An ownership dispute over a name put the ‘c’ in Helvetica and the world was never the same.

Grotesk Town | Way back in the mid 1950s when Max Miedinger was putting the finishing touches to his prized sans serif Helvetica (then known as Neue Haas Grotesk) there was much debate as to what name to market it under. It was to be called HELVETIA after the nation that spawned it, Switzerland. This was however not allowed due to the fact that there was a Swiss sewing machine company already using this name. Typographic history was changed forever by the simple addition of a letter ‘c’ – changing the name to the now ubiquitous HELVETICA. In the small Victorian town of Trentham, just outside of Daylesford, there is an old shed (used as a makeshift antique shop) where the old walls are actually composed of the wooden cases from the Helvetia sewing machine company (and were unfortunately not for sale). The shed is no longer a shop and has been boarded up.

Top Helvetia sewing machine company boards found in Trentham. Above An original VW van complete with Helvetia branding. This van cannot be found in Trentham however.