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John van Hamersveld's 'Crazy World Ain't it' turns 50
This year marks the 50th anniversary of John Van Hamersveld's iconic 'Crazy world Ain't it' emoji and it's symbolism and message are more relevant today than ever! JVH crated his first versions of the drawing in 1969 at Bellevue Studio on Bonnie Brea, Echo Park, CA and then developed the idea for a t-shirt graphic and button badge and bill board campaign from there.
Photo Caption: Self Portrait of JVH with Doug Whitehead in the kitchen of the Bellevue Studio. John tells us "I had just returned from London Vacation for 6 months after the end of Pinnacle Dance Concerts in 1968 to start my career over in the Entertainment Business".
Below we see the progression of the Johnny face / Crazy World Ain't it design through the late 60's early 70's.
The Crazy world t-shirt was first printed in 1971 and while working on the Exile on Main Street album cover for The Rolling Stones JVH gave one of t-shirts to Mick Jagger who proudly wore it in the photo below. 
The Crazy World design has special reference to Worn Free as it was part of our first ever range back when we started the brand and JVH was an integral part of helping us shape Worn Free. We are truly grateful for his sage advice back then and his continued support. We have had a bunch of celebrities wear our Worn Free version of The Crazy World Ain't it T-Shirt most famously Robert Downey Jr around the same time he was shooting Iron Man.
We are proud to now offer two versions of the Crazy World T-Shirt a two color one like the original worn by Mick Jagger in 1971 and a one color version like the one worn by Robert Downy Jr above. Both can be found as part of our John Van Hamersveld Collection. Below is John hanging out with a huge Crazy World print at one of his recent shows. Here is to another 50 years of this iconic symbol and lets hope that in the future it's not quite as relevant as it is right now.
