International Smile Day: History and Traditions of the Holiday

Smile is a symbol of mood, a reflection of the inner world of every person. With its help you can charm, ask, convince. She helps in all life situations, has people to her. Smile is the engine of human relationships. Without it, the world would indeed be gloomy and gray. That's why we show it openly and at every opportunity. In honor of her, even came up with a special, dedicated to her event - International Smile Day.

The history of the holiday: how it all began

At the origins is then still a simple, unknown artist Harvey Bell. This person lived in the middle of the XX century, wrote ordinary pictures and did not differ much from hundreds of the same creative people. But one fine day the employees of the insurance company asked the ordinary master to draw an interesting logo. Harvey took up his work and, without thinking twice, painted a funny yellow face with eyes and a smiling mouth. He called his masterpiece "smiley" and passed it to the insurers, getting only 45 dollars for work.

What was his surprise when in the near future the smiley became popular all over the world. He began to draw on postage stamps, T-shirts, dishes and calendars. As for the insurance company, they quickly realized: their new logo was conquering the whole world, and quickly ordered for all employees pins and badges for clothing with its image. They became pioneers and the first people who proudly showed a yellow mug to everyone around them.

How an Emoticon Conquered All on the Planet

World fame for this drawing came in the 1970s. It was then that the Frenchman Franklin Lawrence decided to bypass the United States. He said that the idea belongs to him and registered the symbol as a trademark. Of course, this author did not like this, and Harvey Bell also officially formalized a smiling face with his initials in addition. The man also opened a whole big company dedicated to him. It exists to this day and is called the "World Smile Corporation." The head of her son is the artist - Charles. The organization says that profits go only to pay taxes and charity.

Nowadays, the smiley has become very popular on the Internet. He is actively inserted into sentences to portray his emotions when writing e-mails, postcards and just chatting. It is interesting that the use of a colon with a parenthesis as its graphic representation was suggested by Scott Falman from the University of Pennsylvania. Although unofficially the sign ":)" was first used by the famous Russian writer Nabokov, but few people know about it.

For the first time a holiday in honor of a smiling face was celebrated in 1999, on 1 October. The International Smile Day has since celebrated on the first Friday of the second autumn month. In 2014 - this is October 3.

International Smile Day: what to donate?

If you want to congratulate your native people on this holiday, you need to prepare a thematic too. If it's the International Smile Day, then the face must be represented with a favorite face. For example, in stores you can buy a calendar dedicated to this symbol. Every day you paste emoticons with an image of your mood. This creates an emotional picture of all the years you lived.

You can also give a toaster that produces crisp bread with a smile. Another thematic presentation will be a set of underwear, on each copy of which a different mood is drawn. Thanks to him, there is an opportunity every day to put on a kit depending on your state of mind. A good solution will be a set of pillow-emoticons, sunny smiling slippers and bed linens with a picture of smiles. All this can be bought in the store, the benefit today is a wide range. With such gifts, the International Smile Day will be fun and fun.

How to celebrate International Smile Day

Of course, everyone decides for himself where to go on the first Friday of October. But of course, it's necessary to celebrate this event in the office. Firstly, it's Friday, and the smile is already its symbol. And, secondly, the whole team is easier and more creative to come up with a program for the International Smile Day. The script can include general drawing, cutting and putting up yellow faces in the office, singing the children's song "From the smile will be all the lights" for a cheerful tea party.

Something like this can be arranged at home, only there is the opportunity to expand even wider, as this is your own legal territory, and you have the right to do everything you want: from baking a cake in the form of a smile to painting the walls in yellow faces. The main thing is that at the same time all members of the family should be happy. Include in the process not only children, but even grandmothers and grandfathers, dress them in holiday caps, open champagne and sweets and arrange real fun with all its attributes.

Interesting facts about the smile

It's no secret that with her help, we can lift our spirits ourselves. Even when cats scratch their souls, the smile increases the energy charge, increases vivacity, and improves the inner emotional state. It is also able to relieve stress and calm the shattered nervous system. Smile stabilizes the pressure and improves the performance of all systems in the body.

When we smile, more than 50 muscles are involved on the face. There is a small charge, why the general tone improves, the skin condition in the nasolabial part of the head. This means that we look prettier and younger. Also 15 minutes of laughter has long been equated to one full half-hour workout. So, with her help, we also lose weight, keep the figure in excellent condition and improve the work of the heart while doing so.

The International Smile Day is only once a year. But now we have many reasons to celebrate it at every convenient opportunity. After all, a smile and laughter not only create a mood, but also make us more healthy, beautiful and young.