Origins Although the U.S. Forest Service had been fighting wildfires long before the outbreak of
World War II, the war brought a new importance and urgency to the effort. At the time, many experienced firefighters and other able-bodied men were serving in the armed forces, leaving fewer at home to fight wildfires. U.S. planners hoped that, if Americans knew how wildfires would harm the war effort, they would work with the Forest Service to reduce their occurrence. Careless citizens were not the only fire threat, however; the
Empire of Japan considered using wildfires as a weapon, and in the spring of 1942, Japanese submarines surfaced near the coast of
Santa Barbara, California, and
fired shells that exploded on an oil field close to
Los Padres National Forest. In September 1942,
Nobuo Fujita bombed the forest outside
Brookings, Oregon, though the resulting fire was extinguished quickly. The Japanese military implemented a concerted wildfire strategy later in the war, launching some 9,000
fire balloons into the
jet stream; an estimated 11% of these reached the U.S. between November 1944 and April 1945. Only one balloon bomb is known to have caused fatalities: Elsie Mitchell (the wife of
Archie E. Mitchell) and five children were killed by one near
Bly, Oregon, on May 5, 1945. A memorial was erected at what was later named the
Mitchell Monument Historic Site.
Campaign beginnings In 1942, the U.S. Forest Service established the Cooperative Forest Fire Prevention program, and on August 13 of that year, Disney's full-length animated motion picture
Bambi premiered in New York City. Soon after,
Walt Disney allowed his characters to appear in fire-prevention public service campaigns. However,
Bambi was only loaned to the government for a year, so after that the Forest Service needed a new symbol. His name was inspired by "Smokey" Joe Martin, a
New York City Fire Department hero who had suffered burns and blindness during a bold fire rescue in 1922. On August 9, 1944, the Forest Service authorized the creation of Smokey Bear as its official symbol. The first Smokey Bear poster was delivered on October 10 by artist Albert Staehle. In the first poster, overseen by the Cooperative Forest Fire Prevention Campaign, Smokey was depicted wearing
jeans and a
campaign hat, pouring a bucket of water on a campfire. The message underneath read, "SMOKEY SAYS;– Care will prevent 9 out of 10 forest fires!" In 2001, the slogan was officially amended to replace "forest fires" with "wildfires" in response to numerous outbreaks of wildfires in natural areas other than forests, Smokey had climbed a tree to escape the blaze, yet his paws and hind legs had been burned. Bell, his wife Ruth, and their children, Don and Judy, cared for the little bear with the help of local veterinarian Dr. Edwin J. Smith. The story was covered by the national news services and Smokey became a celebrity. Many people wrote and called asking about the cub's recovery. The state game warden wrote to the chief of the
US Forest Service, offering to present the cub to the agency as long as the cub would be dedicated to a conservation and wildfire prevention publicity program. Smokey Bear lived at the National Zoo for 26 years. During that time, he received millions of visitors and so many letters addressed to him (more than 13,000 a week) that in 1964, the United States Postal Service gave him his own ZIP Code (20252), which is still in use. his remains were returned by the government to
Capitan, New Mexico, and buried at Smokey Bear Historical Park, operated by the New Mexico State Forestry Division. The facility is now a wildfire and Smokey interpretive center. The bear is interred in the adjacent garden.
The Washington Post ran a semi-humorous obituary for Smokey, labeled "Bear," calling him a transplanted New Mexico native who had resided for many years in Washington, D.C., with many years of government service. It also mentioned his family, including his wife, Goldie Bear, and "adopted son," Little Smokey. The obituary noted that Smokey and Goldie were not blood relatives, despite the fact that they shared the same "last name" of "Bear."
The Wall Street Journal included an obituary for Smokey Bear on the front page of the paper on November 11, 1976. in fact, so many newspapers published articles and obituaries that the National Zoo archives include four complete scrapbooks devoted to them (Series 12, boxes 66–67).
Peak in popularity !" Smokey quickly became a part of American popular culture, appearing on radio programs, in comic strips, in cartoons, and as merchandise. Knickerbocker Bears acquired the license to produce Smokey Bear dolls in 1944. In 1949, Forest Service worker
Rudy Wendelin became the campaign's full-time artist and was considered Smokey Bear's "manager" until Wendelin retired in 1973. In 1939, after local high school students helped fight a forest fire in the
Black Hills,
Hill City High School in
South Dakota became the only school district in the United States authorized to use Smokey Bear as their mascot. A Smokey Bear doll was produced by
Ideal Toy Company beginning in 1952; the doll included a mail-in card for children to enable them to sign up to be designated
Junior Forest Rangers. Children could also apply by writing to the U.S. Forest Service or Smokey Bear at his ZIP Code. Smokey's name and image are used for the
Smokey Bear Awards, which are awarded by the U.S. Forest Service, the National Association of State Foresters (NASF) and the Ad Council, to "recognize outstanding service in the prevention of human-caused wildfires and to increase public recognition and awareness of the need for continuing fire prevention efforts". The face of Smokey Bear occasionally appeared (usually on
jumpers) in some episodes of the Canadian television series
The Forest Rangers. In 1959, a 14-foot-tall animatronic version of Smokey Bear was unveiled at the Ohio State Fairgrounds in Columbus, Ohio, at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Natural Resources Park. It was installed to help teach fire prevention to children and their families. In 2015, it was replaced by a new Smokey Bear version in the same location. Both iterations of the animatronic figure have asked visitors to take the pledge to "never, ever play with matches or leave any fire unattended".
