July 27, 2021

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!














26 comments:

  1. i love both statues and that window is stunning. RCA dog is a word bob and I still use in everyday talks. I will say, the dog was sitting there, you know like the RCA dog and he knows what i mean, Nipper was apart of our lives from birth until now. i had no idea the statues are there or about the museum..

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  2. Hi, Nipper!
    You are way bigger than the Nipper I have on the table beside my desk!
    My Nipper eats pennies...its a remake of an antique toy bank...

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  3. oooh we remember nipper!!! our grand grampy had records with "his masters voice" .... and we love it that nipper is popular in Maryland...

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  4. He is a super cool find! Here too lots of animal statues donned masks but are not happy to be mask free again.

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  5. Mom remembers Nipper!!!

    The Florida Furkids

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  6. We Americans LURV our iconic advertising images!

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  7. I didn't realize the RCA dog was modeled after a real one, thanks for the info! I like that he was very sensibly following public health mandates with his mask. :-)

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  8. I didn't know any of this. A great bit of history I learned today.

    Thank you for joining the Happy Tuesday Blog Hop.

    Have a fabulous Happy Tuesday. Scritches to June. ♥

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  9. That is so cool. I would love to see that. Whenever the cats tilt their heads to try to understand what we are saying we refer to the RCA dog. :) XO

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  10. I recognized the RCA dog, but didn't know his name was Nipper. Nor did I know anything about his history. Thanks for filling me in!

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  11. We love Nipper and his early Victrolas too!

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  12. I recognized Nipper too...thank goodness the powers that be have not tried to change his iconic face
    Hugs Cecilia

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  13. What a fun guy Nipper looks like! Sunny and he would have gotten along nippingly!
    Thanks for the lovely walk!

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  14. he doesn't look that tall...18 feet...until you see him by himself.....that's one big puppy !!! an enjoyable walk today !! :) ♥♥

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  15. What an interesting post!!! We loved learning about Nipper. Sadly we think he may be putting his mask on again soon with the way things are going:(

    Woos - Lightning, Misty, and Timber

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  16. How cool! We recognized Nipper, even with his mask on. :)

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  18. I am glad he still exists. My father worked for RCA back in the day; and once, they gave the employees figurines of the dog. The caption RCA provided was, "His Master's Voice".

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  19. I recognised Nipper! Ivor's great aunt had an old gramophone and kept a small figurine of Nipper next to it.

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  20. Yes, i've seen Nipper and read the story many years ago. Thanks for the reminder, and the lovely photos.

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  21. I've always loved seeing the RCA dog, and now I know he was a real pooch named Nipper, and why!

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  22. Enjoyed the story and photos very much.

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  23. Wow that's one impressive statue, I recognised him straight away as His Masters Voice but had no idea his name was Nipper or his back story, thank you for sharing xxx

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  24. Fantastic finds on your walk and I'm so happy you took us along :)

    Thanks for sharing your link at My Corner of the World this week!

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  25. What a nice story about Nipper! Mum did not know the story behind the dog on the records :)
    Purrs, Julie

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