Is This The Most Omnipresent Icon Ever?
Would the Stüssy S survive if it were born during a digital era?
I was born in 1980. I display my Gen X heritage proudly through a continued love of everything Alt Rock, I still hold on to habits that were likely formed due to a latchkey childhood, and I am 100% certain of one thing…
My fellow Gen Xers have drawn this image in a notebook.
Fourteen simple lines is all it takes to create this wonderfully pointy ‘S’ complete with 2-fold rotational symmetry. I honestly haven’t thought much about this doodle since the 1990’s when I used to draw it routinely when class got boring. Yet my wife and I recently found ourselves reminiscing about the image while on a date with some friends. I thought it was fascinating that we both had such fond memories of drawing it and seeing it everywhere. We even had the same name for it; the ‘Stüssy S’.
I’m sure many Gen Xers called it the ‘Stüssy S’ over the years, however the Stüssy brand never created this image and has repeatedly denied any connection to it. It seemingly just popped up at some point in the 1970’s and gained peak popularity in the mid 90’s. It has officially been named the ‘Cool S’, but also answers to ‘Universal S’ or ‘Graffiti S’. But where did it come from? What is its origin story? How is it I, who grew up in the West, and my wife, who was raised in the East, both had very fond memories of this doodle and even called it the same inaccurate name?
The reality is that it is simply a complete mystery. Sociologists have done years of research trying to understand where this particular image came from and how it became so ubiquitous. Yet all the research only points to one specific mode of transmission; childlore.
How is it that we all grew up knowing the Batman version of Jingle Bells? “Jingle Bells. Batman smells. Robin laid an egg.” Where did you learn that? It likely wasn’t from TV or some advertisement. It most certainly wasn’t from your parents.
It was learned on the playground.
The passing of tales, knowledge, wisdom, and even doodles from one child to another is what experts call childlore. The Cool S was likely passed to you in the same way. You were taught it by a friend who learned it from another friend and then you likely shared it with even another kid. Part of what gave the Cool S such staying power was that it was easy to draw yet gave the illusion of complexity and artistic talent. The Batman Jingle Bells song may have been just as ubiquitous but it was only good for a laugh. The Cool S gave you some street cred with its hard edges and graffiti vibes.
I think what fascinates me most about this particular icon is that it gained such popularity without the use of any form of technology. It was completely passed from person to person through face to face interactions. Even without cell phones this icon managed to gain popularity across the entire globe. That’s incredible! Sure a TikTok dance can go viral within seconds or a new slang term suddenly takes over every middle schooler’s vernacular on the daily, but that is because images and information are shared globally in the blink of an eye. Every second, billions of kids can watch the exact same post and emulate it immediately. But will we ever see something like the Cool S ever again? Will there ever be a fad that spans multiple decades and works its way onto every notebook across the world for generations?
It’s not just an ‘S’. On my world it means ‘hope’
-Superman
Here comes my we-didn’t-have-all-of-this-newfangled-technology-back-when-I-was-a-kid moment. I promise to be brief.
In a time when our digital tools have made it easier than ever to communicate with others, have we lost the staying power of face to face interactions in favor of convenience? Is there any danger in trends, phrases, and culture changing almost daily? Would the Cool S have this same level of staying power if it were instead shared over TikTok when it was first imagined? Does it even matter?
I do feel there is something oddly unifying and powerful through playground interactions or, as they might be seen in the workplace, “water cooler” discussions. Even if those interactions are as simple as a DC Comics rewording of a familiar Christmas song or a doodle shared by Trapper Keepers around the world, there is value.
Oh, and in case you were wondering; the Cool S was ultimately trademarked in 2020 by Mark May who claims to have only done it as a way “to preserve it” and “truly revel in its irreverence.”
I know you are already trying to find some paper so you can draw one again.