A new member of the household came to live with us yesterday.
‘Nipper’ the RCA/HMV dog which for so many years was the company logo has come to sit in our living room, looking with interest at the record player, tape deck and CD player which sit on shelves in a corner.
About fifteen years ago I and husband were on holiday in Suffolk, staying in Orford. One evening we were walking through the main street on our way to eat at the Oysterage Restaurant: not that we are keen on oysters but we love the wild-grown samphire which they serve there, freshly gathered from the seashore. Hot, innately salty and covered with butter it is wonderful. Eaten as an appetiser before a meal of locally caught and in-house, wood-smoked fish, you are in heaven.
As we passed the Antique Shop we noticed a model of Nipper in the window. Unfortunately we had to leave the next day before the shop opened, and anyway we felt it would be an extravagance to buy him. After all, we did not need him, and he was not cheap. But we have both always regretted that decision.
With our 42nd Wedding Anniversary coming up next week, (we were child spouses), I looked on Ebay just on the off-chance. Much to my surprise there were many models of Nipper, (which just goes to show my ignorance of the collectors’ market) but few which we felt combined the characteristics that to us represented the real Nipper. However we did see one which was within our purse and I bid and was the winner!
His previous owner wrapped him up beautifully and sent him off immediately with good wishes for our Wedding Anniversary. Aren’t people lovely? The majority anyway:)
So this alert little chappie, with his head cocked to one side, ears up to better hear, and an expression of great interest and intelligence in his kind eyes, now adorns our window cill and makes you smile each time you enter the room.
For information on Nipper’s history read on:
The following is lifted from the website http://bristolculture.wordpress.com:
5th January 2011
HMV today announced that they are to close 60 shops this year after their profits slumped. It could signal the beginning of the end for the largest national music store still operating in the UK.
Bristol has a unique place in the history of HMV. It was here in 1884 that Nipper, the dog who still features on the company logo, was born.
His association with Bristol and Park Row is commemorated by a blue plaque, thought to be the only blue plaque in the country devoted to an animal.
Also commemorated on the plaque is Mark Barraud (1848-1887), Nipper’s owner, who worked as a scenic designer in the old Prince’s Theatre on the site, now a Bristol University building.
Above the plaque, on the corner of Park Row andWoodland Road, there is a small statue of Nipper in the famous cock-eared pose that made him a global icon (below, right).
But how did a small smooth-haired fox terrier from Bristol achieve worldwide and everlasting fame? When Barraud died, Nipper was adopted by his younger brother Francis who was an artist. Nipper used to listen intently to a phonograph, and three years after Nipper’s death in 1895, Francis painted him in his now-famous pose.
Francis sent the painting, entitled His Master’s Voice, to the Royal Academy, but it was rejected so he decided to patent the painting instead. Francis then offered the painting to the Gramophone Company, a small phonograph manufacturer, who bought it.
A modified form of the painting (below) became the trademark of Victor and RCA Records, His Master’s Voice Records and later HMV music shops.
And from Wikepedia:
Nipper (1884–1895). 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 in a small park surrounded by magnolia trees. As time progressed the area was built upon, a branch of Lloyds TSBank know occupies the site. On the wall of the bank, just inside the entrance, a brass plaque is displayed commemorating the famous terrier that lies beneath the building.
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 famous resident.
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. 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 gramaphone 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.
Congrats on obtaining Nipper! Is he staring at the birds? 🙂 Happy Anniversary in advance! Have a great day! 🙂
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No, he has his back to the window and is staring at the hi-fi etc:)
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I like that ! Scares away the burglars too!
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Perhaps a sound tape of barking too might help to promote the illusion:)
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Oh, many things to say:
–thank you for following me on the move to the new site; I’ve had a terrible time hitting other people’s blogs from Turkey (partially due to a terrible connection, and partially due to blocked access to all blogspot blogs)…anyhow, readership is down, and so when a lovely voice comes out of the past, it makes my day
–Ebay is awesome, esp if it brought you Nipper; mind your legs now, both for nips and wetness
–yes, yes, I’m sure you were 2 when you married…
–I love that you introduced me to the word “samphire”!
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We were betrothed in our cribs! Samphire sounds like a precious stone doesn’t it?
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In the first photo, I thought the dog was alive!
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It sometimes gives me a start!
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He’s very realistic. Like Secret Agent Woman, I though he was alive when the page opened.
What a lovely way to commemorate a Wedding Anniversary (congratulations)!
J x
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Thanks:)
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I thought it was a real dog as well! Congratulations in advance of the wedding anniversary.
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Thank you so much:)
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oh he is beautiful – and in such a lovely setting.
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Oh, my-Nipper did look alive at the beginning of this post! Do your other animals enjoy his company?
What a wonderful addition in honor of 42 years! A Nipper to celebrate the Nuptials.
I’m sorry- I couldn’t resist!
Congratulations on the purchase and the anniversary.
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Bad, bad pun! But I love puns, so thank you:) The other animals do not seem to have registered his presence at all.
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Reblogged this on stopping by woods and commented:
I was reminded of this previous post and decided to reblog it. Hope you like!
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Happy anniversary for next week. You have chalkef up two more years (well one and a half years) than we have. Two more child spouses or spice!
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Thank you:)
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