Men’s Journal – September 2019

The company behind the iconic

backpacking staple turns

70 this year. Here’s a look back

at its strange trip to stardom.

by CLINT CARTER

A CULTURAL HISTORY

The

Bottle

CO

UR

TES

Y^ O

F^

NAL

GE

NE

MEN’S JOURNAL SEPTEMBER 2019 033

DEEP DIVE Notebook

EVENTY YEARS AGO,

Emanuel Goldberg, a chem-

ist in Rochester, New York,

launched the Nalge Com-

pany to produce centrifuge

bottles and storage tanks from polyethylene

for labs. Compared with glass, Goldberg’s

plastics were far more durable, and Nalge

took off, eventually becoming part of

Thermo Fisher Scientif ic, a $24 billion

biotechnology behemoth. But a funny

thing happened to Goldberg’s plastic

“Nalgene” bottles: They became massively

popular in backpacking circles, thanks to

their indestructibility. Nalgene now sells

millions per year and is synonymous with

hiking. Here’s how a simple lab bottle

became an outdoor staple.

ICONIC MOMENTS

BY THE

NUMBERS

People employed by

Nalgene’s parent

company, Thermo

Fisher Scientific. Just

seven are dedicated to

Nalgene’s outdoor line.

70K

The number of

bottles that Nalgene

produces annually in its

Rochester, New York,

manufacturing facility.

(^6) M
IL
L
IO
N
1949
Emanuel Goldberg
starts the Nalge
Company to make
plastic lab equip-
ment. He names it
after his wife, Nata-
lie Levey Goldberg.
1980
Amid the Cold War,
the U.S. hockey team
defeats the Soviets in
the Olympics. The U.S.
team drank from lab-
style Nalgene bottles
with spray spouts.
2002
Nalgene begins
selling bottles in
multiple colors and
they become a hit
on college cam-
puses; sales double
from year to year.
1960s
Scientists start
carrying Nalgene
bottles while
camping because
they prove far better
than the canteens at
Army surplus stores.
1994
After years of the
Boy Scouts using
Nalgene bottles,
the company finally
decides to launch a
consumer line—
with one color, blue.
2014
Nalgene partners
with Michelle Obama
for the Drink Up
campaign and spells
its logo on the White
House lawn with
2,000 bottles.
S
The number of
designs for consumer
bottles, flasks, and
storage containers that
Nalgene sells today.

500