Black illustration of a smiling face on a yellow background

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 commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.
The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However, his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

Illustration of a face with its eyes half closed and tongue sticking out on a pink background

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 commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.
The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However, his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

Highlights children's magazine often gave out promotional items in the 1980s with personified smiley faces on them, such as buttons or stickers. This is likely one of those items.

In internet culture the unwell face is often represented by an emoji with a green face, puffed out cheeks as if holding onto vomit. It represents feeling sick or feeling disgust.

Black and pink smiley face.

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 commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.
The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However, his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

Orange and black smiley face.

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 commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.
The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However, his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

Black and yellow smiley face.

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 commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.
The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However, his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

Illustraiton of a smiling face with eyelashes and eyebrows on a green background

Smiles go back before humans could verbally express themselves and are thought by some scientists to be bad mood remedies. Humans noticed that Monkeys, displaying their fun and happiness, did so by smiling and began moving their mouth muscles upward more, becoming what we know as smiling, an involuntary expression from the common grimace, taking more effort to turn that frown into a smile. Smiles are also forms of congenial socializing gestures, whereas grimacing can be associated with asocial behavior in most cultures. The smile has come a long way, as it has evolved into a rave called Smileys. The first smiley documented is from a 1741 notation by Bernard Hennet, who from what is now considered the Czech Republic, thought a smiley might round out his autograph best. Before the digital age, smileys were popular and worn as buttons; today they are synonymous with emojis and emoticons, which are used as a form of cyber communication to convey a fleeting moment of emotion. Smiles, smileys, emojis or emoticons, invoke a feel-good factor to most and remain a popular iconic symbol in cultures today. 

Illustration of 'smiley face', but with handlebar mustache and only one eye.

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 commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.
The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However, his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

This variation on the design features a handlebar mustache and one eye, which conveys the idea of a Western motif.

The N.G. Slater corporation makes apparel, bags, buttons, etc. for businesses and organizations. The family owned company began in 1936 by Nathaniel George Slater beginning with buttons. The company was popular in the 30s and 40s. In the 50s and 60s the company provided merchandise for the civil rights movement. In the 1972 the most popular button the company made was a smiley face with the slogan “Have a nice day!”

Illustration of smiley face with arrow symbols projecting outward from it on a black background with black text on orange background.

In the summer of 1968, Chicago promoted, “Reach Out,” a summer program for youth. The event was evolved from the meetings of Mayor Daley’s summer program promotion committee with the intention of bringing the youths of Chicago a meaningful summer experience. The event was advertised with commercials starring Sammy Davis Jr. More than 70 public and private youth-serving agencies as well businesses, entertainers, sports personalities and others worked together as part of the event.

The event took part in the city’s civic center plaza and would host speeches, rock groups, air shows, theater troupes, airplane tours over the city. A mayor’s committee rounded up 20,000 jobs for youths aged 16 to 21. Dennis Church, public information officer for the Chicago Council on Youth Welfare, along with a committee of local youths composed a list of youth activities on a directory with youths working the phone. By calling 744-3211, any person would be able to find out what was going on.

Red and blue illustration of a smiley face made up of letters and a smile on a white background

The GOP, or Grand Old Party, is another name for the Republican Party, one of the two major political parties in the United States. It was founded in 1854 by a few different groups of people: former Whigs and Free Soilers, modernists, and anti-slavery activists. The party got its name after Republicanism, which was a common value during the American Revolution. The GOP stands by conservative values, capitalism, stronger national defense, and deregulation. Overall, there have been 19 Republican presidents throughout American history. 

Illustration of red apple with a smiley face licking its lips.  Black text on the apple above and below the face.  White background.

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