Saturday, April 16, 2011

His Master's Voice




It's time for the answer to the mystery picture, and most of you guessed it!! It is part of an old fashioned victrola, or gramophone. I saw it in an antique mall and thought it was beautiful. I think it had extensive work done to make it look new. It reminded me of the story of the dog in the RCA logo, so I thought I would tell it again. The dog was real, he was a fox terrior named Nipper. He belonged to Mark Berraud. When Mark died, his brother Francis inherited Nipper, along with a few recordings of Mark's voice. And when Francis would play these recordings of his brother's voice, the little dog would sit faithfully in front of the gramophone, listening to his deceased master's voice with his head tilted. This became the well known painting called "His Master's voice". It was originally called "His Late Master's Voice" and is still worded that way on many of the really old RCA records. But the company did not want such a depressing title for their logo, so they removed the word "late'. I think that Nipper would be an even better symbol for Christians. A dog such as him is loyal to his master, can't wait to spend time with him, and doesn't expect any reward other than to please their master and maybe get a pat on the head. I think I'm not doing too bad if I just sit for awhile with my head tilted like Nipper, and listen for my master's voice.



"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand."

John 10:27

29 comments:

Betsy Banks Adams said...

I enjoyed the mystery picture, Ginny... Although I NEVER get them right, it's fun to guess...

Glad you made it through the storm..
Hugs,
Betsy

Regina said...

Wow this was great..what a story..I hadn't heard of it before (just remember the picture)! It did look like a gramophone to me though and so pretty like your header. There was a true story of two dogs about a year ago- Terrier's too. (I think Jack R..anyway, one died and the other became distraught..very depressed and wouldn't eat. Soo, this lady who was his master took a picture of the deceased and blew it up to a poster size and tacked it to his dog house! Well low and behold, he snapped out of it and began to eat!! I loved this and doesn't it just tell you something!?

Karin said...

I don't recall ever hearing that story Ginny! Oh yes, to stop throughout each day to listen to our Master's Voice is something I need to do more! Thanks for an inspiring post!

I like Regina's story in the comments!
Have a wonderful Palm Sunday!

Yuni Murharjanti said...

Gramophone!. But I also see something interesting back there. A hanging lamp. There is a village in Yogyakarta where the residents became craftsmen who make hanging lamp. We call it "robyong".

SquirrelQueen said...

I remember reading about Nipper years ago, that is the sweetest painting. I enjoyed your mystery photo Ginny, that is a lovely old gramophone.

I saw what you wrote on Sandra's blog about the storms in your area. It sounds like there was damage near by. I hope they are over now so you can relax.

Arti said...

Thats a great story, never heard of it... From the comments I can gather that you experienced the storms that you were talking about... Hope you are fine, have a nice day...

MaryMoh said...

What a big gramophone! It's beautiful! I miss out on the guessing and straight to the answer here...haha. Interesting post thought many times I miss out on my Master's voice and headlong into some 'thrill'...haha

Reanaclaire said...

Great.., what a lovely.. er.. funnel.. i said in my last post.. hahaha..

Anonymous said...

Well, you fooled me with the mystery photo, Ginny! A very interesting post. You and Phil have a blessed Sunday.

From the Kitchen said...

I love that photo and had never heard the story behind it. Perfect!

So glad you weren't involved in the tornado and that my sister is o.k.. I'm off to check the R. Times for any information.

Best,
Bonnie

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

Fun mystery Ginny! I love that yours is red.

Joanne said...

As many times as I saw that logo I never knew the background to it...poor puppy. Anyway I loved the guessing game here it was fun! I like the way you ended your post. It would be great if we just sat and listened for a change. The world woule be a better place. Blessings, Joanne

Ruth Hiebert said...

A great lesson for all of us.I know I need to spend more time listening to my masters' voice.Hope this day will be full of blessings for you.

Tracy said...

Ginny, I just love how you accompany your stories which are wonderful by the way with verses from the Bible...they match so perfectly.
I so find a sprig of joy visiting you! Just wanted to tell you that!

MadSnapper said...

this is the first time i have heard the story of the RCA dog, we talk about that dog all the time, when baby sits and looks at us with head tilted we call her RCA dog, but never knew the story. i like the way you have taught us we should sit and tilt our heads and listen to The Master's Voice. a truly blessed post today on Palm Sunday. the gramophone is beautiful, did you buy it? looks like your kitchen stove in the background.

George said...

This was a great mystery photo, and you had me totally stumped. Thanks for sharing the story of Nipper. I had heard it many years ago, but hadn't thought about it in ages. You're right -- Nipper would make a great logo for Christians.

Mary Bergfeld said...

I didn't know the background behind the RCA logo. Fascinating, stuff Ginny. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

DawnTreader said...

I find it hard to believe that the 'funnel' was originally pink? It's certainly an unusual item and made a great mystery picture.

Stephanie V said...

Ha, ha! Good mystery photo, I was fooled. But sort of close with the 'humming' bird, no?

Anonymous said...

Hi Ginny, I actually own a tiny replica figurine of this "Nipper" dog from "His Master's Voice". Have a fantastic day today!

Ann said...

What a cool find that was. Fun guessing what it was in the smaller picture too.
I'd never heard the story before about the RCA logo. I remember seeing the picture plenty of times though.
Oh and the Easter basket in my last post, I didn't make that one, it was a dollar store find.

Neal said...

I don't recall ever hearing that story.

S. Etole said...

Hope you are past the storms and have a wonderful week.

Yuni Murharjanti said...

-this is my answer 4 ur question in my blog-
Pitting roosters usually only briefly (3-5 minutes). The goal is to choose a good stud, so that later will produce good offspring. The losing rooster will usually run away, no roosters to death. The law prohibits gambling, pitting roosters in here just to select a rooster wich has a good quality, not to gamble!. In the wild, all stud animals must fight, and that strong is a good stud. We learn from nature!. See u next week!.

Kanak said...

I've never read the story before. Found it very interesting!

Bobbie said...

What a great story! I didn't know this. YOu are full of knowledge, Ms Ginny!!

Fred Alton said...

Great story, Ginny! Thanks for posting it.

Doris Sturm said...

Oh, that is so sad and so sweet of a story - I am surprised because it looks plastic and I thought they were all metal then? That's the only reason I guessed hummingbird feeder because of the red plastic, or is it not plastic? (I'm not a big fan of plastic - I think plastic is one of the big evils of the world - it's here to stay and won't go away!)

Chatty Crone said...

An old fashioned victrola - I mean what else - right?

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