# Re: Who REALLY Invented the Happy Face **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [August 28, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-who-really-invented-the-happy-face/594413 "2011-08-28T20:38:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cgknitter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@cgknitter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cgknitter)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2011, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-who-really-invented-the-happy-face/594413/1 "2011-08-28T20:38:31Z")
Found your article really informative. I’m with you that the Happy Face was around prior to the early 1970s. I bought an “original” Happy Face mug for my grandmother when I was on a school trip, and I’m pretty sure it was prior to 1970. That mug is now a pen holder on my office desk. (ahem) Long life the smiley/ happy face! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DHMO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@DHMO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DHMO)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-who-really-invented-the-happy-face/594413/2 "2011-08-29T07:29:25Z")
Is [this](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/961/who-invented-the-smiley-face) the column you are referring to? ---
**Author:** ![Charmbrights](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@Charmbrights](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charmbrights)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-who-really-invented-the-happy-face/594413/3 "2013-08-02T12:37:57Z")
In the late 1880’s (if not earlier) teleprinter operators signed off with a smiling face which was : o ) without the spaces and if you looked at that sideways it shows eyes, nose and smile. ---
**Author:** ![JimmyDaGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@JimmyDaGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JimmyDaGeek)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-who-really-invented-the-happy-face/594413/4 "2013-08-02T13:30:47Z")
Interesting piece of investigation and lore. Thanks for the lookback. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-who-really-invented-the-happy-face/594413/5 "2013-08-02T15:01:52Z")
> [@Charmbrights](#): > > In the late 1880’s (if not earlier) teleprinter operators signed off with a smiling face which was : o ) without the spaces and if you looked at that sideways it shows eyes, nose and smile. That’s an emoticon. I’ve never seen that particular story in my occasional research into the history of the emoticon. Do you have a cite for it? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-who-really-invented-the-happy-face/594413/6 "2013-08-05T17:48:55Z")
The Wiki article on the smiley or happy face: [Smiley - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smiley) Previous threads on the topic: > **[Who REALLY invented the Smilies (the Smiley face)](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=378640)** > > Due to the article in the NY Times, yesterday, this subject has again become current. In an archived column here at http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4\_031.html various people claimed credit for themselves or others for inventing the smiley... > **[Re: Who invented the smiley face?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=53)** > > I can sleep soundly, now I know the truth. Something else is disturbing my otherwise perfect slumber, however: What’s the origin of Mad Magazine’s Alfred E. Neuman? I read somewhere that the “What? Me worry?” guy is older than the mag, perhaps by a... > **[Have a \*Happy\* Day](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=430860)** > > Cecil’s column: Who invented the smiley face? The slogan going with the smiley face is always quoted as “Have a happy day” in the column. I don’t remember that, although I was in high school when the fad started. But later, I heard it as “Have a... ---
**Author:** ![Bomolub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Bomolub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bomolub)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-who-really-invented-the-happy-face/594413/7 "2013-08-05T21:12:39Z")
In 1936, the Rockford (IL) streetcar system folded. The streetcars would be replaced by buses. The local yahoos thought it would be great fun to celebrate this event with a bonfire. Accordingly, a single streetcar was brought to a main intersection in the city and burned. The book “The Rockford and Interurban Railway” (Electric Railway Historical Society, 1956) had a picture of the “before” of this fine event. The streetcar was adorned with a banner expressing joy and a big, circular, smiley face. It was very similar to the smiley we all know and hate, but as it was a B&W photo, I couldn’t tell if it had the infamous yellow background. I remember feeling a little astonished to see that picture, as I too had thought the smiley a product of the 70s. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-who-really-invented-the-happy-face/594413/8 "2013-08-05T21:28:02Z")
> [@Bomolub](#): > > . . . but as it was a B&W photo, I couldn’t tell if it had the infamous yellow background. If the face is dark grey, nearly black or black, it wasn’t yellow. The lighter the grey, the more likely it was bright yellow — unless it was white.