Nipper

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For other uses, see Nipper (disambiguation).
Nipper
OriginalNipper.jpg
Photo of Francis Barraud's original 1898 painting of Nipper looking into an Edison Bell cylinder phonograph
SpeciesCanis lupus familiaris
BreedMongrel (part terrier)
SexMale
Born1884
Bristol, England
DiedSeptember 1895 (aged 11)
England
Resting placeKingston upon Thames, England
Coordinates: 51°24′40″N 0°18′08″W / 51.410990°N 0.302226°W / 51.410990; -0.302226
Nation fromBritain
Occupationmodel
OwnerMark Henry Barraud

Nipper (1884 – September 1895) was a dog from Bristol, England, who served as the model for an 1898 painting by Francis Barraud titled His Master's Voice. This image was the basis for one of the world's best known trademarks, the famous dog-and-gramophone that was used by several record companies and their associated company brands, including Berliner Gramophone and its various affiliates and successors, including Berliner's German subsidiary Deutsche Grammophon; Berliner's American successor the Victor Talking Machine Co. (later known as RCA Victor and then RCA Records); Zonophone; Berliner's (and later Victor's) British affiliate the Gramophone Co. Ltd. (informally known as His Master's Voice) and its successors EMI and HMV Retail Ltd.; the Gramophone Co.'s German subsidiary Electrola; Zonophone; and onetime Victor subsidiary the Japan Victor Company (JVC).

Biography[]

Nipper was born in 1884 in Bristol, England, and died in September 1895.[1] He was likely a mixed-breed dog, although most early sources suggest that he was a Smooth Fox Terrier, or perhaps a Jack Russell Terrier,[2][3][4] or possibly "part Bull Terrier".[5] He was named Nipper because he would often "nip" at the backs of visitors' legs.[6]

Nipper originally lived with his owner, Mark Henry Barraud, in the Prince's Theatre where Barraud was a scenery designer.[7] When Barraud died in 1887, his brothers Philip and Francis took care of the dog, then Francis took Nipper to Liverpool, and later to Mark's widow in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. Nipper died of natural causes in 1895 and was buried in Kingston upon Thames at Clarence Street, in a small park surrounded by magnolia trees. As time progressed, the area was built upon, and a branch of Lloyds Bank now occupies the site. On the wall of the bank, just inside the entrance, a brass plaque commemorates the terrier that lies beneath the building.

On 10 March 2010, a small road near to the dog's final resting place in Kingston upon Thames was officially named Nipper Alley in commemoration of this well-known resident.[8]

Advertising icon[]

In 1898, three years after Nipper's death, Francis Barraud, his last owner and brother of his first owner, painted a picture of Nipper listening intently to a wind-up Edison-Bell cylinder phonograph. Thinking the Edison-Bell Company located in New Jersey, USA,[6] might find it useful, he offered it to James E. Hough, who promptly replied, "Dogs don't listen to phonographs". On 31 May 1899, Barraud 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. The Gramophone Company founder and manager, William Barry Owen suggested that if the artist replaced the machine with a Berliner disc gramophone, he would buy the painting. Barraud obliged, and the image became the successful trademark of the Victor and HMV record labels, HMV music stores, and the Radio Corporation of America, after the acquisition of the Victor company in 1929. The trademark was registered by Berliner for use in the United States on 10 July 1900.[9] (See His Master's Voice for a complete history of the brands based on Nipper.)

It is difficult to say how the idea came to me beyond the 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.

— Francis Barraud[10]

The slogan "His Master's Voice", along with the painting, was sold to The Gramophone Company for £100 (equivalent to £10,899 in 2019) – half for the copyright and half for the physical painting itself.[11] The original oil painting hung in the EMI boardroom in Hayes, Middlesex, for many years.

It appears that after the copyright was sold to Gramophone, two employees of the company, William Sinkler Darby and Theodore Bernard Bernbaum, recorded a Mutoscope in 1900 (presumably for advertising purposes), which is entitled, 'Nipper Runs Amok!'. (Since "Nipper" died in 1895, this is a replacement dog).

