RCA Victor

A dog looks into a victrola above yellow, red, white, and black text over black and gold background. 

Victor and Victrola were the brand names for phonographs made by the Victor Talking Machine of Camden, New Jersey from 1901 through 1929. The RCA Corporation bought Victor in late 1929, and they continued to use the Victor and Victrola names and logos on their products well into the 1970s, though they were not actually phonographs. RCA Victrola was a radio and was also used to reissue classical recordings of operas.

“His Master’s Voice”, or HMV, was coined in 1899 as the title of a Francis Barraud painting of the dog, Nipper, listening to the recorded voice of his owner on a phonograph. The American rights to the picture were acquired by the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1901, and the image has been used by RCA ever since. Some ads even told customers to “Look for the dog."