11/19/22
Newletter163
The Crack of Dawn
One of the most famous and enduring company logos in history is Nipper the dog listening to an RCA-Victor phonograph, entitled, His Master’s Voice. This image was painted by Francis Barraud in England in 1898, three years after the actual Nipper had died. In the original painting Nipper is listening to an Edison cylinder machine. Barraud offered the painting to the Edison company and was told, “Dogs don’t listen to phonographs.”
Barraud then took his painting to the British Gramophone Company, and they purchased it for 100 pounds. The Gramophone Company was affiliated with Deutsche Gramophone in Germany, and the Victor Talking Machine Company in the U.S. They had Barraud paint out the Edison cylinder machine and replace it with a Victrola phonograph, then all three companies used the image as their logo. RCA acquired Victor, then Nipper became the logo of RCA-Victor. The logo is still in use by the Japanese company, JVC, which stands for Japanese Victor Company, which makes it one of the longest lasting logos in history. However, what is rarely if ever shown is the entire painting. Nipper and the phonograph are actually on top of a casket. Nipper appears quizzical because he’s hearing his master’s voice after his master has died.
Speaking of long-lasting logos (wonderful alliteration), the oldest logo still in use is the red triangle of Bass ale. Bass Brewery began using the triangle in 1777. Bass – the brand name and logo – was the very first trademark to be registered under the U.K.’s Trade Mark Registration Act of 1875.
Saul Bass, whom I’ve referenced several times in these newsletters, and to whom I spoke on the phone for about a half an hour nearly 40 years ago, completely changed the art of the corporate logo in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s. Saul Bass was from New York and the child Eastern European Jews. The perfect example of his brilliance is what Bass did with the Quaker Oats logo. Originally it was a life-like man sitting and eating a bowl of oatmeal. Bass turned it into a blue oval silhouette that is created with one line. His United Way logo of a hand with a rainbow coming out the fingers was and is ubiquitous. Once you clue in on Saul Bass’s style, it’s almost shocking to realize how many logos he created: Bell Telephone, Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, Kleenex, United Airlines, Dixie Cups, the Girl Scouts, Wesson Oil, the YMCA . . . The list is really long.
Notice how I got from logos to Bass to logos to Bass to logos.
And a fine day to one and all.