Noodlers ink labels

[thosialg08]

the Massachusetts parliament

 

[Johnny Appleseed]

the Massachusetts parliament

 

 

I enjoyed that one too.

 

John

[JMX]

I really like Nathan's labels, especially those I don't agree with/like.

 

 

 

 

People have a right to be offended, it's a part of growing up into adulthood. 

 

 

[OiRogers]

Hrmm... I'm going to have to look at my Noodler's labels and see what uproar/furor I've been missing. I own and use several of the mentioned colors.

 

To be 100% honest; I've looked at the labels for a combined total of about 21 seconds... enough to read the color to determine if I've picked up the bottle I intended too. Like many others here, I have political views I hold dear and do choose to support or avoid some companies based on their views... as far as ink goes, I buy for the color of the contents of the bottle, not the context of the label.

 

Nathan's politics aren't extreme enough in either direction to have them be a concern to my purchasing habits.

[saintsimon]

If there's room for improvement regarding Noodler's labels, then it's the printing on the box top. The print is often hardly legible and sometimes cryptic.

[Juan in Andalucia]

Pesonally, I find the bottles quite fascinating. I mean we've got herons, we've got military airplanes, we've got pictures of great Russian figures, grapes, cactii--the list goes on. I find they're quite attractive sitting on a shelf, politics notwithstanding

 

Yes, and we also have Tiannanmen. As for the Iraq ink we have a finger used to sign (a form of illiteracy) to advertise an ink. Strange how things work.

 

Juan

[Lloyd]

I call for a Boston Ink Party! Dump you Noodlers ink into the Charles at midnight!

[lynxcat]

I call for a Boston Ink Party! Dump you Noodlers ink into the Charles at midnight!

 

i agree! let's arrange it on st. Patrick's day, and try to dump mostly green. it'll be a real party!

[Mille]

the Massachusetts parliament

 

 

I enjoyed that one too.

 

John

 

... or whatever you call it. I do not really care very much.

[Johnny Appleseed]

the Massachusetts parliament

 

 

I enjoyed that one too.

 

John

 

... or whatever you call it. I do not really care very much.

 

No worries - we are not making fun of you. It's just one of those quaint cross-cultural slips that gives one a chuckle now and then.

 

John

[rogerb]

Hrmm... I'm going to have to look at my Noodler's labels and see what uproar/furor I've been missing. I own and use several of the mentioned colors.

 

To be 100% honest; I've looked at the labels for a combined total of about 21 seconds... enough to read the color to determine if I've picked up the bottle I intended too. Like many others here, I have political views I hold dear and do choose to support or avoid some companies based on their views... as far as ink goes, I buy for the color of the contents of the bottle, not the context of the label.

 

Nathan's politics aren't extreme enough in either direction to have them be a concern to my purchasing habits.

 

That's pretty much my view....although I only have a coupla bottles of Noodlers anyway.

[Randorider]

His world view isn't short of contradictions.

 

So he avoids to pay taxes as far as possible and poses as a rebell.

 

While he openly and proudly supports one of the most costly federal activities, he openly and proudly doesn't (want to) actually pay for it.

He relies on a functioning infrastructure (physical and legal) to make business, while avoids to"make a profit to be taxed and then squandered by the government."

He also openly despises of one of his nations' major creditors, an undemocratic country that finances the growing national debt of a country of reluctant taxpayers who are so proud of their freedom.

Thus, in the long term, by actually making his country more and more dependent on another country without the same values, he is selling his freedom for the instant proud illusion of it.

 

Rebell?

 

Excellent post.

 

Noodler's inks are often excellent (Bay State Blue, all the FPN inks, Black, Iraqi Indigo). Some are terrible (Bank Note Green). Whether I agree with what an ink maker says about something non-ink related is irrelevant to the ink. I may laugh at him, but I buy his ink.

[eilu]

Ink is ink, as long as it does what it's supposed/claims to do. The label is irrelevant to the ink. If he starts making ink from the blood of unborn kittens then we have cause for complaint, but little bits of colored paper on the bottle? No big deal. You can always cover it up if you don't like it.

