Yellow smiley face with a frown and tongue sticking out of it's mouth and black text underneath.

This is a variation of the classic yellow smiley face that 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. 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.

White text on a pinkish purple background.  

Some people just shouldn't be in charge.

Pink wrap around text on a black background. In the middle, is a green, and presumably dead, armadillo laying on its back with tail and feet pointed straight up in the air. The armadillo is placed on a pink background with a black slash running across its body.

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 White text that becomes light blue (indicating water) with a spigot at the end of the S with red text below it on a dark blue background.

This button was created by the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California to promote the conservation of water. Headquartered in Los Angeles, MWD was created in 1928 by the California legislature to build and operate the Colorado River Aqueduct in order to bring water to the expanding population of southern California. Today, MWD owns and operates an extensive water storage and delivery system and provides water to over 19 million people. It is the largest distributor of drinking water in the United States.

Orange text on a black background.

The button was made by Russ Berrie and Company, founded by Russ Berrie in 1963. They specialized in baby and juvenile products and was indeed incredibly successful. The button was produced to elicit humor. The company also manufactured sold a wide variety of gift items that included stuffed animals, mugs, picture frames, and various accessories. Berrie believed their products needed to change according to consumer needs, and this ideology is the key to success.They expanded internationally and owned factories in Taiwan, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, France, and other countries. However Russ Berrie and Company faced financial difficulties in 2005, and the majority of its stake was sold to Prentice Capital Management. After the deal, Prentice Capital Management will become the largest shareholder of Russ Berrie and Company. 

A male cartoon character is skiing awkwardly down a mountain.  The background is white with the cartoonist name “Jim Benton” written in black text above the words “mr. skier”, which is located at the bottom in bold black lower case letters.

Award winning American cartoonist, artist and author, Jim Benton, first gained success in the 1980’s with licensing his cartoon “Misters” series. The comic drawings display the ineptness of the Everyman in various situations. With the success of the “Misters,” he created a series with the female version of the character, the “Ms.” Recently, he authored the Franny K. Stein and Dear Dumb Diary book series.

Yellow button with black, capital letters.

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Illustration of 3 bright red anthropomorphic lips below black text on yellow background. 

The Tang Trio of Lips singers were advertising characters for the Tang Orange Drink company. Tang is a fruit flavored drink that was used by NASA on John Glenn’s “Mercury” flight in 1962.

White and purple button with purple and white text.  Top 3rd of the button is white, bottom 2/3rds is purple.

“If coke is a joke, I’m waiting for the next line” is a reference to the powerfully addictive stimulant drug cocaine, also known as coke, snow, blow, cola, heaven dust, or nose candy. The expression humorously compares the drug to a joke that has the audience waiting for the punchline. In the context of drug use, a line is a small amount of powder usually snorted through the nose. A more popular variation of the joke is “coke is a joke, and I can’t wait for the next line.” The shorter iteration “coke is a joke” can also be interpreted as “drugs are fun.”

A male cartoon character is playing tennis poorly against a white background with the cartoonist name “Jim Benton” written in black text above the words “mr. tennis”, which is located at the bottom in bold black lower case letters.

Award winning American cartoonist, artist and author, Jim Benton, first gained success in the 1980’s with licensing his cartoon “Misters” series. The comic drawings display the ineptness of the Everyman in various situations. With the success of the “Misters,” he created a series with the female version of the character, the “Ms.” Recently, he authored the Franny K. Stein and Dear Dumb Diary book series.