In 1964, Harvey Ball an American advertising graphics art designer invented
the Smiley Face as a logo for boosting morale at an insurance company.
He was paid $45 for his work and never copyrighted the image. In 1970,
Bernard and Murray Spain took the image and added "Have a Nice Day" below it.
A big fad developed and at its height in 1972 more than 50 million yellow buttons
had been produced. Although Harvey Ball did not gain much monetarily, he was
recognized for its invention and received letters of thanks all his life.

"Have a nice day" became part of the American lexicon, and the image of Smiley as :)
and as an email graphic has become universal. In 1999, the US Post Office even put
the image on a stamp.

Nearly a half century later from its inception, a homeowner recently painted
this one on an old garage here in Alameda, CA.