Re: [ARSCLIST] Nipper

[John Ross <johnross@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Actually, there is a possible third contender here! Emile Berliner relocated
> to Montreal and started his own firm there in early 1900, due to problems
> with his patents in the US...and Ed Moogk's "Roll Back the Years" credits,
> IIRC, this Canadian operation with being the first to use Nipper in a
> published
> advertisement. However, the Canadian labels were resolutely dog-less at that
> time (even though Nipper was apparently embossed between the grooves
> somehow!)

According to "The Story of 'Nipper' and the His Master's Voice Picture",
published by The Gramophone Company in 1973, the first use of the Nipper
image on a record was apparently one of Berliner's Montreal labels in 1900.
Nipper appeared on the back of the single-sided records. The earliest known
item to have the Nipper back is identified as Victor 402 -- Frank Banta's
"Hello My Baby", which went to the pressing plant on September 27 1900, but
it's entirely possible that earlier titles in that series might also have
carried the same image.

The first appearance of Nippier in a catalogue was the British Gramophone
Company's January 1900 supplement. However, the dog didn't make it to the
actual label of an English disk until a year or two later.

John Ross
Northwest Folklife