1949 USDA Forest Service Smokey Bear Says Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires James Hansen

Date: c.1949
Artist: Hansen, James
Size (in): 18.25 x 13
Size (cm): 46.5 x 33
Condition: A-
Linen backed: No

This is vintage USDA Forest Service poster features James Hansen’s rendering of the beloved American icon Smokey Bear, subject of the longest running public service advertising campaign in United States history. The neighborly Smokey sporting a dandy ranger hat with shovel in hand peers over a fence and reminds us that “only you can Prevent Forest Fires”.

Smokey Bear was conceived during WWII and has been on active duty protecting America’s forest ever since. He would have been about five years old when this poster was produced in 1949. The lower margin indicates this poster was produced by the United States Government Printing Office for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and Hansen’s signature is printed in the lower right hand corner of the image. Smokey Bear posters were produced in large numbers but the vintage originals from the 1940s are increasingly difficult to find.

This poster was never hung and has no tape or pinholes and only some modest toning from age and light handling wear. Overall condition is very good.