Postcard History

Nipper, was easily amused. Legend tells that Nipper would sit in front of an Edison phonograph and quizzically gaze into the horn from which came some of the first recorded sounds in history. “His master’s voice,” is very doubtful, but his owner, the English artist Francis Barraud, painted the dog and entitled the picture, His Masters Voice.

In 1901 Eldridge Johnson purchased the right to use the image as a corporate logo in the United States from the Gramophone Company of London, and thus the RCA Victor trademark was created. When Victor and RCA merged in 1929, the trademark was passed along and continued to be the company logo until 1969 when it was discontinued following the retirement of David Sarnoff from RCA.

Here are a few of RCA Victor Milestones
1901 – Eldridge Johnson founded Victor Talking Machine Co.
1929 – RCA merged with Victor Talking Machine Company
1939 – First commercial television sets are manufactured at RCA Camden, New Jersey
1946 – RCA introduces the first post-war televisions at the Camden plant.
1955 – RCA introduces the first color television sets at their plant in Camden.
1968 – An RCA camera is carried on Apollo 7.
1969 – Neil Armstrong’s words from the moon are transmitted from an RCA radio.
2002 – Dranoff Properties purchases the historic plant complex and begins a transformation into luxury apartments.