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Showing posts from August, 2007

"His Master's Voice" And The First 33 1/3 RPM Record I Ever Owned

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First, I want to salute a vinyl memory: "His Master's Voice," the trademark of RCA Victor Records for almost a century. It was simply the best record company logo ever designed and it appeared on all of RCA's record labels. Nipper was a real dog who lived in Liverpool, England in the 1880's. He used to do exactly what his master's painting depicted here because the dog was fascinated with the human voice emanating from the large cone-shaped speaker. The painting eventually caught the eye of an RCA executive and the rest is history. By the end of the 80s RCA Records went into decline. They were eventually absorbed by Sony BMG and Nipper was retired. RCA's consumer electronics division continued to use "His Master's Voice" as a trademark but today most people who grew up in the digital age are probably unfamiliar with this relic of the vinyl era. I'm sure I didn't know who Nipper was when my Mother gave me A Child's Introducti...