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
- Date
- 1945
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, and State Forest Service (artist Albert Staehle)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- State
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Mobilize or secure compliance
- Theme
- Home front
- Event
- World War II
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Posters, retrieved October 4, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. National Archives and Records Administration, RG 44, 44-PA-1762 (NAID 515434).
Text on the object
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
