Just for Laughs

Smiles are back in style.

Specifically, we’re talking the Smiley-Face, “Have-A-Nice Day” logos from the early 1970s that used to emblazon everything from T-shirts to earrings.

“You can relate to a happy face. It makes you feel good to look at it,” says 22-year-old Karen Davidson of Woodland Hills. Davidson collects smiley-face memorabilia, some that is handed down from her older sister, and her trove includes everything from necklaces to jars to bowls and cups.

That’s not to mention the standard black-on-yellow buttons that cheer up Davidson’s clothes from denim jackets to funky, antique jackets.

In a testament to the durability of the happy face, there’s even a boutique on Melrose Avenue called “Have A Nice Day” that sells 1960s and early 1970s designs.

“I don’t sell anything new, just collectibles,” says owner Masaki Fujii, whose stock of smiley faces range from 50-cent decals to buttons, patches, shirts, clocks and $50 original sweatshirts.

Fashion-seeking Valley-ites don’t have to hip-hop over the hill to West Hollywood, however.

Cartoon Junction in the Sherman Oaks Galleria will be stocking T-shirts and stickers in February.

“They’re starting to be a hot little item,” says sales clerk Darren Duhart. He attributes the growing craze to the Bobby McFerrin a cappella song, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”

But others say the retro fad was resurrected last year by the controversial musical and cultural movement Acid House, which originated in London, whose emblem is the yellow and black smiley face button.

For those who don’t aspire to nice days, however, Aah’s in Sherman Oaks carries buttons with a straight face that say merely “Have A Day.”

“We’re out of stock on the smiley-face and straight-face T-shirts,” Aah’s clerk Mike Sutton says with a frown.