Remember, only YOU can prevent forest fires.

Smokey Bear has been a fire prevention icon for decades, but would you believe he wasn't the U.S.

government's first choice?

During World War II, timber was a critical resource for America's war effort.

Forest fires were a huge concern.

So, the U.S.

Forest Service teamed up with the War Advertising Council and the Association of State Foresters to launch a public information campaign.

With slogans like “Forest Fires Aid the Enemy” and “Forest Defense is National Defense,” organizers hope to appeal to Americans’ sense of patriotism and tug at their heartstrings.

To help with messaging, the U.S.

government licensed Disney's popular Bambi character to serve as its fire prevention mascot.

But after a year, the arrangement ended.

And so the Forest Service decided to creates its own character.

Famed animal illustrator Albert Stahle painted the first Smokey Bear in 1944, before passing the torch to Rudolf Wendelin, an Arlington, Virginia artist who would serve as Smokey's official illustrator for the next three decades.

From his office at the Department of Agriculture in Washington, Wendelin evolved and transformed the character.

By the 1950s, Smokey had his familiar hat, belt buckle, and shovel.

He also had a distinctive deep voice -- “Boys and girls...” Thanks to D.C.

radio personality Jackson Weaver.

And, of course, there was the song.

♪ When he tells ‘em to beware.

♪ ♪ Cause ev’rybody knows that he’s the Fire Preventin’ Bear.

♪ ♪ Smokey the Bear, Smokey the Bear.

♪ ♪ Prowlin’ and a growlin’ and a sniffin' the air.

♪ It wasn't long before Smokey was everywhere!

Appearances, films, cartoons, toys, books, merchandise, and just about anything else that could be emblazoned with a fire prevention message.

The wildly successful campaign made Smokey a household name across the country.

But as The Washington Post reported, he wasn't just a spokes bear.

He became a real life neighbor in D.C.

In the spring of 1950, firefighters in New Mexico found an orphaned three-month-old bear cub clinging to a charred pine tree with third degree burns on his paws and hide.

Nicknamed Smokey, the cub was nursed back to health and flown to Washington in a personalized airplane.

On June 30th, 1950, 500 schoolchildren and dignitaries welcomed the young cub to the National Zoo, where he took up residence as a living advocate for fire prevention.

From the moment he arrived, he was a crowd favorite.

As the Evening Star remarked, “It took Smokey, 10 pounds of bear cub, exactly 1 second today to become another Washington institution.” For the next 26 years, Smokey was one of the most popular residents at the zoo.

Visitors, especially children, were enamored with him and he received so much fan mail that the U.S.

Postal Service gave him his own private D.C.

zip code, 20252.

In 1962, zookeepers welcomed Goldie, who they hoped to mate with Smokey, and printed a wedding invitation in the newspaper.

The public followed the bears' courtship with interest.

Sadly, however, there was no spark.

As The Washington Post reported, “They had a pro forma marriage that even Ann Landers couldn't have saved.” That being the case, the zoo adopted another cub who had been rescued from a forest fire and named him Little Smokey.

Slowed by arthritis, the original Smokey Bear retired from federal service with a VIP ceremony in 1975.

The following year, he died peacefully in his sleep.

But even as the zoo's most famous resident passed, his fire prevention legacy has carried on.

Once a replacement for Bambi, Smokey Bear is now the longest running PSA campaign in U.S.

history, over 80 years and counting.

And here in Washington, we can say we've known him best.

♪ That’s why they call him Smokey.

♪ ♪ That was how he got his name.

Smokey the Bear!

♪ For more D.C.

area history, visit weta.org/boundarystones