The smiley face is one of the most recognizable symbols in the world, but where did it originally come from? The origins of the smiley face can be traced back to over 100 years ago, though there are a few different theories about its exact beginning. Some credit it to an American commercial artist named Harvey Ball who created a smiley face design in 1963. Others point to earlier iterations that were used in popular culture throughout the early to mid 1900s. Regardless of who exactly invented it, the smiley face emerged as a symbol of happiness and positivity during a culturally transitional time period. Its simple, friendly design struck a chord and it quickly became popularized worldwide. Today the smiley face remains one of the most versatile symbols, often used in digital communication to express happiness or humor. Let’s take a closer look at the history of the smiley face and how it came to be such an iconic image.
Harvey Ball and the Worcester Smiley Face
One of the most well-known origin stories credits Harvey Ball, a commercial artist from Worcester, Massachusetts, as the inventor of the smiley face. In 1963, the State Mutual Life Assurance Company hired Ball to come up with a design to help improve company morale following their merger with another company. The company wanted an image that would help boost morale and encourage employees to smile more at work. Ball created a simple design – a yellow circle with black oval eyes, a wide smile, and a creased line on the sides of the mouth. The overall friendly, cheerful look was an instant hit at State Mutual.
Ball only made $45 for his creation, which he dubbed the “Worcester Smiley Face.” The company sold pins and posters of the image and even hung two-foot wide sign versions throughout the office. The smiley face was a huge success at boosting morale at State Mutual. By 1971, the company had sold over 50,000 smiley face pins. Meanwhile, the image had caught on nationwide, appearing on Hallmark cards, stationery, t-shirts and various other products. Ball never trademarked the design, saying he didn’t want to limit its use. Thanks to its popularity and lack of copyright, the image quickly spread into wider culture.
Predecessors to the Smiley Face
While Harvey Ball’s Worcester Smiley Face from 1963 played a big role in popularizing the image, there were earlier versions that laid the groundwork. The concept of a circular human face with simple features representing happiness dates back to ancient times. More direct precursors to the modern smiley face emerged in the early 1900s.
Some cite a radio program called “The Real Adventures of Terrible Tommy” that aired in the early 1920s as one of the first instances of a happy face image. Tommy was a mischievous young boy whose kindly grandfather drew circles with eyes and smiles to represent happiness. Premiums like buttons and pencils were made featuring a crude happy face and distributed to promote the show.
Smiley faces also appeared in popular culture throughout the 1930s and 40s. Hallmark Greeting Cards reportedly introduced a series called “Smile Cards” with smiley faces on the covers in the late 1940s. The image appeared in newspaper ads, on candies, cookies, cellophane packages, and various other products. Many times it was paired with a cheerful slogan or saying like “Have a Happy Day” or “Smile with Shell!”
| Year | Smiley Face Predecessor |
|---|---|
| Early 1920s | “The Real Adventures of Terrible Tommy” radio show – smiley face used on promotional items |
| 1930s-1940s | Smiley faces appear on various products like candies and advertisements |
| Late 1940s | Hallmark introduces “Smile Cards” greeting cards featuring smiley faces |
These early versions tended to be rudimentary happy faces, but they represented a growing public familiarity with the image. By the time Harvey Ball created his iconic design in 1963, the foundation for the smiley face in pop culture had already been laid.
The Smiley Face Goes Mainstream
Though antecedents of the modern smiley face existed in previous decades, Harvey Ball’s 1963 design really launched the image into widespread popularity. Two major events in the late 1960s and early 1970s cemented the smiley face as an instantly recognizable symbol.
In 1967, brothers Bernard and Murray Spain founded a company in Philadelphia called Span Art. They came across happy face items and realized the image’s marketing potential. The pair began producing smiley face novelty items like pins, posters, t-shirts, bumper stickers, stationery and many more items featuring Ball’s design. The cheerful image perfectly captured the optimistic sixties counterculture. Sales steadily grew as they distributed smiley pins and other items nationwide.
