History: how the yellow smiley appeared

Harvey Ross Ball (10 July 1921 — 12 April 2001) was a commercial artist from Worcester, Massachusetts. One of his clients was State Mutual Life Assurance Company of America, which faced a drop in staff morale after acquiring Guarantee Mutual Company of Ohio. Management launched an internal friendship campaign and asked the artist to draw “a little smile” for buttons, posters and desk cards.

At first Ball drew only a smiling mouth. He was not satisfied: such a button could easily be turned upside down, turning the smile into a frown. So he added two oval eyes and made the background sunflower yellow. That is how the symbol known today to every internet user was born.

The company planned to produce only a hundred buttons. Demand turned out to be far higher: orders came from agents across the country, and new batches were printed in lots of ten thousand. Neither Ball nor the client registered any rights to the image, and that is exactly what opened the way to its global spread.

Interesting facts

• A genuine smile involves not only the muscles around the mouth but also the muscles around the eyes. Such a smile is called a Duchenne smile, after the French physician who described the effect back in the 19th century.
• Smiles are contagious: people reflexively mirror the facial expression of the person in front of them, so one smiling customer can change the mood of a whole queue.
• The smiley became the basis of modern emoji: the first set of pictograms for mobile phones was developed in Japan in the late 1990s.
• The symbol has survived dozens of legal disputes over usage rights, including between the owner of the European trademark and a major American retail chain.
• In Worcester, Ball’s home town, the historical museum presents an annual award in his name to people who make the city friendlier.
• The holiday has no official state status anywhere — it exists purely thanks to the voluntary participation of people and companies.

When to celebrate

The rule is simple: the holiday always falls on the first Friday of October.

Five ways to mark the day

The N-SHOES philosophy

The N-SHOES footwear store has been open since 15 August 2009, and over those years we have learned one simple thing: mood depends on small details. An uncomfortable pair can ruin a working day, while well-chosen boots or shoes give a feeling of lightness from the very first step.

So our philosophy is simple: after buying beautiful, stylish and well-made footwear at N-SHOES, the customer should walk out smiling. We wish all our customers a happy World Smile Day and hope that reasons to smile keep multiplying — today and on every other day of the year.