Nipper
| Nipper | |
|---|---|
 Francis Barraud's original painting of Nipper looking into an Edison Bell cylinder phonograph |
|
| Species | Canis lupus familiaris |
| Breed | Terrier or various terriers |
| Sex | Male |
| Born | 1884 Bristol, England |
| Died | 1895 |
| Resting place | Kingston-upon-Thames, England |
| Nation from | British |
| Owner | Mark Henry Barraud |
Nipper (1884–1895) was a dog who served as the model for a painting titled His Master's Voice. This image was the basis for the dog and gramophone logo used by several audio recording and associated brands: His Master's Voice, HMV, EMI, RCA, Victor Talking Machine Company, RCA Victor, JVC and Deutsche Grammophon.
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Biography [edit]
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,[3] or "part Bull Terrier".[4] He was named Nipper because he would bite the backs of visitors' legs.[5]
Nipper originally lived with his owner, Mark Henry Barraud, in the Prince's Theatre where Barraud was a scenery designer.[6] When Barraud died in 1887, his brothers Philip and Francis took care of the dog. Nipper himself died in 1895 and was buried in Kingston upon Thames in Clarence street in a small park surrounded by magnolia trees. As time progressed the area was built upon, and a branch of Lloyds TSB 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.[citation needed]
On 10 March 2010 a small road near to the dog's resting place in Kingston-upon-Thames was named Nipper Alley in commemoration of this resident.[7]
Advertising icon [edit]
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. On February 11, 1899, Francis filed an application for copyright of his painting “Dog Looking At and Listening to a Phonograph.”[8] Thinking the Edison-Bell Company located in New Jersey, USA, might find it useful, he presented it to James E. Hough, who promptly said, “Dogs don’t listen to phonographs.” On May 31, 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. Manager William Barry Owen suggested that if the artist replaced the 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.[9] (See His Master's Voice for a complete history of the brands based on Nipper.)
The slogan “His Master’s Voice”, along with the painting, was sold to The Gramophone Company for 100 pounds sterling.[10] Francis Barraud said : “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.”[11]
In the oil painting once kept in the EMI board room in Hayes, Middlesex, Nipper and the gramophone were depicted on a polished surface with a curved front - supposedly it was his master's coffin with the dog listening to the recorded voice of his dead master.
Logo variations [edit]
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Legacy [edit]
The iconic image of a mixed fox/bull terrier, Nipper, looking into a phonograph became an international symbol of quality and excellence for the Victor Talking Machine Company.[12] 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.[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 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 dog and trumpet logo within Japan, which includes the "His Master's Voice" slogan. HMV is not allowed to use Nipper in Canada and Japan.[citation needed]
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] on Broadway in Albany, New York.[11] 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 Avenue and West Centre Street 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.[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.
References [edit]
- ^ History of Nipper
- ^ BBC suggests that he may have been a Jack Russell
- ^ Fudge, Erica (2002). Animal. London: Reaktion. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-86189-134-1.
- ^ Cunliffe, Juliette (2000). The Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds. Bath, England: Parragon. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-7525-4161-7.
- ^ "the nipper saga". designboom. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
- ^ "The History of the Department of Computer Science". Retrieved 19 December 2012.
- ^ Surrey Comet News: Kingston's Toilet Gallery alley named after HMV dog Nipper (Posted: January 1, 2010)
- ^ Edge, Ruth & Petts, Leonard. (1997). A Collectors Guide to “His Master’s Voice” Nipper Souvenirs. EMI Group Archive Trust, plc London. ISBN 0-9509293-2-8
- ^ Vaclav Smil, Creating the Twentieth Century: Technical Innovations of 1867–1914 and Their Lasting Impact (Oxford University Press, 2005), p240
- ^ Petts, Leonard. (1973). The Story of “Nipper” and the “His Master’s Voice” Francis Barraud's painting. Talking Machine Review, 19 Glendale Road Bournemouth BH6 4JA England. SBN 902338161
- ^ a b Rolfs, Joan & Robin. (2007). Nipper Collectibles, The RCA Victor Trademark Dog. Audio Antique LLC, USA. ISBN 978-1-932433-82-6
- ^ "Johnson Victrola Museum, Dover, Delaware".
- ^ Chipper
- ^ "About Us". Arnoff Moving & Storage - New York's Hudson Valley Mover of Choice. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
- ^ Maps.google.com
External links [edit]
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