More than 130 years after Victor Musical Industries helped reshape recorded sound in Camden, New Jersey, the company's history is taking physical form in Berlin. A ribbon-cutting is scheduled for today, Monday, October 26, 2026, to open the Victor SoundWorks Campus at 150-160 South White Horse Pike.
One Campus Replaces a Single Building
Before this week, the organization worked out of one building that held a small studio and a performance space. After acquiring the adjacent building and land, it renovated and merged the properties into a single, unified campus. The site now includes the Victrola Theatre for live music and performance, the His Master's Voice Museum and Archive, the Victor Studios for recording artists, and the Little Nipper Cafe for visitors.
Museum Pieces Return to Public View
The museum centers on the His Master's Voice logo, which shows Nipper the Dog listening to a Victrola phonograph. According to the announcement, the public will see for the first time since 1969 an original 15-foot stained glass window salvaged from the Victor clock tower in downtown Camden. The source says only two of these original glass pieces survive, with one held by the Smithsonian Institution and the other displayed in Berlin. The campus also includes an outdoor statue of Nipper and states that the remains of the famous terrier from the late 1800s have been relocated to the site.
Ceremony and Local Leadership
The grand opening begins at 2:30 p.m. in the campus courtyard. Scheduled speakers include New Jersey Congressman Donald Norcross, Camden Mayor Victor Carstarphen, Berlin Mayor Rick Miller, Berlin Councilman Keith Hohing, and Camden Special Service District Executive Director Kristine Kennedy. The campus offers complimentary parking behind the 160 White Horse Pike building.
From Victor to RCA Victor
Victor Musical Industries was founded in 1896 and later joined forces with RCA to become RCA Victor. The label's catalog, as described in the source, included recordings by Enrico Caruso, the Philadelphia Orchestra, Duke Ellington, and Glenn Miller, as well as later artists who recorded under the Nipper logo, such as Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Nina Simone, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, Hall & Oates, and David Bowie. The campus's archive will present this history in one location, though the source does not detail specific exhibit contents beyond those highlighted above.