Dictionary Definition
nipper
Noun
1 a young person of either sex; "she writes books
for children"; "they're just kids"; "`tiddler' is a British term
for youngsters" [syn: child, kid, youngster, minor, shaver, small fry,
tiddler, tike, tyke, fry, nestling]
2 a structure like a pincer on the limb of a
crustacean or other arthropods [syn: claw, chela, pincer]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
-
- Rhymes: -ɪpə(r)
Noun
Dutch
Pronunciation
Noun
nipper diminutive nippertje- the extreme backside of a large sailing ship
Extensive Definition
Nipper (1884 - 1895) was a dog that served as the model for a
painting entitled His Master's Voice, which later became identified
with a series of audio recording brands, including RCA.
Biography
Nipper was born in 1884 in Bristol, England, and died
in September 1895. It has been
claimed in various sources that he was a Jack
Russell Terrier, a Fox Terrier,
a Rat
Terrier, or an
American Pit Bull Terrier. 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, London, in a small park surrounded by Magnolia
trees. As time progressed the area was built upon, a branch of
Lloyds
TSB now occupies the site. On the wall of the bank, just inside
the entrance, a brass plaque is displayed on the wall commemorating
the famous terrier which lies beneath the building.
Nipper becomes an advertising Icon
In 1898, three years after Nipper’s death,
Francis 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 picture “Dog
Looking At and Listening to a Phonograph.” Thinking the Edison-Bell
Company might find it useful, he presented it to James E. Hough who
(displaying the kind of thinking that would eventually doom the
Edison
Records company itself) promptly said, “Dogs don’t listen to
phonographs.” On May 31, 1899, Francis 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 entire
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. (See HMV for a complete
history of the brands based on Nipper.)
The slogan “His
Master’s Voice” along with the painting were sold to The
Gramophone Company for 100 pounds sterling. As Francis Barraud
stated about this famous painting: “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.”
Nipper's legacy
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. Real dogs continue to play the roles of Nipper and Chipper, but Chipper has to be replaced much more frequently, since his character is, in fact, a puppy. Fans of the dog advertising icon created a popular Web site called Nipperscape, which was taken down in 2005 but is preserved on a mirror site.http://www.cedmagic.com/home/nipperscape/nipper.htmlNipper continues to be the mascot of HMV Group
plc 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.
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 one is now located in Baltimore,
Maryland, after spending many years perched over Lee Highway
(US Route 29) in Merrifield,
Virginia, on private property. The land where Nipper once stood
was sold to developers and currently is the location of a group of
townhomes. The street leading to the development is named Nipper
Way.http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=nipper+way,+fairfax,+VA&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=54.357317,114.257813&ie=UTF8&ll=38.874296,-77.24719&spn=0.006599,0.013947&z=16&iwloc=addr&om=0.
References
External links
nipper in German: Nipper
nipper in Finnish: Nipper
nipper in Japanese: ニッパー (犬)
nipper in Swedish: Nipper
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
bairn,
bud, cherub, chick, chickabiddy, child, chit, claws, clutches, darling, digits, fangs, fingernails, fingers, hands, hooks, innocent, jaws, juvenile, kid, kitten, lamb, lambkin, little bugger, little
fellow, little guy, little innocent, little one, little tad, little
tot, mandibles,
maxillae, meathooks, mite, mitts, moppet, nails, nippers, offspring, palm, peewee, pincers, pounces, shaver, tad, talons, teeth, tot, unguals, ungulae, wee tot, youngling, youngster