THE ORIGINAL

NZ Truth, Issue 1301, 20 November 1930, Page 11

THE ORIGINAL

Familiar Symbol of Music

Everyone knows the familiar trademark of the His Master's Voice Company with the alert little fox terrier listening beside the gramophone horn, but very few know the story of the origin of that symbol 'and its particular interest to New Zealanders. THE fox-terrier m the original was "Nipper," the property of an English artist, Mr. Francis Barraud, who was one of the first people to be bitten with the gramophone bug when the 'machines were introduced into England. The dog would sit intently before the horn of the instrument listening to the music, and this listening-in pose became its favorite attitude. .It was m 1899 that Mr. Barraud conceived the idea of painting the dog m this position and, struck with the idea that the picture might have a marketable value to the gramophone companies, he offered it to several publishers. Eventually the heads of the Maiden Lane Company purchased the picture, into which the artist had painted a golden-colored horn instead of a black one. . Several replicas of the picture were painted by the \artist and since it was adopted by the company as its official trade-mark, a tremendous sum has been spent m familiarising it to the world. "CONCERTO m A Mintir" Grieg „V. (02702-05 Columbia). A' feast of some of the world's really great: music. This famous concerto, with its fire and po.etry, is played by the great Polish pianist Ignaz /Friedman with the splendid Pari3 Symphony Orchestra.