 

Edited February 12, 2010 by eilu

[Mille]

I found the Manhattan Black an interesting label and paper slip in the box, although the information is not political. I did not know that Oppenheimer was interested in mystisism and had become religious already then. But I guess you are bound to give these things a thought if you are the Father of the Bomb.

[FaustianSlip]

Just wanted to add that I've since gone to the Noodler's website and taken a gander at the actual copy for 41 Brown, and I have to say, it's pretty over the top. The name itself, whatever. The hyper political screed that Nathan's got on his site? A little more than I care to read when I'm just looking around for a new color of ink. I hadn't seen the actual bottle labels, either, which are also pretty over the top. As a general rule, Nathan's political views wouldn't prevent me from buying his ink, but the way in which he's presented his views there would definitely keep me from purchasing that particular color (though as someone mentioned, the idea that he no doubt donates to political groups with whom I adamantly disagree might give me some pause). I can absolutely see how it would alienate some customers from buying any of his inks- initially, I thought he'd just named the ink in honor of Scott Brown, but that's not really the full story of what's going on here.

 

Hold whatever political opinions you want, but if you're going to present them in such a public, confrontational way, I think you need to assume that you're going to drive away some customers. That applies regardless of whether your politics fall on the right or the left of the spectrum (I'd be just as turned off if he marketed a bottle called "The East Is Red" accompanied by a diatribe praising Mao). If that's a sacrifice you're willing to make, then more power to you. Personally, I don't see something like this really changing anyone's mind about any political issues (like I said, his statement on the site read more like a rant than a coherent argument in favor of his political position), so I'm not sure it's very productive that way, but hey, whatever rubs your Buddha, I suppose.

 

I like the Noodlers labels because they're interesting and original, but that cuts both ways- sometimes they're bound to be original in a way I don't like. Nature of the beast, really, so I'm feeling a bit pragmatic about it. Incidentally, I'd like to make it known that if Nathan does market an ink called "The East Is Red," I expect a royalty check!

[Tweel]

The hyper political screed that Nathan's got on his site? A little more than I care to read when I'm just looking around for a new color of ink.

But you weren't -- you went looking for a colorful screed.

 

Hold whatever political opinions you want, but if you're going to present them in such a public, confrontational way...

Again, you had to look for it. And rather than being confronted, what you found was the beginning of the first sentence. You then had to click a link to continue on to the rest.

 

My only complaint, such as it is, is that the labels are inkjet-printed on uncoated paper and obliterated by spills.

 

-- Brian

 

Edit: punctuation

Edited February 13, 2010 by Tweel

[framebaer]

I call for a Boston Ink Party! Dump you Noodlers ink into the Charles at midnight!

 

Oh Man, are you kidding? They've just spent 20+ years and untold millions trying to make it clean enough to swim in.

 

As a young lad I rowed on that river and you would not believe what we saw floating around in there, one particular nasty that would get caught on the end of our oars we nicknamed "passion fish", but they were not fish,------ they had, however, been used!

 

Now you want to start a whole new round!!!!!!!! Think of the fish kill alone!

Edited February 13, 2010 by framebaer

[kazoolaw]

SaintSimon

 

....

 

However, this thread is talking about the political reasons behind Nathans labels and his particular marketing strategy, not a place to engage in a debate about our own views on the subject. If we wish this thread to remain open, we need to refrain from arguing about the underlying politics.

...

John

And I tried to be as unspecific as possible , not naming sides or nations, or arguing about political thinking. Just factual, as-is present day financial actions (his) and situations (debt to be paid somehow) and (first glance?) contradictions. Or shall we say dialectics? I have become familiar with the world views over there ...

He reminds me of the "consume now, pay later" attitude that both individuals and countries have aquired, especially in the "rich" industrialized world . There's growing debt on all levels, undermining our future.

 

I just don't see anything that deserves to be called "rebellious", it's IMHO just a occasional wet dream of a social class.