Around the same time in 1970, Franklin Loufrani of the newspaper France Soir came up with an idea for a smiley face graphic to represent good news in the paper’s pages. French journalist Nicolas Loufrani later used the design as a way to circumvent a newspaper strike in 1971. He created a Smiley magazine full of positive news stories paired with Harvey Ball’s smiley design. The magazine was a hit, selling over 300,000 copies.
These two events launched the smiley face from a novelty item into a widespread pop culture symbol. It took on many meanings – a symbol of happiness and positivity, good vibes and good news, peace, and more. Its popularity further increased when it became a digital icon in emails and texts, maintaining its relevance right up to today.
| Year | Key Smiley Face Milestones |
|---|---|
| 1967 | Brothers Bernard and Murray Spain begin mass producing and popularizing smiley face novelty items nationwide |
| 1970 | Franklin Loufrani creates a smiley face design for good news stories in the French paper France Soir |
| 1971 | French journalist Nicolas Loufrani creates Smiley magazine featuring the smiley face, selling over 300,000 copies |
Derivative Works and New Meanings
As the basic smiley face image became more widespread, it spawned countless derivative works, branching out into new meanings and applications. The 1950s saw early “proto-emoticons” emerge in casual writing, using character combinations to suggest facial expressions. But as the smiley face grew as a symbol, it became incorporated into a full range of emotions and ideas.
In 1982, computer scientist Scott Fahlman proposed using 🙂 and 🙁 in electronic messages to represent smiling or frowning faces. These simple emoticon expressions took off, initiating the concept of emoticons that are still used in digital communication today. Artists, designers, and advertisers got creative with the smiley face, manipulating it to convey concepts like fun, silliness, happiness, friendliness, or positivity in their works. The image made its way onto advertisements, clothing, stationery, posters, and many other media.
Derivative smiley faces have also been created over the years to represent new emotions or communicate more nuanced meanings. For example, the “winky face” 😉 with one eye closed implies something sly, flirty, or sarcastic. The “smirk face” :-} represents someone acting smug or being sly or embarrassed. As texting, messaging, and email grew, dozens of these expressive emoticon faces emerged, but they all traced back to the original smiley face.
The Smiley Face Today
From its uncertain origins in the early 1900s to Harvey Ball’s iconic 1963 design, the smiley face has cemented itself as a symbol of happiness and positivity. Ball’s Worcester Smiley Face was inducted into the Association of Image Consultants International Hall of Fame in 1999. The image also recently inspired the 2021 documentary film “Smiley Face Killers: The Hunt for the Truth.”
The rights to the Smiley trademark are owned by the Smiley Company, founded in 1996. They continue licensing the image and have expanded it into an entire brand centered around inspiring and spreading positivity. Today the smiley face remains one of the most instantly recognizable symbols across many cultures. Even throughout its widespread growth and adaptations, the smiley face at its core retains much of the simple, friendly cheerfulness that helped make it popular worldwide. Its story exemplifies how graphic images can take on lives of their own in culture, evolving new meanings far beyond their original intent. From 19th century advertisements to emoticon innovations to a multi-billion dollar branding empire, the long, circuitous history of the smiley face has cemented its place as an icon of positivity and goodwill.
Conclusion
The origins of the smiley face symbol demonstrate how humble innovations can take off in unexpected ways. Harvey Ball created a friendly design for one company’s morale campaign, only earning $45. But the image resonated with the wider culture and soon grew far bigger than he ever imagined. Early usages in popular culture prepared the public to embrace the smiley as a symbol of positivity. Clever marketers realized its potential and rapidly accelerated its spread. Adaptations built meaning upon meaning over time. Now the smiley face remains one of the world’s most universal symbols, all originating from a simple doodle meant to spread smiles. The story provides inspiration for how small ideas can blossom into icons with enough public resonance. From clever marketing tactics to capitalizing on cultural trends, the smiley face shows how a simple image can become timeless when it captures a universal human ideal like happiness.
