WALK WITH ME

WALK WITH ME ~

the recent less than acceptable weather has inhibited much walking lately.
So today I'd like to share the short story of a friend who lives just up on the corner.  He's certainly a very good pup as he's dutifully worn his "mask" for over a year now.  But I did notice that just a few weeks ago when walking by ~ he now is mask-free! We pass by him often going on other walks here and there and became curious to learn more about him.

His name is NIPPER.

NIPPER, 18-foot tall sits proudly above the Maryland Center for History and Culture in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore. The center is home to the original "The Star Spangled Banner" manuscript and documents of many signers of the Declaration of Independence.   

Legend (and RCA) tells us that this real life pup was born in England and he received his name because he enjoyed nipping at the legs of visitors to his masters home.  Nipper's uncle, also noticing how he would be mesmerized by a record playing on the gramophone ~ intent as it spun round and round ~ did a painting of this for a commercial advertisement.  The rest, as they say, is history.  And Nipper, all ears for the music he seemed to so love, became the symbol for the RCA Company (1929) and remained so for many years ~ as "His Master's Voice".  Nipper's original home was in the Old Dominion state, Virginia and today he is remembered there on a street called Nipper's Way.  Other U.S. cities also honor this special pup in special ways.

LEFT ~ high atop the former RCA building in Albany, NY, Nipper keeps watch over this state capital.  At 26-foot tall, rather than stare into his gramophone he wears an air-traffic control beacon!  

RIGHT ~ depicted in stained glass, Nipper has a forever home above luxury apartments in Camden, NJ.  This building is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  

Thanks for joining me for today's walk!