Logo variations[]

  • The revised painting substitutes a disc gramophone

  • 1910 Deutsche Grammophon logo on Swedish disc

  • 1910 British Gramophone Company

  • 1921 Victor Talking Machine company advertisement

  • Revised RCA Nipper line drawing introduced in 1977

  • JVC Nipper logo (based on RCA Victor line drawing first used in the 1930s)

  • HMV Nipper logo

Legacy[]

One of four Nipper stained glass windows atop the "Nipper Building", the former RCA Victor Building 17 in Camden, New Jersey. This photo, taken from inside the tower, shows the 2003 replacement of the 1979 replacement of the 1915 original glass

The iconic image of a terrier-mix dog, Nipper, looking into a phonograph became an international symbol of quality and excellence for the Victor Talking Machine Company and later RCA Victor. Throughout his existence as one of the world's best-known trademarks, endless novelty and promotional items featuring Nipper have been produced; from pocket watches, paperweights and cigar lighters to fountain pens, coffee mugs and T-shirts, Nipper advertising items have long been popular collectables.[12] Though the trademark's usage has been reduced in recent years, Nipper lives on through the RCA and HMV brand names; he has even appeared in RCA ads on television with his "son", a puppy named Chipper who was added to the RCA family in 1991.[13] 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 stores in countries where the entertainment retailer has the rights to him. Both RCA Records and EMI have reduced the use of Nipper in the global music market due to the fragmented ownership of the trademark.

Victor Company of Japan (JVC) also uses the logo within Japan, which includes the "His Master's Voice" slogan.

A huge, four-ton Nipper can be seen on the roof of the old RTA (former RCA distributor) building now owned by Arnoff Moving & Storage[14] and located at 991 Broadway in Albany, New York.[10] A second, slightly smaller one was purchased by Jim Wells from RCA in Baltimore for $1. After spending many years on private property in Nipper Park in Merrifield, Virginia, perched over Lee Highway (U.S. Route 29), it 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 Avenue and West Centre Street in Baltimore. Though smaller than the Albany Nipper, Baltimore's includes 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 town-houses. The street leading to the development is named Nipper Way.[15]

A small statue of Nipper can be seen perched above a doorway in the Merchant Venturers Building on the corner of Park Row and Woodland Road in Bristol; this building, part of the University of Bristol, stands near the site of the old Prince's Theatre.

RCA Nipper atop the old RCA building, Broadway, Albany, New York
Nipper above a doorway of the Merchant Venturers Building in Bristol

A life-size ornament of Nipper appears in the music video to Cyndi Lauper's song "Time After Time".

In May 2017, the City of Albany held a contest for various groups or artists to submit designs for creative, painted Nipper statues which were placed throughout the city. Ten of the contestants were chosen to create 10 Nipper statues - which were displayed for one year and then auctioned off for charity.[16]

See also[]

References[]

Nipper as used by HMV record stores
  1. ^ "The History of Nipper and His Master's Voice". erikoest.dk.
  2. ^ "HMV seeks budding Nipper". news.bbc.co.uk. BBC.
  3. ^ Fudge, Erica (2002). Animal. London: Reaktion. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-86189-134-1.
  4. ^ Angell, Roger (November 30, 2011). "The Wrong Dog". The New Yorker. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  5. ^ Cunliffe, Juliette (2000). The Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds. Bath, England: Parragon. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-7525-4161-7.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b "the nipper saga". designboom.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  7. ^ "The History of the Department of Computer Science". Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  8. ^ "Kingston's Toilet Gallery alley named after HMV dog Nipper". Surrey Comet.
  9. ^ Vaclav Smil, Creating the Twentieth Century: Technical Innovations of 1867–1914 and Their Lasting Impact (Oxford University Press, 2005), p240
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b Rolfs, Joan & Robin. (2007). Nipper Collectibles, The RCA Victor Trademark Dog. Audio Antique LLC, USA. ISBN 978-1-932433-82-1
  11. ^ Petts, Leonard (1973). "The Story of "Nipper" and the "His Master's Voice" Francis Barraud's painting". Talking Machine Review. ISBN 0902338161.
  12. ^ "Johnson Victrola Museum, Dover, Delaware". Archived from the original on 2016-12-31. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  13. ^ Chipper
  14. ^ "About Us". Arnoff Moving & Storage - New York's Hudson Valley Mover of Choice. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
  15. ^ "Google Maps". Google Maps.
  16. ^ Barnes, Steve (13 July 2017). "Albany summer street exhibit features Nipper statues". Times Union. Retrieved 3 September 2017.

External links[]

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