Stories worth reading. Stop indexing the internet.
The Most Famous Japanese Brand You Don’t Know About
“The Forgotten Blueprint of Shigehiko Taguchi.” [Contemporary Standard]
and the working-class Teds who came before the punks
Watch Repair Specialist Often Works on Pieces Worth Millions
“Daniele Del Vecchio regularly disassembles, inspects and repairs watches costing millions from his shop in Connecticut.” [NYT*]
Why Nora Ephron Considered Langer’s Pastrami Sandwich the Best in the World
“Langer’s, in Los Angeles’s MacArthur Park, has wowed locals of every stripe for 79 years.” [NYT*]
and Katz’s Deli, still in the family
and the Carnegie Deli is back, sandwich size intact
Have You Been to the Sixth-Worst McDonald’s in America?
“We have. It’s ruled by Stafford County teens.” [Washingtonian]
The Variety Bag Has Ruined Halloween
“Corporate consolidation and changing tastes have made kids’ holiday hauls boring.” [The Atlantic*]
and why nobody can read a label anymore
Why Headlights Seem More Blinding Than Ever
“Changes that help illuminate the road have become a serious annoyance for oncoming traffic.” [Washington Post*]
and GM’s Scenicruiser, the holy grail of buses
and how lotus leaves are making better rain jackets
A shortlist of things we’ve got our eye on.
Alden Piers Indy Shoe
AYR The Slacker
Buck Mason Navy Three-Season Graduate Suit
American Optical Original Pilot Hunter’s Moon
Noah Wool Overcoat
Cavalry Twill Trousers
Sid Mashburn Dress Trouser in Airforce Cavalry Twill
American Trench The Service Pant
Natalino Classic Pleated Trouser
J. Mueser Green Cavalry Twill Trouser
Todd Snyder Italian Cavalry Twill Gurkha Trouser
Nick Doman and Will Pearson of Ocean Bottle
Nick Doman and Will Pearson are the founders of Ocean Bottle, the London company whose bottles help pay collectors to pull plastic out of rivers and off shorelines before it reaches the sea. We talked about why water bottles got so big, the oldest things they still use and where to swim on a week off.
Of all the things you could make, why a water bottle?
WP: I was 21, working as a deckhand on a yacht going from the Maldives to Malta. The owners had brought a thousand single-use plastic bottles for the trip. Part of my job was crushing the empties and bagging them up. The bags went ashore on an island and got burned, and I watched the smoke drift out over the water. You’re in one of the most pristine places on earth, and the plastic is just drifting off into the ocean. Once you’ve seen that, you can’t stop seeing it.
So the bottle was the obvious place to start. Everyone drinks water. Part of what you pay goes to local collectors, who pick plastic out of rivers and off shorelines before it reaches the sea. We don’t really fight plastic. We fight indifference.
What’s the most common mistake people make with their water bottle?
ND: Retiring it too early. The whole point is that it lasts as long as it possibly can. Dents and scratches are proof of life, not a reason to replace it. So buy a good one once, and it’ll be with you for a very long time.
Have water bottles gotten too big? When can we all go back to carrying something that fits in a bag?
WP: I think a lot of them stopped being water bottles and became accessories. I understand why, because what you carry says something about you. But if you need two hands and a cup holder the size of a bucket, it’s quite hard to take it everywhere, and taking it everywhere is the whole point.
ND: We spent a full year with K8, a design studio in Norway, getting our original bottle right. The 500ml (17oz) is still the one I carry. It fits the bag, fits the car and gets you to the next tap. Anything bigger than 24oz and it’s part of my camping gear.
Is there a particular person you’ve met or experience you’ve had through Ocean Bottle that’s stuck with you?
ND: We spent a month in Bali the year we launched, surfing, running strategy workshops in cafés and riding around on mopeds. Waking up every day that close to the ocean, with that kind of freedom, is something we both miss.
What’s the oldest thing each of you still uses regularly?
WP: My grandfather’s windstopper. I think it’s 30 years old. It still keeps me warm and it still kills the breeze.
ND: I still have my Nalgene from Camp Nominague, the Canadian summer camp I went to from when I was 10 to 16 years old. It was perfect for canoe trekking and camping, and it’s stayed with me ever since. I only recently stopped using it because I realised it was before Nalgene stopped using BPA materials. Now at Ocean Bottle we have our Clear range which has replaced this vestige of my childhood – it’s bittersweet for sure.
What’s the best thing you’ve bought this year that you can’t stop recommending?
WP: Honestly, not much. I’m less and less interested in new gear. The thing I keep recommending is our Peak bottle, which I realise is a cheat answer.
If you had a week off, which place you’ve visited for work would you go back to? What should we do when we get there?
WP: There’s a secret little paradise in Sri Lanka I’d go straight back to. Get there for sunset, order a beer for less than a dollar and watch the last surfers come in.
ND: I’ve only been to a few of America’s National Parks, but every time I do I’m blown away. My wife and I are trying to get to all of them. Just another 50 or so to go…
When you get there, find some cold water and get in. Wild swimming is my favourite thing on the planet. Nothing sorts my head out faster. Ten minutes in a freezing lake and whatever was bothering me that morning just isn’t anymore. Not in a biohack way. I just really love it. Tenaya Lake in Yosemite was particularly special.