In 1900, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a trademark for the image, which had come to be known by the title "His Master's Voice." The Gramophone Co. gave Nipper's U.S. rights to the Victor Talking Machine Co., and RCA got the image when it bought Victor in 1929.
But - we had a Local Nipper on Rt 29 near Merrifield, VA - it is 18 foot tall!
The Triangle Sign Co. of Baltimore made Nipper in 1954. It was placed atop the Russell Street headquarters building of D&H Distributing, an RCA distributor. D&H moved to Savage, Md. in 1976, leaving Nipper behind. (As anyone who has ever tried knows, moving a 1,700-pound dog statue and accompanying sheet-metal phonograph is not easy.) It was then that
Jim Wells swooped in. Wells was a Virginia amusements dealer and collector -- he's the person who brought the carousel to the Mall. He was entranced by Nipper. For six years, he pestered D&H with offers to buy the mighty pooch. In 1976, he finally persuaded D&H to let him have Nipper -- for $1. Wells's coup incensed Baltimore officials, including then
Mayor William Donald Schaefer. Nipper was a Baltimore landmark, they said, and didn't belong in a front yard in Virginia. But Wells said he had acquired Nipper fair and square. He offered to trade it for a steam calliope that reportedly was gathering dust in a Baltimore warehouse.
At first, Fairfax County was not keen on its new attraction. "They considered it a sign," Eva said. "But it wasn't a sign. We had to go to court a couple of times. Finally they agreed that it would be called a 'monumental structure.' " Nipper sat in front of the Wells house at 8731 Lee Hwy. for 20 years. "Oh, people admired it," Eva said. "They would come and take pictures under it." In 1996, Wells decided to retire, and the couple decided to move. He offered Nipper to Fairfax officials, but they wouldn't meet his price. Instead, he sold it to Baltimore's City Life Museum for $25,000, a tidy return on his investment. Of course that didn't include the cost of moving Nipper from Baltimore and the repair work the tattered statue required.
(Pix are Nipper in Fairfax - and after moving back to Baltimore.)
(story from WaPo -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/07/AR2009110702807_2.html)
Now, THAT'S a BIG NIPPER!
