Noodler's Ink - House / Divided 2017 DC Pen Show Color

Amidst the craziness of the 2017 D.C. Pen Show weekend, Noodler's Ink had released a brand new color called House / Divided. The ink was introduced at the show, with a bottle of the color available for sampling at the ink table on the second floor.

Nathan Tardif, Noodler's Ink founder, is known to produce inks that contain socio-political sentiment behind their themes and names. House / Divided is a comment on the deep, partisan divisions that not only divide the chambers of government, but divide the people of our country as well. The color is a light, reddish-purple that has unique florescent properties, as well as water-resistance.

As per Nathan's introductory letter (below), the House / Divided can appear blue when shone under blacklight. Luxury Brands (Noodler's Ink exclusive distributor), had posted a short video to show the UV effect under black light.

You can also remove the blue content of this ink by soaking the page in water, which will leave behind a blood red color. /u/toplegs on the /r/fountainpens subreddit had posted a picture to show the effect that water had on this color-shifting ink. The top part of the paper was soaked in water, the bottom was not.

For more on the inspiration behind this new Noodler's Ink, here is the official letter below from the Nathan himself.

Any fellow American who cares to read about the reasons for and development/properties of this ink for the 2017 Washington DC Pen Show called “House/Divided”.

Dear fountain pen and ink aficionados,

Some of us know that our grandparents knew (or at least knew of) veterans of our terrible Civil War, and that relatively recent perspective in our relatively young country (particularly when compared to China, Italy, Egypt, etc..) can make that conflict appear to some as if it took place too close to our time for comfort. The words of both Sam Houston and Abraham Lincoln (quoted on the back of each label) warned us of the danger in 1850 and 1858, both in the South and in the North….

Abraham Lincoln himself was to a great extent the final victim of that conflict. His death was not greeted with joy by many of his former enemies, as his intentions were by then known to seek the healing of the deep wounds caused by the conflict. We lost one of our greatest statesmen and leaders as a mere bookend to the loss of much of an entire generation, as the carnage of their departing from mortal coils remains the worst we have experienced as a people.

The hatred and rage that exists today between people who, until recently, simply had a differing opinion as to how best to preserve and protect our freedom and liberty – has reached a point of reminding me…and perhaps some of you…about the man who lay in that bed waiting for death after that long struggle for freedom and liberty. The same freedom and liberty Americans died for in the revolt against the crown and its ancient aristocracy, and that which Americans died for in the fight against later enemies of freedom who believed people were better governed by others rather than governed by themselves.

Thus…the ink…is a combination of the colors red and blue, unified into a deep 19th century style cordovan plum color. Alas, if tampered with it can be broken up…the blue is brightly electric when reflecting the rays of a black light and will overpower the red in that spectrum and can be made to halo the red on some papers – yet with washing or soaking the combination is lost, and the blue of the union slowly gives way to a permanent blood red alone…which I hope is a warning to those who might confuse blue and red with blue and gray. If we all keep seeking more liberty and freedom for all, our experiment might live on a few more centuries.

Best wishes and hope you all enjoy the show while I’m still making more ink,

Nathan Tardif

You can pre-order Noodler's Ink House / Divided for $18.50 per 3oz bottle at Goldspot Pens for delivery by August 15th, 2017.