RCA RADIO VICTOR GRAMOPHONE RECORDINGS MASCOT NIPPOR DOG THE VOICE OF HIS MASTER

Description

RCA VICTOR GRAMAPHONE MASCOT NIPPER
The many public lives of Victor’s mascot began with the 1887 death of an Englishman named Mark Barraud, among whose belongings included a plucky little terrier named “Nipper” who went to live with the deceased’s brother, the painter Francis Barraud. One day, Francis noticed Nipper listening intently to the sounds issuing from a phonograph’s horn and decided to paint the scene. After several abortive efforts to interest buyers in the image, Barraud sold it in 1899 to the Gramophone Company of London for £100. The painting titled “His Master’s Voice” became the official trademark of the company soon after. Thanks to the marketing efforts of the Gramophone Company’s American affiliate, the Victor Talking Machine Company, Nipper’s image soon spread into nearly every corner of the United States. Victor advertisements appeared in national magazines as well as local newspapers; were projected between films at local nickelodeons; and were even attached to street cars in cities. Nipper featured in nearly all of this advertising [2].
Victor’s dealerships, however, were sites of intense branding, and it was through these brick-and-mortar outlets that so much Nipper-related material poured into the world—and into New York. A December 22, 1917,
The many public lives of Victor’s mascot began with the 1887 death of an Englishman named Mark Barraud, among whose belongings included a plucky little terrier named “Nipper” who went to live with the deceased’s brother, the painter Francis Barraud. One day, Francis noticed Nipper listening intently to the sounds issuing from a phonograph’s horn and decided to paint the scene. After several abortive efforts to interest buyers in the image, Barraud sold it in 1899 to the Gramophone Company of London for £100. The painting titled “His Master’s Voice” became the official trademark of the company soon after. Thanks to the marketing efforts of the Gramophone Company’s American affiliate, the Victor Talking Machine Company, Nipper’s image soon spread into nearly every corner of the United States. Victor advertisements appeared in national magazines as well as local newspapers; were projected between films at local nickelodeons; and were even attached to street cars in cities. Nipper featured in nearly all of this advertising [2].
Victor’s dealerships, however, were sites of intense branding, and it was through these brick-and-mortar outlets that so much Nipper-related material poured into the world—and into New York.