| Interment Location | Visited | |
|---|---|---|
| Worcester, MA | July 31, 2017 |
“Have a nice day!” That is the sentiment exuded by the tombstone atop the final resting place of Harvey Ross Ball. In 1963, the State Mutual Life Assurance Company of Worcester, Massachusetts, bought out Guarantee Mutual Company of Ohio, and there was much uncertainty within its workforce about job status. State Mutual’s project manager hired local commercial artist Harvey Ball for a freelance project, with the desired deliverable being a design that would fit on a pin or button and help boost employee morale. The project manager suggested that Ball simply putting an unaccompanied smile on a button. The artist expressed that, without other features, sad or disgruntled employees could turn the button upside down and into a frown. He completed the design in less than ten minutes, adding asymmetrical eyes on a yellow background that matched the visage’s sunny disposition. For his work, Ball billed the business $45. State Mutual initially distributed 100 buttons to its employees, who took a liking to them, as did the company’s customers. People of all ages were asking for their own smiley face buttons. In the first five years of the smiley face’s existence, State Mutual handed out upwards of 130,000 buttons.
State Mutual never copyrighted or trademarked the smiley face artwork, nor did its designer. Per the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Ball’s son, Charlie, said his father “was not a money-driven guy, he used to say, ‘Hey, I can only eat one steak at a time, drive one car at a time.'” By eschewing legal protection, Ball and State Mutual paved the way for others to do so. As hippie culture rose and the Vietnam War raged in the late 60s, Philadelphia storeowners Bernard and Murray Spain were selling about as many smiley faces as they were buttons with Gerald Holtom’s peace sign. When the Spain brothers looked into the smiley face’s copyright situation, they found it to be unclaimed. In 1971, the Spains then copyrighted the logo in conjunction with the phrase, “Have a happy day.” They later amended the tagline to, “Have a nice day.” Also in 1971, journalist Franklin Loufrani secured the legal rights to the smiley face in France and founded the Smiley Company, which . The Associated Press reported that at the symbol’s peak in 1971, over 50 million smiley faces were sold on buttons and other merchandise.
Although Ball never made big bucks off of his design that grew into a global phenomenon, the smiley face continued to have deep ties to its credited originator and the city of Worcester. In October 1999, it was in Worcester that the U.S. Postal Service unveiled a new smiley face postage stamp. At the ceremony, Ball read aloud a letter written from the perspective of Smiley, having sometimes referred to his symbol as a living character. Ball also created World Smile Day, advocating for acts of kindness. In the letter, Smiley noted that 36 years passed between Ball’s ideas. “That’s a long time… but they were really, really good ideas,” Ball read. World Smile Day is recognized on the first Friday of October, annually. The major sponsor of World Smile Day is the Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation, which was established after Ball’s death in 2001. Headquartered in Worcester, the non-profit spreads good cheer and “focuses on small, grass-roots charitable efforts that otherwise receive little attention or funding.” In November 2019, ahead of the Boston Red Sox’s AAA minor league affiliate relocating from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, to Worcester, the team announced that a stocking-clad smiley face would serve as its new logo.
Born in 1921, Ball served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was a veteran of 1945’s Battle of Okinawa, the most brutal battle in the Pacific Theater of the war, and was awarded a Bronze Star for his actions there. Per the World Smile Day website, he served in the National Guard for 27 years and retired in 1973 with the rank of brigadier general, after which he served in the Army Reserves. He retired from the Reserves in 1979 as a full colonel. The Worcester Veterans Council named him Veteran of the Year in 1999. Ball has a military marker marked with a Christian cross as a footstone. It lists no rank.
Fast Facts
Born: July 10, 1921 in Worcester, Massachusetts
Military Service: Brigadier General — U.S. Army National Guard; Colonel — U.S. Army Reserves
Spouse: Winifred A. Trudell Ball (m. ca. 1947-2001)
Died: April 12, 2001 in Worcester, Massachusetts
Cause of Death: Liver Failure
Age: 79
Interment: Notre Dame Cemetery, Worcester, Massachusetts
"It is an amazing piece of art. It is understood by everybody. You can be a little kid; you can be an infant; you can be elderly. It doesn't matter. Race, religion, political affiliations mean nothing."
- Harvey Ball
Sources Consulted and Further Reading
Hetrick, Christian. “Bernard Spain, 86, a Philly-based retail entrepreneur who held the copyright for the smiley face.” Philadelphia Inquirer. January 8, 2021. https://pressofatlanticcity.com/bernard-spain-86-a-philly-based-retail-entrepreneur-who-held-the-copyright-for-the-smiley/article_bd5ee154-3ded-5344-bfbc-0f790abb7f1b.html.
Hill, Benjamin. “Put on a happy face: It’s the WooSox.” MILB.com. November 25, 2019. https://www.milb.com/news/worcester-unveils-woo-sox-nickname-smiley-face-logos-311968850.
Honan, William H. “H. R. Ball, 79, Ad Executive Credited With Smiley Face.” New York Times. April 14, 2001. https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/14/us/h-r-ball-79-ad-executive-credited-with-smiley-face.html.
Smith, Aaron. “Walmart’s Smiley is back after 10 years and a lawsuit.” CNN. June 3, 2016. https://money.cnn.com/2016/06/02/news/companies/walmart-smiley/index.html.
Smithsonian Channel. “The Smiley Face Was Invented for Corporate America.” YouTube Video, 3:42. July 17, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P78C_TFeqjU.
World Smile Foundation. “About Harvey Ball.” Accessed May 24, 2024. https://www.worldsmileday.com/index.php/article-index/item/380-about-harvey-ball.
World Smile Foundation. “The World Smile Foundation.” Accessed June 2, 2024. https://www.worldsmileday.com/index.php/article-index/item/375-about-the-harvey-ball-world-smile-foundation.
WorldSmileDays. “History of Smiley, Harvey Ball and World Smile Day®.” YouTube video, 7:18. August 24, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoL3zxPsVf0.
WorldSmileDays. “The Smiley Face Song (Ballad of Harvey Ball) Music Video.” YouTube video, 3:12. September 24, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYDK7d044tY.
WorldSmileDays. “World Smile Day® 1999 Harvey Ball & Smiley’s Message – Smiley Stamp unveiling.” YouTube video, 6:29. August 22, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYKEaWkd_Hc.
