Mr. Smiley's Sad End
April 19, 2001 — -- Harvey Ball gave the world a smiley face, and all he got was a lousy $45.
Ball, who died last week at the age of 79, created a 1970s sensation. One December night in 1963, from a deep well of creative genius, this graphic designer sketched the first yellow smiley face — which now bears that inspirational slogan, "Have a Nice Day!"
Imagine the Partridge Family era without Mr. Smiley emblazoned on bumper stickers, coffee mugs, boxer shorts and yo-yos. It would be as if John Travolta never danced the hustle in dangerously overstretched polyester.
'Tough Luck, It's in the Public Domain'
But Ball didn't have a nice day when he contacted the U.S. Patent Office. "By 1973, the smiley face was everywhere," he told The Wolf Files in 1998. "They told me, 'Tough luck, it's in the public domain.'"
At first, Ball let it slide. He had created this symbol of cheer as part of an in-house morale program for a Massachusetts insurance company. "I never thought it was my ticket to easy street," he says. He took his meager freelance fee and went on with his life.
What really burned Ball was that a French entrepreneur Franklin Loufrani trademarked the smiley in 80 foreign countries and threatened to sue any U.S. company that exported Mr. Smiley without paying a royalty.
"The guy even claims he created the smiley," said Ball, momentarily losing Mr. Smiley's perpetual cheerfulness. "He's got a lot of nerve."
"I'd like the money," he told The Wolf Files. "But I want the credit, too."
But the World War II veteran — who won a Bronze Star for his heroism at the Battle of Okinawa — resisted bringing a suit against Loufrani, even as Mr. Smiley's insipid yellow grin showed up in Wal-Mart ads. Instead, he settled for seeing Mr. Smiley commemorated on a U.S. postage stamp.
Ball also instituted World Smile Corp. to compete with Loufrani, selling prints of Mr. Smiley with his signature for charity. He ran a modest art and advertising company in Worcester, Mass., and is survived by a wife, three sons and a daughter.
A fortune slipped through his fingers, but at least, as corny as it sounds, Ball really did try to have a nice day.
The Weird News Roundup
Cruisin' Au Naturel
A 57-year-old man from Walled Lake, Mich., allegedly jumped into his Chevrolet pickup stark naked, rear-ended another vehicle, and then left the scene of the accident. Police say they stopped Leonard Devore a few miles away, and he got out of the car naked. Deputy Richard Abbot says Devore stood on the side of the road in his birthday suit and shouted "that this was a free country and he could do what he wanted," according to the Frankfort Times of Indiana. Devore faces six misdemeanor charges in the odd incident.
The Beer Hits the Fan
Flying Dog Brewery in Denver has won a five-year battle to put the s-word on the label of its Red Dog Ale. Colorado liquor authorities had refused to approve the "Good Beer No S--t" slogan. The brewer sued, claiming a First Amendment infringement. Now, the brewery says the controversial label has been OK'd by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The label will go on Road Dog Ale starting July 1.
Hole-istic Medicine
Two men accused of drilling holes in a woman's skull have pleaded guilty to practicing medicine without a license. Peter Halvorson and William Lyons of Utah got three years probation and a $500 fine for the procedure. Adherents of "trepanation" believe that drilling a hole in the skull relieves depression. Prosecutors in Utah started pursuing the case after ABC's 20/20 aired a segment last year about the operation. They say the woman returned to England after the surgery, and her wound healed.
Buck Wolf is a producer at ABCNEWS.com. The Wolf Files is a weekly feature. If you want to receive weekly notice when a new column is published, join the e-mail list.