Hello ODK History Lovers
Mervyn Victor Richardson coined the name "Victa" from the earliest
of days, when he started selling his 14-inch reel mower. In those
days, advertising primarily meant "classified" advertising and "Victa"
was presented in standard newsprint fonts of the day. Victa was a
brand without a logo.

An indulgence illustrated advertising was made from time-to-time.
And these first ads appeared in 1952. There's a bit of flair in this rare
illustrated ad of the 14" reel (below left). Similarly, in late 1952, when
a few illustrated ads for the first rotary appeared, there was a bit of flair,
highlighting the brand name. But it's not a logo.

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A seminal change appears to have been made in about August of 1954,
when a new wide-and-slanted font appeared I argue here that this style
provided the basis for the two great Victa logos that would follow. But this
was evolutionary.

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The thing is that Victa did not stay with this slant style for the next
few years. When colour illustrated advertisements appear in 1955,
the wide-and-upright font prevailed

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The next stage arguably the first logo appeared in 1957, when
the upright font appears combined with cross-stripes This style
prevailed for the rest of the1950s.

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The final iteration of this great logo appeared in late 1960
the "new age" when Victa combined its wide-and-slanted
font of 1954 with the cross-striping of 1957. Brilliant!

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So, the first Victa logo - the 'cross-stripe' appears in 1957,
but it evolved into its final version in 1960.

I like this final version of Victa's first logo.
The stylised slanted and wide font, combined with the
cross-stripes seems to have mimicked Victa's view of itself:-

Can you imagine a lawnmower traversing those cross-stripes?

A very clever first Victa logo.

TO BE CONTINUED