Noodler's V-Mail Ink? WTH?

[skipwilliams]

OK, I've seen postings about mysterious new inks from Nathan's MA studio called V-Mail inks.

 

Does anyone have any details? Doe they exhibit two different colors, depending on the line thickness, as is insinuated?

 

GI Green ?

Midway Blue ?

Rabaul Red ?

 

Any others?

 

Skip

[GreenVelvet]

Here's what I know, from the mouth of Nathan at yesterday's NE Pen Show.

 

They are prototypes, produced as a test batch for the NE Pen Show. He may start making more based on how folks react to these. (I really hope that if I'm getting anything wrong, Nathan will be reading this and jump in to correct me!)

 

I believe he called them "vintage-style" inks, and said they are made from the same reverse-engineered dyes that he obtained for Boston Brahmin Black (the NE Pen show limited edition ink, that folks who attended the show got for free). He explained something I don't quite understand, having to do with mimicking vintage inks made by a pen company in the midwest (ummm.... Iowa? Ohio? I can't remember and I'm sure someone will dress me down because it's obvious who they're mimicking but I have no idea) that he can't name by name because they still exist.

 

ANYWAY. These new inks are "water-resistant," Nathan says, although they smeared when I smudged with saliva (my non-scientific test).

 

I bought Midway Blue, which is a very bright, very saturated light blue - a color almost like turquoise, that I never would have thought I'd like, except I saw it in person and loved it.

 

Other colors were GI Green (looked surprisingly light and minty to me), Operation Overland Orange, Rabaoul Red, Mandalay Maroon, North African Violet. There was a brown I didn't even try so I didn't write down the name.

 

I have samples of all of them in my ink journals. I photographed them this afternoon. I've gotta upload the photos to my blog, and then everyone can see them. I will be sure to post all over the place to let people know the photos are up on my blog.

 

I didn't even know this series was coming - it was a total surprise. I just got to the pen show, chatted with Nathan and saw these at his booth. Actually, I heard him talking to someone else about it - my eye didn't even notice the bottle.

[BillTheEditor]

OK, I could be way off-base with this, but ...

 

When I saw "V-Mail Ink," I thought of the original V-Mail. This was "Victory Mail," a creation of the government (actually, it was a British invention) during World War II, when mail was the main means that men (and women) overseas had for communicating with the folks at home. V-Mail letters were microfilmed versions of full-size letters. This made it possible to send more letters in less space.

 

Carter and Parker (and perhaps other companies) made a special, very dense dark black ink just for the purpose of writing V-Mail. Other inks or pencil did not photograph well. Pendemonium occasionally has bottles of this ink (or old bottles containing just the dust of the ink) for sale.

 

V-Mail was sort of successful and sort of not successful. The process was complicated. You can read about it here. Even though the process tremendously reduced the weight and volume of mail, most people still preferred to send letters first class.

 

So I thought, has Nathan re-created this ink?

Edited June 2, 2009 by BillTheEditor

[1000km]

The National Postal Musem has some interesting background information on V-mail:

"V, or Victory mail, was a valuable tool for the military during World War II. The process, which originated in England, was the microfilming of specially designed letter sheets. Instead of using valuable cargo space to ship whole letters overseas, microfilmed copies were sent in their stead and then "blown up" at an overseas destination before being delivered to military personnel."

http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibits/2d2a_vmail.html

 

 

[GreenVelvet]

Actually, I got into the whole conversation with Nathan about these inks by joking, "have you tested V-mail ink on a V-mail?" And he then said no, the inks were 48 hours old, and showed me his printed sheet of info.

 

It was unclear in his writing what the link was between the ink and the V-mail system itself, other than that the ink was to mimic vintage inks used by the military in the WWII era.

 

(One of my vintage stationery loves is WWII-era military stationery. I have some unused V-mails that I use to write letters - am looking forward to testing out the V-mail ink on a V-mail!)

[jmkeuning]

Nathan is a patriot, I am sure that the ink's name is no coincidence.