The Beach Boys quote Smokey Bear in their 1964 song "
Drive-In": "If you say you watch the movie you're a couple of liars / and 'Remember only you can prevent forest fires'". Though Smokey was originally drawn wearing the
campaign hat of the U.S. Forest Service, the hat alone later became famous by association with the Smokey cartoon character. Today, it is sometimes called a "Smokey Bear hat" and is still used by the U.S. Forest Service, some branches of the military, and the state police.
Recent history and the
Camp Fire Girls in 1960 , Los Angeles For Smokey's 40th anniversary in 1984, he was honored with a U.S. postage stamp, illustrated by
Rudy Wendelin, that pictured a cub hanging onto a burned tree. The same year, the U.S. Forest Service began to transfer Smokey Bear materials that had been collected from the Cooperative Forest Fire Prevention Campaign to the
National Agricultural Library to be maintained in their special collections as documentation of the program. The
National Archives and Records Administration transferred their materials concerning Smokey to the National Agricultural Library's special collections in 1990. The library continues to accept and maintain donations from various Forest Service offices. The collection consists of posters, proofs, mechanicals, original artwork, motion pictures, sound recordings, and various pieces of memorabilia, some of which are available online; all the pieces are accessible in
Beltsville, MD, through the library. That same year, a poster of the bear with a cake full of extinguished candles was issued. It reads "Make Smokey's Birthday Wish Come True". In 2004, Smokey's 60th anniversary was celebrated in several ways, including a Senate resolution designating August 9, 2004, as "Smokey Bear's 60th Anniversary", requesting that the President issue a proclamation "calling upon the people of the United States to observe the day with appropriate ceremonies and activities". According to Richard Earle, author of
The Art of Cause Marketing, the Smokey Bear campaign is among the most powerful and enduring of all
public service advertising:"Smokey is simple, strong, straightforward. He's a denizen of those woods you're visiting, and he cares about preserving them. Anyone who grew up watching
Bambi realizes how terrifying a forest fire can be. But Smokey wouldn't run away. Smokey's strong. He'll stay and fight the fire if necessary, but he'd rather have you douse it and cover it up so he doesn't have to."In 2011, the campaign launched its first mobile application, or app, to provide critical information about wildfire prevention, including a step-by-step guide to safely building and extinguishing campfires, as well as a map of current wildfires across America. In 2012,
NASA, the U.S. Forest Service, the
Texas Forest Service and Smokey Bear teamed up to celebrate Smokey's 68th birthday at NASA's
Johnson Space Center in Houston. The popular mascot toured the center and recorded a promotional announcement for NASA Television. NASA astronaut
Joe Acaba and the
Expedition 31 crew chose a plush Smokey doll to be the team's launch mascot, celebrating their trip to the International Space Station. During his tour about 250 miles above Earth, Smokey turned 68 years old. In 2014, the campaign celebrated Smokey's 70th birthday, with new birthday-themed television, radio, print, outdoor, and digital PSAs that continued the 2013 campaign "Smokey Bear Hug". The campaign depicted Smokey rewarding his followers with a hug, in acknowledgement of using the proper actions to prevent wildfires. In return, outdoor–loving individuals across the nation were shown reciprocating with a birthday bear hug in honor of his 70 years of service. Audiences were encouraged to join in by posting their own #SmokeyBearHug online. The campaign also did a partnership with Disney's
Planes that same year. In 2016, the campaign launched a new series of PSAs that aimed to increase awareness about less commonly known ways that wildfires can start. The new "Rise from the Ashes" campaign featured art by
Bill Fink, who used wildfire ashes as an artistic medium to illustrate the devastation caused by wildfires and highlight less obvious wildfire causes. In 2017, the campaign launched new videos and artwork inspired by Smokey Bear posters to continue to raise awareness of lesser-known wildfire starts. The new artwork was created by Brian Edward Miller, Evan Hecox, Janna Mattia, and Victoria Ying, portraying Smokey Bear in each of their unique styles. For his 75th birthday in 2019, the Smithsonian's
National Zoo in Washington D.C. opened an outdoor exhibit on May 23, 2019. Fourteen posters and multiple archival photographs of the original bear line the pathway in front of Smokey Bear's original habitat. At the entrance stands a 6-foot-tall statue of his cartoon persona. Along with the exhibit, new commercials and promotional materials were released, and events were held throughout the U.S. The NAL showcased movies, commercials, and paintings at their Beltsville location, materials were loaned to government agencies, and materials were provided to travel to various National Forests across the country throughout 2019. On August 1, 2019,
Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles released a Smokey Bear License Plate, just a few days before Smokey Bear's 75th birthday. The plate was sponsored by Keep Oregon Green, and costs an extra $40 per registration period, $35 of which goes to Keep Oregon Green. == Commercialization and cultural impact ==