 

Both this, and your prior post, miss the context of the political arguments that Nathan makes. The significance of his identification with the original colonial rebels, and one of its rallying cries, together with his reference to the machine politics of Massachusetts have escaped you entirely. I fear that your familiarity with political views "over here" are inaccurate, and that inaccuracy leads to your flamboyant, but erroneous, conclusion.

gary

[saintsimon]

...

 

... miss the context of the political arguments that Nathan makes. The significance of his identification with the original colonial rebels, and one of its rallying cries,

here you could be right ...

Do you me an "no taxation without representation"?* (and I mean vice versa ...)

together with his reference to the machine politics of Massachusetts have escaped you entirely.

No, sir, this did not. Regular fresh air in in the halls of power is vital especially for a democracy. No disagreement here.

I was talking about the federal level. #41 is a federal reference, his choice. And I was thinking from a soldier's perspective: you thank me many times for my service on your ink labels, but avoid to actually support me as far as possible by some excuse. I would feel let down. Warfare is expensive whatever your political leaning and whichever your country, it has ruined many nations, kingdoms and empires before.

 

I fear that your familiarity with political views "over here" are inaccurate, and that inaccuracy leads to your flamboyant, but erroneous, conclusion.

gary

:hmm1:

 

 

* The Boston Tea Party was (is?) part of the school curricculum in English language class. I have it in the back of my mind when somebody from Massachussetts speaks about taxation. It's not my fault ... :ph34r:

Edited February 13, 2010 by saintsimon

[FaustianSlip]

But you weren't -- you went looking for a colorful screed.

 

No, actually, I didn't. I heard mentions about the description of 41 Brown, but I assumed that it was just something like, "A new shade of brown named in honor of Scott Brown, winner of 'The People's Seat'," or something like that. Given that I hadn't seen the ink that prompted this thread, I thought it would be a good idea to check it out for myself in the interests of being informed. I expected some editorializing, but I was pretty unprepared for the three-paragraph (well, two- the second does discuss the ink itself and not politics) diatribe I found on Nathan's site. Now, whether you believe that or not is entirely up to you, and perhaps that was naive on my part, but I hadn't seen either the ink in question or its description- living in Maine, I don't have ready access to any purveyors of Noodlers ink, and this thread was the first I'd heard of it. I was vaguely aware of Nathan's politics from the Iraqi Indigo bottle, but that was pretty mild, and I assumed that 41 Brown would be much the same.

 

Also, even if I had never visited the Noodlers site, the commentary on the ink bottle itself is quite extensive (much moreso than any of the other Noodlers inks I have, including the political ones, of which I have several). But then, I suppose that had I stopped into Brompton Pens, for instance, and run across this bottle of ink and seen the various commentary on the label, which was every bit as pointed (if somewhat more succinct) as what Nathan wrote on his website, I would have been "looking for [it]," as well? C'mon.

 

Again, you had to look for it.

We'll have to agree to disagree, then. The opening paragraph (it's quite the run-on sentence, actually) says nothing about the actual color of the ink (besides the fact that it's brown), and there are no photos of any ink swatches. If the customer wants to know anything about the ink itself, what shade of brown, whether it has shading, anything like that, you have to click through to Nathan's editorial. You don't find any discussion of the ink itself until the second paragraph, and there are no ink swatch photos provided unless you click through. I don't think it's "looking for it" to want to actually see what color an ink is and read a description before buying it any more than I think picking up the bottle in the store to check out the label is "looking for" the political commentary found there. In my book, both the prose used and the way he's chosen to display it falls on the confrontational side of the spectrum. Obviously, your opinion is different, and this is pretty subjective, so I wouldn't expect everyone to agree.

 

You're entitled to your opinion on the ink and the label, of course (and as I've already said, I find Noodlers labels interesting in general, so of course there's bound to be some I don't care for), but trying to argue that Nathan's prose on both his site and the bottle itself aren't on the combative side strikes me as soft pedaling his message.

 

Edited to add that the reason I posted again was because I initially assumed that whatever was on the bottle and the Noodlers site was a lot more mild than it turned out to be, and I felt I should moderate my initial assessment a bit, having actually had a look at the commentary and packaging itself.

Edited February 14, 2010 by FaustianSlip