Noodler's Historical/vintage Replica Inks

[Thornton]

I've recently read through various posts about the Noodler's ink that are based on vintage inks, inks from historical documents, etc. Being interested in history, I'd like to learn what inks some of the Noodler's colors are based on. Below is what I've found so far. Please correct me if I'm wrong and hopefully others can give additional information.

 

Baystate Blue-a replica of an ink from a Baystate area ink company. Maybe Carter's American Blue?

Boston Brahmin Black-a grey/black based on a vintage ink popular in the 40s/50s

Ellis Island Blue-Black-similar to the ink used on immigration papers at Ellis Island in the early 20th century

Manhattan Blue-based on Carter's Blue

Borealis Black-based on a vintage black ink

Antietam-the color found in a dried up inkwell from the Civil War

 

It also seems that the V-Mail inks are supposed to possess many of the same qualities as traditional V-Mail ink, but with a larger color variety.

 

OK, that's all I know. Who can help me figure out what inks any of the above are derived from? What other inks in the series have historic/vintage significance?

[Truppi327]

Dark Matter is based off of ink specially formulated for use at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project. Kung Te-cheng is based off of remains from ancient Chinese inks stones - Emperor's Purple. Whaleman's Sepia is the color of ink in a Whaler's log book and the color change tells a story as well (Nathan speaks extensively about it all in a youtube.)

 

Dragon's Napalm is supposed to be reminiscent of Mercurochrome, not an ink but interesting.

 

I'm sure I'll think of more as I go.

 

[Thornton]

Dark Matter is based off of ink specially formulated for use at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project. Kung Te-cheng is based off of remains from ancient Chinese inks stones - Emperor's Purple. Whaleman's Sepia is the color of ink in a Whaler's log book and the color change tells a story as well (Nathan speaks extensively about it all in a youtube.)

 

Dragon's Napalm is supposed to be reminiscent of Mercurochrome, not an ink but interesting.

 

I'm sure I'll think of more as I go.

 

 

Thanks! I'm sure I've read about the historical value of the inks you mentioned, but I forgot about them. It seems as though many inks in the Noodler's lineup are a nod towards history and culture whether it's the actual formula of the ink, or the label/name.

[mstone]

It also seems that the V-Mail inks are supposed to possess many of the same qualities as traditional V-Mail ink, but with a larger color variety.

 

IIRC, the name was meant as an homage, but the inks don't have anything to do with the vmail letters. (The description I remember was that they were meant to emulate inks of the era rather than vmail in particular.)

 

edit: correction/clarification: http://noodlersink.com/whats-new/v-mail-ink-series/ So the link claims a tie to bottles with patriotic labels dating back to ww1, with samples from at least 1939 (earlier than v-mail the microfilm process). I'd be curious to see one of those, as it certainly sounds different from the sheaffer or carter's vmail bottles, which are basically a normal label with "safe for v ...- mail" added. (Carters didn't even bother to change the picture.)

Edited April 16, 2011 by mstone

[kaboom]

Dark Matter is based off of ink specially formulated for use at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project...

 

A few of us in my group in LA have bottles of this. Kinda a fun connection, but I have to wonder about the "special to Los Alamos/Project Y" thing. Of all the stuff going on, at such an accelerated pace, with bigger things to think about like sourcing the material and figuring out how to make good detonators and so on -- they really came up with a special ink?

 

Cute story and all, but - really?

 

(I use walnut in my notebook, BTW)

 

Mike in Los Alamos

[Gobblecup]

I had gotten a sample of Whaleman's Sephia, with knowing it changed colours, you can imagine my surprise! :roflmho:

[lunawing]

Zhivago: I remember this ink is replica of the ink widely used in Russia at the time the novel is written.

 

Galileo Manuscript: Obviously, this is replica of the ink used by Galileo.

 

Legal Lapis: Some people said it is very close to ink appears on some documents from 18th centuries.

[kaboom]

Legitimately copies of the old ink or not I think the V-Mail Violet, Maroon and Brown are very nice well behaved inks. The Violet is probably the "wettest" and the Brown and Maroon have really great shading for Noodlers specialty inks.

[USN Air TrafficController]

Air Corp blue/black has an interesting history.

[Muncle]

Air Corp blue/black has an interesting history.

 

Really? This is one I enjoy. Please elaborate.

[USN Air TrafficController]

The color was chosen because it was on the Air Corp/Chinese Air Force flag. Unfortunately, I can't find the link. I'm pretty sure there was a link on the Noodler's web site, but it's not there anymore.

[Thornton]

Thanks all for the great input. I'm particularly interested in the story behind Zhivago as I've always been fascinated with Russian history.

[Tweel]

Dark Matter is based off of ink specially formulated for use at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project...

 

...I have to wonder about the "special to Los Alamos/Project Y" thing. Of all the stuff going on, at such an accelerated pace, with bigger things to think about like sourcing the material and figuring out how to make good detonators and so on -- they really came up with a special ink?

 

Mike in Los Alamos

Given the importance of the project, they may have specified some characteristic of the ink relevant to record-keeping -- analogous to the way actual WWII V-Mail ink was formulated for microfilming. In any case, I doubt that the people taking care of the office products were the same ones trying to make the bomb.

 

Here's what Nathan Tardif said about Dark Matter (and his "V-Mail" inks) when he introduced them.

[mstone]

Air Corp blue/black has an interesting history.

 

Really? This is one I enjoy. Please elaborate.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/40483-dark-dark-green/page__view__findpost__p__383278