---
title: Smokey says - Hold 'til it's cold... prevent forest fires
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/smokey-says-hold-til-its-cold-1945/
description: Painted poster of Smokey Bear in ranger hat and jeans using a pointer at a blackboard that shows a hand holding a burnt match.
section: Collection
---

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3. Smokey says - Hold 'til it's cold... prevent forest fires

[![Smokey says - Hold 'til it's cold... prevent forest fires, 1945 US poster: Painted poster of Smokey Bear in ranger hat](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/smokey-says-hold-til-its-cold-1945.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/smokey-says-hold-til-its-cold-1945.jpg)

# Smokey says - Hold 'til it's cold... prevent forest fires

Painted poster of Smokey Bear in ranger hat and jeans using a pointer at a blackboard that shows a hand holding a burnt match, while a bear cub reads a paper on a stump. Under it, 'Hold 'til it's cold... prevent forest fires' beside a matchbook. The classroom setting and cartoon bears carry the instruction (plain-folks, transfer).

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/) [Plain folks](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/plain-folks/)

## Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
SMOKEY SAYS—
Hold 'til it's cold...
prevent forest fires
[on newspaper:] Junior Red Cross NEWS
[signature:] Albert Staehle
[imprint:] U. S. Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
[imprint:] ☆ U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1945—O—662923
[imprint:] State
Forest Service
```

[← Silence means security: be careful what you say or write](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/silence-means-security-recon-1945/) [Smokey says - Prevent forest fires! →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/smokey-says-prevent-forest-fires-1945/)

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