The Nipper Building is a colloquial name for ''The Victor'' condominiums, and formerly, Building 17,

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

Company, Camden Plant. The structure is a historical building located in Cooper Grant neighborhood of Camden, Camden County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, United States. Since 1901, Camden was the headquarters of the

Victor Talking Machine Company The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became ...

, later

. Originally a Victrola cabinet factory, the building was converted into luxury apartments and retail space in 2004.

History

The Nipper Building, now known as 'The Victor', was originally constructed during 1909-1916, by the architectural and engineering firm of Ballinger & Perrot. RCA Nipper Camden NJ B

Francis Barraud Francis James Barraud (16 June 1856 – 29 August 1924) was an English painter. He is best known for his painting ''His Master's Voice'', one of the most famous commercial logos in the world, having been adopted as a recording industry trademark ...

, an unknown British artist, painted a picture of his brother's dog, "

Nipper Nipper ( – September 1895) was a British dog. He is best known as the subject of ''His Master's Voice'' (1898), painted posthumously by his second owner, Francis Barraud. The painting became a worldwide entertainment trademark, with Nip ...

", sitting attentively in front of a

gramophone A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physic ...

. Nipper, a mixed-breed dog with probable terrier ancestry, became the best known dog in the world. The painting, called ''

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

'', was sold to the British

Gramophone Company The Gramophone Company Limited was a British phonograph manufacturer and record label, founded in April 1898 by Emil Berliner. It was one of the earliest record labels. The company purchased the His Master's Voice painting and trademark righ ...

Ltd. and eventually became the trademarks of both the Gramophone Company and its new American affiliate, the

in 1901. In 1929, the

Radio Corporation of America RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

purchased the Victor Company and the acquisition included the Camden manufacturing plant and the "His Master's Voice" trademark. The four

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows in the buildings tower depicting the "His Master's Voice" trademark were manufactured by D'Ascenzo Studios in Philadelphia and originally installed in 1915. The windows were illuminated at night and could be seen for several miles. In 1968, RCA introduced a new corporate logo and virtually retired both the "Victor" and Nipper trademarks. The windows were removed from the tower in 1969 and replaced with RCA's new logo painted on large sheets of plywood. Beginning in 1976, in response to public demand, RCA revived the "His Master's Voice" trademark and reinstated it to RCA record labels and other products. Nipper again was widely used in RCA advertising, company stationery, shipping cartons, store displays and repainted on RCA delivery and service vehicles. Several newspaper articles and news reports about Nipper's return, appeared at the time. April 10, 1979 was proclaimed "Nipper Day" in New Jersey by Governor

Brendan Byrne Brendan Thomas Byrne (April 1, 1924 – January 4, 2018) was an American attorney and Democratic Party politician who served as the 47th Governor of New Jersey from 1974 to 1982. Byrne began his career as a private attorney in Newark and Eas ...

, and RCA held a ceremony in Camden dedicating four new stained glass windows, identical to the originals, which had been reinstalled in the tower of building 17. RCA engaged D'Ascenzo Studios to manufacture the windows, the same firm which made the original windows 64 years earlier. These windows were damaged by vandals and neglect after

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

, which had absorbed RCA in 1986, vacated the building in 1992. The broken windows were replaced in 2003 after the building was acquired by Dranoff Properties and converted into loft apartments and retail shops. During the 1970s and 1980s, some parts of the Nipper Building were used by the RCA Government Communications Systems Division, for the development of computer systems for the U.S. intelligence community. The Nipper Building is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

The Victor

After GE vacated the Nipper Building in 1992, it deteriorated, was vandalized and became a general eyesore to the surrounding neighborhood and was in danger of demolition. All but a few of the dozens of other old RCA Victor buildings at the Camden site had already been razed. In 1997, the building was listed on Preservation New Jersey's ''Ten Most Endangered sites list''. Utilizing the

Investment Tax Credit A tax credit is a tax incentive which allows certain taxpayers to subtract the amount of the credit they have accrued from the total they owe the state (polity), state. It may also be a credit granted in recognition of taxes already paid or a for ...

, the structure was converted into a complex featuring a mix of 341 upscale loft apartments with outstanding views of the

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

skyline. The restoration was completed in August 2003 at a cost of $65 million. under the guidance of BLT Architects. Approximately 80% of the project's funding came from private sources, namely through Dranoff Properties, Fleet Bank and Related Capital. Remaining funding came from various public sources including the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority and the

Delaware River Port Authority The Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA), officially the Delaware River Port Authority of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, is a bi-state agency instrumentality created by a congressionally approved interstate compact between the state governments ...

References

External links

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About RCA - Nipper and ChipperDranoff Properties profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nipper Building Buildings and structures in Camden, New Jersey National Historic Landmarks in New Jersey Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey Neoclassical architecture in New Jersey Commercial buildings completed in 1916 National Register of Historic Places in Camden County, New Jersey Apartment buildings in New Jersey New Jersey Register of Historic Places Residential skyscrapers in New Jersey Skyscrapers in New Jersey Victor Records

History

The Victor

See also

References

External links