Mystery of the Pointy S

[tapirmusic]

http://imprint.print...f-the-pointy-s/

A friend of mine mentioned drawing a symbol on his books as a middle-schooler. I had no idea what he was talking about. He referred to it as a "stussy".

I started to research it more online and it's getting even weirder.

Seems like kids all over the world draw this symbol that has no meaning, and no one can pinpoint it's origin.

What do you think?

Edited November 19, 2012 by tapirmusic

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

It's like handball - who taught you how to play handball? Noone, you just sort of "did" it, by copying the actions of others.

Or, and I don't know how worldwide this is, how the gap between university study and exams is called "Swatvac" in Queensland, supposedly it means "study what you can vacation" but noone knows who started it, it's just a vestage of someone else's idea that doesn't go away because it's perpetuated by the next generation.

I suspect that in the future, when English has evolved into some other language, the stussy, handball and the phrase "swatvac" will still be in open use.

[CuriousGreek]

It's strange, but what i don't understand most is why it is drawn mostly by boys. Maybe it is something attractive and easy to be drawn, but i don't get how these students have this ''connection'', to put it in simple terms. On the contrary though it might just be a coincidence from the many that are made every day....dunno what to say!!!

[_Only]

Yes, I know the Stussy symbol. Just make your 3 lines on top and 3 on bottom, and you're set up for a party.

I had totally forgotten about the awesome S I learned in elementary school, but I'm guessing that your age might be around the same ballpark as me (late 20's). I wonder if that might be the case, because I Googled Stussy, and got the wiki page for a clothes designer of Stussy wear, a clothing company out of O.C. in the late '80's. The clothing brand is like urban/street/skate/surf clothes, and has a lot of graffiti style writing in their fashion. I'm guessing that Stussy S was featured in some Stussy wear thing around that time, and it just took off from there, because it was such a sweet S to draw for us kids (c'mon, admit it, you felt like a goddamn Michelangelo every time you completed that S on paper).

I was thinking the same thing about another early '90's thing. All us kids across the U.S. had our NES. And we all passed along the wisdom to each other that blowing in the cartridge would somehow get the game to work. I would visit cousins and friends, and be surprised that they knew the same technique. It was just what you did. That idea must have spread the same way.

edit: you know, now that I think of it, I remember Stussy clothes. I remember my friend Chris used to get made fun of by the rest of our group of friends for wearing these funny Stussy shorts. This was in the mid-late '90's, so Stussy clothes were going from '80's and strong into the '90's.

Edited November 19, 2012 by _Only

[Ashotep]

Just because its of uncertain origin doesn't mean much in itself. Its just one of those things that got spread around, a good doodle.

[_Only]

[DKO]

Haha these were great. These were all over my school gear once I learned about these.

They looked cool and were pretty fun to make at first, especially when someone else didn't know how you had drawn it.

[Sakari]

I was thinking the same thing about another early '90's thing. All us kids across the U.S. had our NES. And we all passed along the wisdom to each other that blowing in the cartridge would somehow get the game to work. I would visit cousins and friends, and be surprised that they knew the same technique. It was just what you did. That idea must have spread the same way.

You just brought back memories.....

[Sakari]

The logo which has defined the brand started in the early 1980s after Shawn Stussy began scrawling his surname on his handcrafted surfboards with a broad tipped marker.^[2] He began using the logo on T-shirts, shorts and caps that he sold out of his car around Laguna Beach, California.^[3][4] The signature was derived from that of his uncle, Jan Stussy.^[5]

In 1984, Stussy and his friend, Frank Sinatra Jr. (not the singer), partnered to sell the apparel. The company expanded to Europe by 1988 and later opened a boutique store in SoHo, New York. The brand continued to open successful locations throughout the 1990s.^[2] It was reported that revenues reached $17 million in 1991^[4] and $20 million in 1992.^[6] By 1992, the brand was sold throughout the United States at specialty boutiques and department stores alongside other high-priced "California lifestyle" clothing. Outside of the country, the brand was found in specialty shops alongside clothing from high-end international designers.^[7]

In 1996, Stussy resigned as president of the company and Sinatra bought his share of the company holdings.^[2] According to the company's website, the brand is available in company branded stores and other retailers in Europe, Asia, the United States, Canada and Australia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stussy

[DKO]

The logo which has defined the brand started in the early 1980s after Shawn Stussy began scrawling his surname on his handcrafted surfboards with a broad tipped marker.^[2] He began using the logo on T-shirts, shorts and caps that he sold out of his car around Laguna Beach, California.^[3][4] The signature was derived from that of his uncle, Jan Stussy.^[5]

In 1984, Stussy and his friend, Frank Sinatra Jr. (not the singer), partnered to sell the apparel. The company expanded to Europe by 1988 and later opened a boutique store in SoHo, New York. The brand continued to open successful locations throughout the 1990s.^[2] It was reported that revenues reached $17 million in 1991^[4] and $20 million in 1992.^[6] By 1992, the brand was sold throughout the United States at specialty boutiques and department stores alongside other high-priced "California lifestyle" clothing. Outside of the country, the brand was found in specialty shops alongside clothing from high-end international designers.^[7]

In 1996, Stussy resigned as president of the company and Sinatra bought his share of the company holdings.^[2] According to the company's website, the brand is available in company branded stores and other retailers in Europe, Asia, the United States, Canada and Australia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stussy

I think that is referring to the iconic stussy logo:

I have never heard this S-shape being called the stussy logo, or seen it on any stussy clothing actually.

