nipper

Francis Barraud's original photograph of Nipper looking into an Edison Bell cylinder phonograph

The painting, which substitutes a disc gramophone

RCA Records Nipper logo

JVC Nipper logo

Nipper (1884-1895) was a dog that served as the model for a painting entitled His Late Master's Voice that later became identified with a number of audio recording and associated brands: His Master's Voice, HMV, RCA, Victor, RCA Victor and JVC.

Biography

Nipper was born in 1884 in Bristol, England, and died in September 1895.^[1] It has been claimed in various sources that he was a Jack Russell Terrier^[2], a Fox Terrier, a Dalmatian, or an American Pit Bull Terrier. He was named Nipper because he tried to bite visitors in the leg.

Nipper’s original owner, Mark Henry Barraud, died in 1887, leaving his brothers Philip and Francis to care for the dog. Nipper himself died in 1895 and was buried in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, in a small park surrounded by magnolia trees. As time progressed the area was built upon, a branch of Lloyds TSB now occupies the site. On the wall of the bank, just inside the entrance, a brass plaque is displayed commemorating the famous terrier which lies beneath the building.

Nipper used to live with his owner in the Prince's Theatre in Bristol. There is a small model of Nipper above a doorway of a building at the junction of Park Row and Woodland Road in Bristol, opposite where the theatre stood.

Nipper becomes an advertising icon

In 1898, three years after Nipper’s death, Francis painted a picture based on a photograph of Nipper listening intently to a wind-up Edison-Bell cylinder phonograph, substituting a disc gramophone for the phonograph. On February 11, 1899, Francis filed an application for copyright of his picture “Dog Looking At and Listening to a Phonograph.”^[3] Thinking the Edison-Bell Company might find it useful, he presented it to James E. Hough who, revealing a lack of imagination that would eventually result in Edison exiting the record business altogether, promptly said, “Dogs don’t listen to phonographs.” On May 31, 1899, Francis went to the Maiden Lane offices of The Gramophone Company with the intention of borrowing a brass horn to replace the original black horn on the painting. Manager, William Barry Owen suggested that if the artist replaced the entire machine with a Berliner disc gramophone, the Company would buy the painting. A modified form of the painting became the successful trademark of Victor and HMV records, HMV music stores, and RCA. The trademark itself was registered by Berliner on July 10, 1900. ^[4] (See HMV for a complete history of the brands based on Nipper.)

The slogan “His Master’s Voice” along with the painting were sold to The Gramophone Company for 100 pounds sterling.^[5] As Francis Barraud stated about this famous painting: “It is difficult to say how the idea came to me beyond that fact that it suddenly occurred to me that to have my dog listening to the Phonograph, with an intelligent and rather puzzled expression, and call it “His Master’s Voice” would make an excellent subject. We had a phonograph and I often noticed how puzzled he was to make out where the voice came from. It certainly was the happiest thought I ever had.” ^[6]

Nipper's legacy

Stylized version of Nipper as used by HMV record stores

Nipper lives on through the brand names; he even appeared in ads on television with his "son", a puppy named Chipper who was added to the RCA family in 1991.^[7] Real dogs continue to play the roles of Nipper and Chipper, but Chipper has to be replaced much more frequently, since his character is a puppy.

Nipper continues to be the mascot of HMV Group plc stores in countries where the entertainment retailer has the rights to him. Both RCA Records and EMI have deemphasized Nipper in the global music market due to the fragmented ownership of the trademark.

Victor Company of Japan (JVC) also uses a version of the Nipper logo within Japan, which includes the "His Master's Voice" slogan. HMV is not allowed to use Nipper in Japan.

A huge, four-ton Nipper can be seen on the roof of the old RTA (former RCA distributor) building on Broadway in Albany, New York.^[6] A second slightly smaller one, after spending many years on private property in Merrifield, Virginia, perched over Lee Highway (US Route 29), has now been returned to Baltimore, Maryland where it originally graced the former RCA Building on Russell Street. Nipper now sits atop the Maryland Historical Society building at Park Ave. & W. Centre St. in Baltimore. Though smaller than the Albany Nipper, Baltimore's is the only one of the two to include a gramophone for Nipper to listen to. The Baltimore Nipper was saved when the Virginia site where he briefly resided was sold to developers. It is currently the location of a group of townhomes. The street leading to the development is named Nipper Way.^[8]

References

1. ^ History of Nipper
2. ^ BBC states he was a Jack Russell
3. ^ Edge, Ruth & Petts, Leonard. (1997). A Collectors Guide to “His Master’s Voice” Nipper Souvenirs. EMI Group Archive Trust, plc London. ISBN 0950929328
4. ^ Vaclav Smil, Creating the Twentieth Century: Technical Innovations of 1867-1914 and Their Lasting Impact (Oxford University Press, 2005), p240
5. ^ Petts, Leonard. (1973). The Story of “Nipper” and the “His Master’s Voice” picture painted by Francis Barraud. Talking Machine Review, 19 Glendale Road Bournemouth BH6 4JA England. SBN 902338161
6. ^ ^{a b} Rolfs, Joan & Robin. (2007). Nipper Collectibles, The RCA Victor Trademark Dog. Audio Antique LLC, USA. ISBN 9781932433826
7. ^ Chipper
8. ^ Maps.google.com

External links

• RCA Global Communications, New York City
• The Nipper Saga
• Nipper at the Open Directory Project
• Nipper photography download
• RTA Building, Albany, NY
• Photos of both the Albany and Baltimore Nippers, with information