A pink button with black oval eyes and a 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. 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 green background. 

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Back eyes and u-shaped grin on 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 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.

An orange button with black oval eyes and a 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. 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 man with distraught look on his face looking at his swollen lip. White and yellow text on blue background.

Topps, a company that is best known for sports memorabilia, produced "Wise Guy" pins during the 1960s that featured  satire/parody for novelty and humor.

Pac Man, readying to gobble cherries, is above the words EAT FRUIT! The picture is surrounded by the white dots that he eats in the game. These dots are encircled by a blue light on a black background. 

Pac-Man was an arcade game developed in 1980 by the Japanese video game developer Namco. Released to the American public in October 1980 by the Delaware video game distributor, Midway, the game claimed immediate success upon its reception. It has since become synonymous with arcades and video gaming, catapulting itself into a cultural tour de force for many a generation. Pac-Man even inspired a top ten hit single and a cartoon series in the early-to-mid eighties. One of the original Pac-Man arcade games is a part of the Smithsonian collection in Washington D.C., along with an exhibit in New York's Museum of Modern Art. Other contemporaneous, popular arcade games during the period were Space Invaders and Asteroids. 

A red button with white text.  Below the text is a picture of Santa Clause.

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Black bold text on white background. 

Genealogy is the study of family history and lineage.

Black smiling eyes and eyebrows with white text on black large opened mouth on orange background.

The is a variation of the classic yellow smiley face which 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.

A photo of Mount Rushmore against clear blue skies and a few clouds.

Mount Rushmore is located in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  The idea for the sculpture is credited to Doane Robinson, who wanted to attract people to his state and promote tourism.  Initially, Robinson wanted the sculpture to feature western heroes such as Lewis and Clark, and Buffalo Bill.  However, the faces of presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln were chosen instead.  The carving was completed by Gutzon Borglum over a period of 14 years.  The monument was deemed complete on October 31, 1941 and it cost $989,992.32 to build.  Behind the carving is a cave called the “Hall of Records.”  It was intended to house the story of Mount Rushmore, but due to a lack of funding, it was never completed.