A charm doll or figurine from the early 1900s, originally meant to bring good luck, with a distinctive smiling face and pointed head.
Origin is uncertain but possibly from Chippewa 'baylik' (little spirit) or simply invented by the American designer in 1908. The word appeared suddenly in popular culture with no clear etymological predecessor, making it one of English's mysterious neologisms.
Billikens became a craze in 1909 and were even the mascot of Saint Louis University—yet nobody knows for sure where the word actually came from, making it one of the few common English words with a completely lost origin story.
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