Billiken

For other uses, see Billiken (disambiguation).
From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of November 7, 1909, the Billiken sketch at the left is by Florence Pretz and the drawing of Pretz is by journalist Marguerite Martyn.

The Billiken is a charm doll created by an American art teacher and illustrator, Florence Pretz of Kansas City, Missouri, who is said to have seen the mysterious figure in a dream.[1] It is believed that Pretz found the name Billiken in Bliss Carman's 1896 poem "Mr. Moon: A Song Of The Little People". In 1908, she obtained a design patent on the ornamental design of the Billiken,[2] which she sold to the Billiken Company of Chicago. The Billiken was monkey-like with pointed ears, a mischievous smile and a tuft of hair on his pointed head. His arms were short and he was generally sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him.

To buy a Billiken was said to give the purchaser luck, but to receive one as a gift would be better luck.[3] The image was copyrighted and a trademark was put on the name. After a few years of popularity, the Billiken faded into obscurity. Although they are similar, the Billiken and the baby-like kewpie figures that debuted in the December 1909 Ladies' Home Journal are not the same.

Today, the Billiken is the official mascot of Saint Louis University and St. Louis University High School, both Jesuit institutions located in St. Louis.[4] The Billiken is also the official mascot of the Royal Order of Jesters,[5] an invitation-only Shriner group affiliated with Freemasonry. The Billiken also became the namesake of Billiken Shokai, the Japanese toy and model manufacturing company (established 1976).

  1. ^ Dorothy Jean Ray. "Billiken Lore". Church of Good Luck. Archived from the original on 27 December 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
  2. ^ US Design Patent D39,603, Florence Pretz, "Design for an image", issued October 6, 1908.
  3. ^ What is a Billiken? Unmasking SLU's Cool and Unusual Mascot, Billiken Media Relations (Saint Louis University), August 5, 2009, archived from the original on July 23, 2009, retrieved July 10, 2009.
  4. ^ "Timeline of Saint Louis University". Saint Louis University. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  5. ^ University of Cincinnati News "Beguiled by billikens in Bearcat country". Archived from the original on 2012-10-25. Retrieved 2012-06-10.