for $5.” Creative Goods, the company behind BroadwayMerchandiseShop.com, which curates and sells merch for dozens of shows, shows the boxes have already sold out online – in fact, the product page shows a “Page not found” message.

souvenir tissue box for "The Notebook" musical

IMAGE: Creative Goods/broadwaymerchandiseshop.com

Creative Goods CEO Pete Milano told EW that he got the idea for this musical merch first from a “running joke” that “Everybody needs a tissue in this show. It’s so emotional.” Usually, he and his team wait to see what resonates with audiences before branching out from apparel, mugs, magnets and the like, but this opportunity was too obvious.

And as it turns out, the petite cube of tissues – decorated with the show’s watercolor silhouette logo –met a real need, with dozens of audience members posting about how much they cried during the show. “It’s not a bad cry, it’s just an emotional cry,” Milano told EW.


Among the other show souvenirs is an old-fashioned white cotton handkerchief, embroidered in blue with the show’s typeface logo and “Inside the sadness there is joy” in script, and – of course – a leather-bound notebook.

leather notebook and embroidered handkerchief from "The Notebook" musical

IMAGE: Creative Goods/broadwaymerchandiseshop.com

Sparks himself told CBS Sunday Morning that he, too, teared up when he saw the show on opening night. “Yeah, I got a little weepy,” he told interviewer David Pogue.

He also showed Pogue an almost 30-year-old promo package that he and his publisher sent to promote the novel – which included “a hankie for their tears.”

“The Notebook and genuine emotion have always gone hand in hand,” Sparks said, smiling.