Nipper, the Victor/RCA Dog

The trademark now known as Nipper was based on a painting by Francis Barraud that pictured his dog listening to a recording. Barraud added a Gramophone horn to the picture and sold it as an ad to the Gramophone Company of Bristol, England. The picture was titled His Master’s Voice. In 1906 Victor Talking Machine […]

Buster Brown

Buster Brown and his dog, Tige, first appeared in Richard Felton Outcault’s cartoon strip in 1902. Outcault dreamed up the idea of licensing cartoon characters to merchants to promote products. He sold the right to use the Buster Brown name and figures as product trademarks to over fifty different companies. The Buster Brown Gang was […]

Aunt Jemima

The Pearl Milling Company first used the Aunt Jemima symbol on its ready-mixed pancake flour in 1889. Quaker Oats Company began using it in 1926. Aunt Jemima’s appearance changed through the years. A live Aunt Jemima appeared at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. She was played by a former slave, Nancy Green, a thin woman […]