What does the phrase “Nippers Revenge” mean in regards to the RCA VideoDisc system?
Nipper is the dog in the familiar RCA trademark where the terrier mutt peers attentively into the brass horn of a gramophone waiting to hear “His Master’s Voice.” This actually originated in an 1895 oil painting, and became a registered trademark in 1900, sometime later being acquired by RCA. The trademark fell into disuse in 1968 when Robert Sarnoff (son of RCA founder David Sarnoff) became CEO and instituted the red acrylic systems logo (still in use today in different colors). But Nipper came back when Edgar Griffiths became head of RCA, later appearing on the nameplate of the SFT100 VideoDisc player, and appearing on all the disc caddies during the first year of production. Thus “Nipper’s Revenge” refers to his comeback in a “needle” based unit similar to the original gramophone. And even though corporate RCA no longer exists, Nipper and his young sidekick Chipper are still popular trademarks today.