[_Only]

Well, reading most of the comments on this page: http://imprint.printmag.com/typography/solve-the-mystery-of-the-pointy-s/ I can only deduce that

a. it is a worldwide fad

b. it seems to have thrived mainly on the awesomeness of the S itself, as well as the feeling of awesomeness of anyone who wields its power.

[Oniomancer]

Boy, that looks like the font for some 80's hair band logo.

Styx comes pretty darned close:

http://www.google.com/search?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&tbo=d&biw=1268&bih=811&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=styx+logo&oq=styx+logo&gs_l=img.3..0j0i24.20818.22853.0.24473.5.5.0.0.0.0.103.450.3j2.5.0...0.0...1c.1.ODDfn9p91WQ

[Sakari]

Boy, that looks like the font for some 80's hair band logo.

Styx comes pretty darned close:

http://www.google.co...c.1.ODDfn9p91WQ

I am going with that one

[Hasina]

I just thought it was something boys drew all over their things.

[tapirmusic]

But what exactly are the origins? Researching this online, it seems like it is found on every continent in the world, always somewhere in middle-school or early high-school. A few people claim to have seen these as far back as the 1950's. It's kind of weird that so many different people in different times and places all seem to doodle the same thing with no knowledge of what is is or represents....

Is there a mystery here? Or am I just looking too far into it?

[MistyW]

I think it's just a little symbol that happens to get spread around, like Kilroy. And they can get addicting to draw sometimes.

[JGirl]

I was thinking the same thing about another early '90's thing. All us kids across the U.S. had our NES. And we all passed along the wisdom to each other that blowing in the cartridge would somehow get the game to work. I would visit cousins and friends, and be surprised that they knew the same technique.

yes it was common knowledge here too that when your connection was crappy you blew into the end of the cartridge. always worked

Edited November 20, 2012 by JGirl

[JesseCuster]

yes it was common knowledge here too that when your connection was crappy you blew into the end of the cartridge. always worked

And that has been shown to be an urban myth. It turns out that the connection wasn't great between the cartridge and console wasn't great so simply removing and reattaching the cartridge sometimes would make a better connection. Blowing into the cartridge actually made no difference. It was the act of removing and reattaching the cartridge that worked.

[JGirl]

And that has been shown to be an urban myth. It turns out that the connection wasn't great between the cartridge and console wasn't great so simply removing and reattaching the cartridge sometimes would make a better connection. Blowing into the cartridge actually made no difference. It was the act of removing and reattaching the cartridge that worked.

yikes you have crushed my delusion omg!!

[_Only]

I had found the real solution to getting the games to run, which was to insert the game in partially, and push it down with the force of a thousand Suns into the NES, waiting to hear a magic snap sound that would tell me I did it correctly. This I'm sure made the cartridge to system connection degrade immensely, but nevertheless, it got my Bart vs. The World playable. And that's all that mattered.

[ReaperS_ParadoX]

I use to draw these all the time in high school I had a whole notebook full of graffiti stuff I drew and colored ( usually during math class )

[tapirmusic]

I use to draw these all the time in high school I had a whole notebook full of graffiti stuff I drew and colored ( usually during math class )

But Why? Why did you draw them? What does it or what did it symbolize to you? And who taught it to you?

That is the mystery!!!!

[Keymaker]

Me and my friends used to "do graffiti" in school and this was shown to us by a "cooler" kid. At the time we thought it was the best piece of lettering in the known universe.

[*Frank*]

I always assumed it was the Suzuki symbol.

[Abramelin]

But what exactly are the origins? Researching this online, it seems like it is found on every continent in the world, always somewhere in middle-school or early high-school. A few people claim to have seen these as far back as the 1950's. It's kind of weird that so many different people in different times and places all seem to doodle the same thing with no knowledge of what is is or represents....

Is there a mystery here? Or am I just looking too far into it?

It just means the Dutch railroads and trains are great:

https://www.google.nl/search?hl=nl&q=ns+spoor+logo&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=4EO4UJSeNZTM0AWttYGABw&biw=1007&bih=524&sei=5EO4ULmyLOan0AXDxoHYCg

.

Edited November 30, 2012 by Abramelin