Who invented the smiley face?
The smiley face craze, if not necessarily the smiley face itself, 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 (Bernard says 1969, but I suspect he’s misremembering), they heard destiny calling. Casting about for some peace symbol-like item with more general appeal, they recalled the smiley faces that had been floating around for years in the advertising business. By George, they cried, or would have cried if I’d been around to write the dialogue, we’re in the midst of a ghastly war, we’re surrounded by protests and hate, what the country needs is a nickel-sized depiction of a guy who’s just had a prefrontal lobotomy. Whoa, just kidding! Actually, what they wanted was for all mankind to be happy and live in harmony … OK, I confess, that wasn’t it either. Bernie, with admirable frankness, says they did it to make a buck.
