Emoticons from Kurjer Warszawski (5 March 1881) that depict joy, melancholy, indifference and astonishment just like these emoticons did a few weeks later.
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Emoticons from 1893, published in the German Kreisblatt für den Kreis Malmedy. h/t Gleb Albert.
Possibly an example of a smiley from 1862: “(applause and laughter ;)”. From a transcript in the New York Times of an Abraham Lincoln speech.
These proto-emoticons were published in the satirical magazine Puck on 30 March, 1881. Although often described as the first emoticons, they seem to be a rip-off of a Polish magazine from just a few weeks earlier.
Read more or see more emoticons from the 1800’s.
Post updated in 2024.