Madison Antiqua was original released as a metal typeface for hand-setting in 1965. The letters were produced by D. Stempel AG in Frankfurt, Germany. Their design was based heavily on an earlier German typeface named Amts-Antiqua, which had also been produced by Stempel. Amts-Antiqua is credited to Henrich Hoffmeister, and he developed it between 1909 and 1919. Madison Antiqua is an excellent selection for body text in magazines and newspapers. The typeface features a characteristic x-height, and attention-grabbing serifs. For a time, Madison Antiqua was associated with advertising design, because of its namesake: Madison Avenue in New York. Madison Avenue is a global center of advertising excellence.