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By Dick O'Donnell
Harvey Ball is gone now -- he died in April 2001 -- but he is not forgotten. The Catholic artist's creation still puts a smile on the faces of people throughout the world, especially in these troubling economic times.
The Worcester, Mass., commercial artist created the smile button, or smiley face, as it is known. This happy bit of sunshine with two black dots for eyes and a friendly smile is just about everywhere.
When he died, newspaper articles noted he could have made a fortune, if he had copyrighted his idea. Instead, he earned only $40 for coming up with the image.
"Sure, I was disappointed," Ball once said. "But there are more important things than money. I had a wonderful wife, good children and friends, and, most of all, I had the power of prayer. I had my Rosary beads. I knew God was listening."
The artist was a modest man. "I knew him for years," Father Henry Bowen, his longtime pastor at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Worcester, told Our Sunday Visitor. "I never knew he was a retired brigadier general from the Massachusetts National Guard until he had that big military funeral."
During World War II, his division took part in the invasions of Leyte, Okinawa, and the Philippines. He was awarded the Bronze Star for heroism, but the experience gave him something beyond bravery.
"I was nearly killed in Okinawa. It was a matter of inches. I think it was that day I began to appreciate what life was all about. I was shaken up, but I survived," he said. "There was more to it. I learned to appreciate the blessings I had received in life. Family, friends, things of that sort. I think I discovered it was the things close to you that counted. Money's nice, but it's not all that important. During those war years, I learned to pray to God. That's what really is important."
How did the iconic button come about? It was born in a memo written by publicist Joy Young in 1963 to her boss, John Adam Jr., president of the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Worcester. She suggested a button to be designed to improve company morale after the merger of Mutual Fire with another company. Young came to Ball with an idea of using a smile on a yellow button. It was Ball who added the dots for the eyes.
Originally, only 100 buttons were ordered. They proved so successful, several thousand were ordered for special insurance agents around the country.
"I suppose you could say what happened after that is history. The idea caught on, and other organizations started producing their own smile buttons," Ball said. "It's a shame Joy and I did not make a fortune from the smile button. Neither did the insurance company. But that's the way the ball bounces."
In 1971, more than 50 million of the buttons were sold, according to The Associated Press. In 1999, the U.S. Postal Service issued a smile-button stamp.
Ball inspired people all over the world to smile, and that cheerful legacy lives on with the Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation. Each year, the organization celebrates World Smile Day on the the first Friday in October. The purpose of the day is to encourage people to dedicate one day to smiles and acts of kindness.
Dick O'Donnell writes from Florida. Visit www.worldsmile.org for more information about the World Smile Organization.
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