The Smiley has travelled far from its early 1960s origins, changing like a constantly mutating virus.
From early-70s fad to late-80s acid house culture, from millennial txt option to serial killer signature and ubiquitous emoticon. That's quite a journey for a simple logo that began in kids' TV and corporate morale-building.
The classic Smiley arrived in the early 1970s. Within a perfect circle, there is the simplest, most childlike depiction of a happy face: two vertical, oval eyes and a large, upturned semi-circular mouth. The choice of yellow as a background colour was inspired: it's the colour of spring, the sun, a radiant, unclouded happiness.
The smiley face craze, was the work of two brothers in Philadelphia, Bernard and Murray Spain, who were in the business of making would-be fad items. In September of 1970 they drew up a smiley face added the words "Have a nice day," and copyrighted the image and words. Soon they and their many imitators were cranking out buttons, posters, greeting cards, shirts, bumper stickers, cookie jars, earrings, bracelets, key chains, and many other items. The fad lasted about a year and half; the number of smiley buttons produced by 1972 was estimated at 50 million.
If you're in the market for a smiley patch we have the one to your left and a few other styles available through us at TheCheapPlace. You can iron them on to your clothing, purses, etc, sew only to leather please.
