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Brian Ahearne |
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Gramophone Collector and Broadcaster |
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'BBC Radio, BBC Television, Independent Television and Radio, BFN, RTE' |
Nipper.
Francis Barraud
English artist Francis Barraud painted a picture of Nipper, his brother’s dog, inquisitively listening to a phonograph
with the caption 'His Master’s Voice' during the 1890s . Barraud was unable to sell the painting as he had originally
painted it so he approached the Gramophone Company (England) to ask for one of their machines to use as a model.
The manager, Barry Owen, liked the painting and agreed to buy it if the phonograph could be replaced with a gramophone.
When Emile Berliner visited England in May, 1900, and saw the picture, he promptly registered it as a trademark
in Canada on May 28, 1900. The Victor Talking Machine Company began using it as a trademark in 1902, and the Gramophone
Company in 1909. The original painting hangs in the offices of EMI, the successor of the Gramophone Company. It
is one of the most widely recognized trademarks in the world