The first known use of smiley as an adjective was in 1848
The first known use of smiley as an adjective was in 1848. The Gregory Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio, was selling a "SMILEY FACE" balloon in 1922. A promotional poster for the film Lili published in the New York Herald Tribune in 1953 had "smiley" on it. The New York radio station WMCA in the year 1962 created a yellow and black smiley face to promote their on-air personalities known as the "Good Guys." In 1963 Harvey Bell designed a "smiley." In the early 1960s, The Funny Company, an American children's TV programmer, had a noseless smiling face used as a kids' club logo; the closing credits ended with the message, "Keep Smiling!" In September of 1970, two brothers in Philadelphia, Bernard and Murray Spain started selling novelty items with a "smiley" and the slogan "have a happy day" In November of 1971, ten thousand smiley buttons were given away at Brigham Young University. The universal smiley symbol is clearly in the public domain. All should be free to draw their own original "smiley" and sell their original art using the word "smiley."
The first known use of smiley as an adjective was in 1848.  The Gregory Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio, was selling a "SMILEY FACE" balloon in 1922.  A promotional poster for the film Lili published in the New York Herald Tribune in 1953 had "smiley" on it.  The New York radio station WMCA in  the year 1962 created a yellow and black smiley face to promote their on-air personalities known as the "Good Guys."  In 1963 Harvey Bell designed a "smiley." In the early 1960s, The Funny Company, an American children's TV programmer, had a noseless smiling face used as a kids' club logo; the closing credits ended with the message, "Keep Smiling!" In September of 1970, two brothers in Philadelphia, Bernard and Murray Spain started selling novelty items with a "smiley" and the slogan "have a happy day" In November of 1971, ten thousand smiley buttons were given away at Brigham Young University.  The universal smiley symbol is clearly in the public domain.  All should be free to draw their own original "smiley" and sell their original art using the word "smiley."

If you are looking for "smiley" merchandise do a search for "smiley" on your favorite search engines

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Smiley/Happy Face Diagram [Language: smile button, smile face, smiling face, smiley face, smiley, Smiley as a name (first name, nicknames, character names, stage names, surname, pet names, place names, object names) etc.] [Campaigns(advertising happiness, political, etc), cartoons, commentary, emojis, commercial use, and sales.] [Art work, iconography, symbols, pareidolia (E.g. Galle [a Martian crater]), etc.] [Pop culture]

Smiley/Happy Face Diagram
  • This webpage was created to help educate the public about the history of the word "smiley" and the smiley symbol. I hope this webpage will help in your own research. If you are one of the defendants in one of the "The Smiley Company SPRL v. The Individuals, Partnerships, and Unincorporated Associations identified on Schedule 'A'" lawsuits. Remember, The Smiley Company SPRL attorney is NOT your attorney; while being polite, be very careful what you tell them, do not tell them anything more than you have to tell them, comply with any court orders and file a response to avoid a default judgment. Seek out an attorney to discover more options; many attorneys offer a free initial consultation. The webmaster of Pre-1926 Smiley is NOT an attorney and can NOT offer legal advice.
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