Kiss Me Frog and Flowers

Pink background with a green frog in the center surrounded by flowers. The frog has black spots on its legs and the sides of its torso. Below the frog is green text with a black rectangle background and a green border around the rectangle.

The idea of kissing a frog comes from a traditional fairy tale, The Frog Prince, most notably retold by the Brothers Grimm. They published their version in the early 19th century, however scholars have found versions of the story dating back to the 13th century. The fairy tale is about a spoiled princess who meets a Frog Prince. She falls into a pond, dropping a golden ball, and he retrieves it; for a price, he seeks her friendship. When she agrees and he returns the ball, it's discovered he is under a witch's curse and is magically transformed into a handsome prince. Over the years, the story has been modified with the most common version requiring a kiss from the princess to change the Frog Prince. The image here shows a shorthand reference to the story; the frog is looking for a kiss.

In the mid-1970s, the saying "you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you meet a prince" gained popularity. A variation was first found in needlepoint patterns, then newspaper articles aimed at single women looking for love.  In 1977, a copyright was created for a pen and ink drawing of an amphibian wearing a crown with text reading, "You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you meet a prince."