[saintsimon]

The Parker V-Mail Quink feathers, so the best about it is the art-deco bottle:

 

http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/6397/bottledpd1oh8.jpg

[GreenVelvet]

I have samples of all of them in my ink journals. I photographed them this afternoon. I've gotta upload the photos to my blog, and then everyone can see them. I will be sure to post all over the place to let people know the photos are up on my blog.

 

Okay, they're up! Here they are:

Noodler's inks from the New England Pen Show

[Arthur's Mom]

The National Postal Musem has some interesting background information on V-mail:

"V, or Victory mail, was a valuable tool for the military during World War II. The process, which originated in England, was the microfilming of specially designed letter sheets. Instead of using valuable cargo space to ship whole letters overseas, microfilmed copies were sent in their stead and then "blown up" at an overseas destination before being delivered to military personnel."

http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibits/2d2a_vmail.html

If anyone was curious, this it what the folks got back home. I scanned one of more than a dozen, my Grandmother saved from her sweethearts.

I blurred her address and name, she is still living and the address is still occupied by family.

 

Edited June 2, 2009 by Arthur's Mom

[Silvermink]

Anyone have a sample of the violet?

[jmkeuning]

If that guy was able to keep his head down and aim his rifle as well as he uses that pen I bet he made it home ok... Makes you wonder.

[GreenVelvet]

The National Postal Musem has some interesting background information on V-mail:

"V, or Victory mail, was a valuable tool for the military during World War II. The process, which originated in England, was the microfilming of specially designed letter sheets. Instead of using valuable cargo space to ship whole letters overseas, microfilmed copies were sent in their stead and then "blown up" at an overseas destination before being delivered to military personnel."

http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibits/2d2a_vmail.html

If anyone was curious, this it what the folks got back home. I scanned one of more than a dozen, my Grandmother saved from her sweethearts.

I blurred her address and name, she is still living and the address is still occupied by family.

 

 

What a treasure!

[GreenVelvet]

Anyone have a sample of the violet?

 

photo including N African Violet

 

Edit: make sure to scroll down, it's in the second photo.

Edited June 2, 2009 by GreenVelvet

[Jared]

[Nathan] explained something I don't quite understand, having to do with mimicking vintage inks made by a pen company in the midwest (ummm.... Iowa? Ohio? I can't remember and I'm sure someone will dress me down because it's obvious who they're mimicking but I have no idea) that he can't name by name because they still exist.

 

It must be Sheaffer, based on Rob Morrison's post on FPN referrencing "a copy of the permanent black made in the 1940s by a certain Iowa pen manufacturer."

[Raiche58]

Forgive me for being so weak as to tease....."blown up"? How about "enlarged"?

 

The National Postal Musem has some interesting background information on V-mail:

"V, or Victory mail, was a valuable tool for the military during World War II. The process, which originated in England, was the microfilming of specially designed letter sheets. Instead of using valuable cargo space to ship whole letters overseas, microfilmed copies were sent in their stead and then "blown up" at an overseas destination before being delivered to military personnel."

http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibits/2d2a_vmail.html

 

[saintsimon]

Forgive me for being so weak as to tease....."blown up"? How about "enlarged"?

...

 

Now imagine that as a movie title ...

 

Blow Up is a correct technical term.

[Eternally Noodling]

If it was strictly "V-mail" ink as advertised for filmed mail...it would be black only. The V-mail series includes colors from the period that had patriotic labels and would have been used extensively in regular mail....but the "V-mail" reference as a name for the group places them in the right era and.....after all the references to "Victory" I've seen on the labels of vintage ink bottles from that period it just had to have that name.

 

The Boston Show ink was once a school, hotel, and office ink made of a certain dye set by a manufacturer in the midwest, and that dye set has not been used since that era by any ink manufacturer in my samples. A darker and more intense ink from the period would be a military ink - which would be "Dark Matter" (replicated from an Army Corp. of Engineers issue bottle!).

[Richard]

FWIW, I was given a bottle of Midway Blue after the show. It's a gorgeous color!