Joe Jacobs Chevrolet Smiley

Illustration of a traditional yellow smiley face design but with bigger eyes and a bigger open mouth smile

This button depicts a smiley face that was trademarked by the Joe Jacobs Chevrolet Dealership of Wilmette, IL from 1971-1992. Although markedly similar to the classic smiley face, this trademarked iteration features larger, more, irregular features and a more open smile.

The classic yellow smiley face is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It  was designed in 1963 by by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball who was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.