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Florida. Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services. --Division of Marketing.
Title, Dates:
Forest fire prevention public service program sound recordings, 1949-1959.
Amount:
44 items
Medium Included:
Phonograph records, 16" diameter 33-1/3 rpm.
Organization/Arrangement:
Unarranged.
Restrictions:
Terms Governing Use:
Cassette tapes are first-use copies.
Biographical/Historical:
The Cooperative Forest Fire Prevention Campaign was organized by the USDA Forest Service with the cooperation of various State Forestry Services, including the Florida Forest Service. Fire prevention was a prime concern of all forestry organizations throughout much of the twentieth century. By the 1970s, there was a move away from fire suppression by ecologists and biologists as an effective tool for maintaining Florida's ecosystems, favoring controlled and prescribed burns. The Florida Forest Service was established in 1927 as a part of the Florida Board of Forestry. It cooperated with federal and state agencies, counties, towns, corporations, and individuals in disseminating information about Florida forests, managing fire prevention and control programs, and enforcing laws pertaining to forests and woodlands.
During the Second World War, a Japanese submarine shelled the Southern California coast, and forestry officials were concerned that those attacks might start widespread forest fires. The Wartime Advertising Council decided to use Walt Disney's Bambi on a 1944 forest fire prevention poster. After Bambi's success, the Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council decided to choose their own animal to represent forest fire prevention and, in 1944, decided on "Smokey the Bear," created by artist Albert Staehle.
Summary:
This series contains 44 vinyl phonorecords of public service radio programs which were designed to inform the public, and especially school children, about forest fire prevention. The majority of these records are from the Cooperative Forest Fire Prevention Campaign sponsored by State Foresters, including the Florida Forest Service, and the U.S. Forest Service. Twenty-seven Florida radio stations played these recordings in the 1950s. The programs are hosted by Smokey the Bear, Jelly Elliott and the Knotheads, The Singing Woodsman, and the Sons of the Pioneers. The other portion of these records were produced by the Florida Forest Service as part of their Forest Conservation Series, and feature Toby Dowdy and his Hi-Pointers. These records provide evidence of the attitudes toward Florida forests and their uses that were prevalent in the 1950s. The records also document some of the popular songs and musical styles of that time, including many country, western, folk, and gospel songs. The recordings are poor, and contain many scratches and skips.
Finding Aids:
Folder listing available. #
Additional Physical Form:
Also available on cassette tapes produced by State Archives staff.
Reproduction Note:
Location of Originals/Duplicates:
Associated Materials:
Language Notes:
Ownership/Custodial History:
Publication Note:
General Note:
Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
Florida Dept. of Agriculture. --Division of Marketing and Development. Florida. Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Florida Forest Service.
Forests and forestry Florida Agriculture Florida Environmental policy Florida Political campaigns. Radio broadcasting--Florida. Folk music Florida
Phonograph records. Sound recordings. aat
Florida Agriculture
for detailed listing.