Nipper, a fox terrier mixed dog, has often been called the most recognizable trademark in the world. Even though the legacy of Eldridge Johnson, founder of the Victor Talking Machine Company, may be well known to Delaware Valley residents, few may be aware of the role that Mr. Johnson played in the heritage of Moorestown, New Jersey.

Nipper’s story
Back in the 1890’s, the little fox terrier in the painting that we all know today as “Nipper” was the devoted pet of an Englishman named Mark Barraud. Mark rescued this lost pup and the popular legend is that the dog returned the favor by nipping people about the ankles. When Mark subsequently died, Nipper went to live with Mark’s uncle, the artist named Francis Barraud. One day, the artist found Nipper with his head cocked, listening to the phonograph. Beyond the fact that it was an appealing pose, the artist wondered if the dog might not think that he was listening to his dead master’s voice.

After failing to sell the resulting painting, Barraud decided to see if it could be used as an advertisement. He first showed “His Master’s Voice” to Edison Bell in which a cylinder-type phonograph with a black horn was in use. Bell thought that the instrument was too drab, due to the black horn, so the Barraud called on the Gramophone Company to see if he could borrow a brass horn to use as a model.

Subsequently, the painting was refused by Edison Bell, but purchased by the Gramophone Company. The cylinder-playing machine in the painting was covered over and replaced with a disc-type machine. The image came in advertising usage in the spring of 1900. Copies were sold for framing and were broadly distributed. Emile Berliner registered the trademark in Washington in July of 1900 and then, with permission from the Gramophone Company, Eldridge Johnson started using it as a trademark in the Fall of 1900. Eldridge Johnson then acquired the rights to “His Master’s Voice” when he merged interests with Berliner in 1901.

The first recording label to feature Nipper debuted on July 1, 1902. Subsequently, the Victor Talking Machine Company was purchased by the RCA Corporation in 1929.

Eldridge Johnson
Eldridge Reeves Johnson was born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1867. At the age of 15, after graduating from Dover (Del) Academy he was apprenticed to a shop in Philadelphia that repaired printing machines. At the end of his 5 year apprenticeship he went to work at Scull Machine Shop in Camden, NJ, where he received the first of the 76 patents he would earn during his business career. In 1894 Johnson bought the small shop and the Eldridge R. Johnson Manufacturing Company was born.

In 1896 Johnson was asked to develop a spring motor for a hand-cranked Gramophone. This was typical of the type of requests received at small machine shops everywhere. A large part of Johnson’s early business was the manufacture of experimental models for new inventions.

Johnson was immediately impressed with the potential of the Gramophone. “The little instrument was badly designed,” he later recalled. “It sounded like a partially educated parrot with a sore throat and a cold in the head, but the little whezzy instrument caught my attention and held it fast and hard. I became interested in it as I had never been interested in anything before.”

He designed a motor which operated at a uniform speed, was affordable and was quiet. This invention, according to Johnson “changed the Talking Machine (Gramophone) from a toy to a valuable commercial article.”

In the fall of 1900 Johnson bought the American rights to a painting called “His Masters Voice” and by the middle of the next year was using it and the name “Victor” on his machines, records and in his advertising.

By 1910 the little 400 square foot machine shop in Camden had grown into a 12 city block manufacturing center and Mr. Johnson was a millionaire.

Mr. Johnson was generous with his fortune. His gifts in South Jersey included the Moorestown Community House, Trinity Episcopal Church in Moorestown and the Cooper Branch of the Free Library in Camden.

In 1919 Johnson moved his family to a small estate on East Main Street in Moorestown. The house had been the home of the inventor of the Flexible Flyer sled, Samuel Allen. Mr. Johnson lived in the house until his death in November 1945. The property is now the site of the Lutheran Home at Moorestown. Mr. Johnson’s son, Fenimore, also lived in Moorestown. Since 1949, his home at 309 Bridgeboro Road has been the location of The Evergreens, a continuing care retirement community.