This presentation includes several films. The first from 1957 is a PSA that shows the Smokey the Bear campaign and features singer Vaughn Monroe, known as the Voice of RCA. The second starting at 1:35 is a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture film entitled “Snuffy Smokey Bear’s Pal.” This public service announcement introduces Snuffy, an energetic golden retriever who strives to prevent forest fires. Snuffy is a good friend of Smokey the Bear, the iconic advertising character created in 1944 by the US Forest Service and artist Albert Staehle. Both Smokey and Snuffy’s mission is to convince each citizen of their ability to stop wildfires from occurring. In the film, Snuffy follows and watches over a family. Although the family prepares a proper fire and follows the correct precautions, the father’s mindless act of flicking a lit cigarette forces Snuffy to save the day.

At 7:18 is another animated PSA featuring Smokey the Bear. At 8:32 is “Then it Happened”, a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture film about a Maine forest fire that is fueled by a mighty wind (11:52) with disastrous results. At 13:11 a radio announcer discusses the destruction caused by the fire. At 14:10 fire fighters fight the flames but many homes are consumed. The aftermath is shown with stark shots of ruins and dead trees.

We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com